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Tom Varner

Joined Atlas Obscura in 2019

I’m a freelance writer who lives in the Midwest. Although I am local to the greater St. Louis area and tend to focus on travel, history, literature, theatre, and film, my interests are vast. I enjoy traveling through the U.S. and the world. I particularly enjoy visiting the weird and unusual; the places and things sometimes overlooked.
tomvarner.com

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Follow travelers to discover remarkable places through their journeys.

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    You explored one of America's most iconic highways by marking at least three remarkable places along historic Route 66.

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145

Places I've been

Places this traveler has marked as been there.

The National Toy Hall of Fame

Rochester, New York

The National Toy Hall of Fame

A collection of the best toys ever made inside a museum devoted to play.

The taxidermed elephant head that's on display in the main room.

Rochester, New York

The George Eastman Museum

The home, museum, and death site of Kodak's influential founder.

Santa Claus, Indiana sign

Santa Claus, Indiana

Santa Claus, Indiana

You thought Santa Claus didn't exist, but it turns out you were wrong.

3-15-21

Knoxville, Tennessee

The Sunsphere

Knoxville’s architectural icon was the symbol of the 1982 World’s Fair, even catching the googly eye of Bart Simpson.

Entrance on Union Ave, just around the corner from Beale Street

Memphis, Tennessee

Sun Studio

This Memphis recording studio launched the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.

Much of the area has been impacted by agriculture and levee construction.  But the low lying location still holds water.

Delta, Louisiana

Grant's Canal

The ill-fated plan to reroute the Mississippi so that Union ships could bypass Confederate fortifications on the river bend.

The illusive (and mythical) Piasa Bird

Alton, Illinois

Piasa Bird

A mythical bird etched into the face of a rock doubles as the mascot for a nearby school.

Railsplitter Covered Wagon

Lincoln, Illinois

Railsplitter Covered Wagon

The world's largest covered wagon is piloted by a giant Lincoln lawyer.

World's Largest Cross.

Effingham, Illinois

America's Largest Cross

Known as the "Cross At The Crossroads," this massive metal cross is just short enough to avoid the FAA.

Illinois Woodhenge

Fairmont City, Illinois

Illinois Woodhenge

Fresh wooden posts have been added to ancient holes to recreate a primitive henge clock.

World's Tallest Man Statue

Alton, Illinois

World’s Tallest Man Statue

This life-size bronze statue remembers the tallest recorded human in his Illinois hometown.

Paul Bunyon

Atlanta, Illinois

Paul Bunyon

While he no longer has an eatery to give him context, this off-brand Paul Bunyan still holds his giant hot dog with pride.

Sign for location. Can be seen from Interstate 55.

Livingston, Illinois

Pink Elephant Antique Mall

Oversized statues are just the tip of this nostalgic Americana roadside attraction.

Collinsville's catsup bottle

Collinsville, Illinois

World's Largest Catsup Bottle

Quirky water tower advertises the long-gone Brooks Tomato Products Co.

Lincoln Tomb

Springfield, Illinois

Lincoln Tomb

When you visit his grave, be sure to rub the Great Emancipator's nose for good luck.

Monks Mound at Cahokia

Collinsville, Illinois

Cahokia Mounds

Once one of the world's great cities, Cahokia was a place of religious worship, trade and mass human sacrifice before being mysteriously abandoned.

Willis Tower Glass Platform

Chicago, Illinois

Willis Tower Glass Platform

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

He's often decked out for the winter months by his fans

Marshall, Missouri

Jim the Wonder Dog Memorial Garden

A small town garden is dedicated to a psychic dog with the most soulful eyes.

A sign at Grand and Dodier St marks the stadium's site.

St. Louis, Missouri

Site of Sportsman's Park

This spot in St. Louis, marked with a simple sign, has seen more pro baseball than just about anywhere else in the world.

The coincidences of the boats' proportions are just too incredible

Columbia, Missouri

BoatHenge

Like Stonehenge, but with boats and oodles more charm.

Dumbo off in the distance

Iron Township, Missouri

Elephant Rocks State Park

Giant granite rocks standing end-to-end like a train of circus elephants.

Taum Sauk Mountain in the fall.

Ironton, Missouri

Taum Sauk Mountain

In the St. Francois Mountains in the Ozarks at 1,772 feet above sea level, Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest (and possibly oldest) peak in Missouri.

The Creation Museum

Petersburg, Kentucky

The Creation Museum

A 70,000-square-foot institution dedicated to a very literal, creationist perspective on the Book of Genesis.

The bow of the ark

Williamstown, Kentucky

Ark Encounter

A theme park featuring a replica of Noah's Ark built to the measurements specified in the Bible.

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