Last week we picked five of the best roadside attractions in the country. This week, the must-visit list continues!
In the Box Tour: Battles in Fake Afghanistan – Fort Irwin, Cali.
Deep in the Mojave Desert, the US army has mocked up several replica Afghan towns (there were Iraqi ones, too) where it tests the battle readiness of its troops. The ‘sandbox’ (or ‘box’) is populated with thousands of Arabic-speaking role players playing both innocent locals and enemy combatants. Once security is cleared, you can join a tour of the ‘active’ training war zone – explosions included.
The Human Centrifuge – Warminster, Pa.
Tour the world’s largest human centrifuge – the contraption used to test would-be astronauts’ and pilots’ ability to handle g-forces in flight. If you’re worried the owners will dare you to give it a go, fear not: it’s currently out of operation and simply a museum exhibit.
U.S.S. Ling, World War II Sub – Hackensack, NJ
Watch Crimson Tide, The Hunt for Red October or Das Boot and you get a little sense of what it was like to serve on a submarine during war times. But to get a real feel for the cramped conditions submariners served in, you’ve got step aboard one yourself. It may not be grand and interesting as the Bowfin in Pearl Harbor, but this US WWII submersible is in great shape.
New Mexico Museum of Space History – Alamogordo, NM
Turns out America’s space program reaches beyond Florida, California and Texas (and space, of course). Stressing the Land of Enchantment’s contribution to the extraterrestrial endeavor, the museum houses all sorts of oddities, including the grave of the first chimpanzee launched into outer space (Ham the Astrochimp) and a huge sample from the moon.
African Village in America – Birmingham, Ala.
Local man Joe Minter has been packing his lawn and yard with African-American and African artifacts since 1989. The result is an ‘African Village,’ filled with a jumble of ramshackle objects and plastered with (mostly Christian) slogans. While this eccentric collection is intriguing, it’s Joe who’s the real attraction here.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Image: The California National Guard)
