Places Maggie Mason Wants to Go

Each summer, the migratory bats living beneath the bypass form "batnadoes" at dusk.

Special tunnels built so that frogs won't be killed when crossing the highway.

This museum boasts the ninth-largest collection of insects in North America.

The world's first motel is now an administrative building for an apple farm.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

A whimsical sensor instrument for Minneapolitans to play on their walks to work.

Come for the giant taxidermy lion, stay for the knick knacks at this Minneapolis curiosity shop.

How did the 110-ton limestone statue cross the road?

A Milwaukee museum provides an unsparing and ultimately empowering look at the Black American experience.

Every winter, dozens of otherworldly ice structures sprout up from a rigged up artesian well.

143 feet of leaping muskie whose mouth can be used as a wedding venue.

A town filled with hot chocolate, dazzling lights, and lots of Christmas cheer.

Tirelessly maintained by a Wisconsin man named JFK.

Giant six-pack could provide one person a six-pack a day for 3,351 years.

Over thousands of years, this slot canyon was carved out of the bed of an ancient lake.

An oddly poignant roadside attraction celebrating American folklore.

A unique botanical garden housed in three giant geodesic domes.

This striking art museum holds an amazing series of curiosity cabinets.

These molds for fiberglass statues have formed an eerie, accidental sculpture park.

This pebble beach is so beautiful that taking its rocks is against the law.

This cave holds a surprisingly colorful variety of geological oddities.

A bizarre house filled with an astounding array of collections.

A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.