Supreme Cork: The giant corkscrew of Hurley, Wisconsin

My blogger pal Wendyvee had a post recently about some really big roadside corkscrews that jogged my memory about a similar delight we encountered on our way home from a trip we took to Montana a few years ago. Hurley, Wisconsin is on the Montreal River, just over the state line from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They bill themselves as "where 51 ends and the fun begins," meaning Highway 51, and they're known for mining, their Little Finland area, and for being a hangout of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Baby Face Nelson in the 1920s.

As you may have gleaned, The Corkscrew is a liquor store on Hurley's Route 2 with a really big corkscrew for a sign. Fifteen feet tall, to be precise (thank you, Debra Jane Seltzer). According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, owner Robert Vittone welded it himself out of stainless steel tubing. "When I built it, I didn't really pursue it as being the world's largest. A guy thought I should get in this book that has the world's largest and biggest," said Vittone, who seems blase about the whole world's biggest thing.

Signs like these make driving fun. This place would be especially appropriate if traffic ever backs up on the highway out front...you know, like a...bottleneck?