Where the world's largest buffalo roams: Scenes from Jamestown, North Dakota

 They've got the world's largest buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota...

 ...next to a field of real buffalo...

 ...and this nice faux/real buffalo three-fer.

 They had a great gift shop in Jamestown when we were there in 2006. Loved these painted saw blades...

 ...and who wouldn't want a commemorative buffalo toilet seat?

Of all the painted boards with holes in them that I've stuck my face through, I like this one the most.

North Dakota is the land of eccentric roadside attractions. About 100 miles from Salem, home of Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein cow, sits the town of Jamestown and the world's largest concrete buffalo. Unlike Sue, this fellow is nameless. I suppose if Clint Eastwood's character didn't need a name in "The Good The Bad and The Ugly," this guy doesn't need one either. He stands 26 feet tall, 46 feet long and weighs 60 tons. According to the town's website, he was built in 1959 and was the vision of Harold Newman, a local business owner. Eventually a little frontier village was added to attract tourists and now Jamestown boasts 100,000 visitors a year. It just goes to show you that if you build the world's biggest something or another, they will come. The buffalo stands majestically, waiting for tourists to be photographed next to him to impress the folks back home. But wait... there's more! They've got a buffalo museum with real buffalo grazing next to it and a gift shop with just about anything you could want with a buffalo on it. My favorite was the toilet seat. And the skies are not cloudy all day. Read more about Jamestown here: http://www.jamestownnd.com/

No can do: The late, great world's tallest used oil can stack of Casselton, North Dakota

I can't say enough good things about roadsideamerica.com, the ultimate guide to eccentric roadside attractions. Most of the kooky places we've been to have been a result of researching what's on their website, and they get the credit for guiding us to one of the all-time greats: the world's biggest stack of used oil cans in Casselton, North Dakota. The Casselton Can Pile, as the locals called it, dated all the way back to 1933, when the owner of a Sinclair gas station began heaping his old oil cans in a pile that grew and grew and eventually became a tourist attraction (which by 1933 standards must have seemed like a regular Disney World). There doesn't seem to be an official measurement recorded: height was in the 25-50 foot range, width at 15-18 feet. It was an easy exit off Interstate 94 and excitement built in 2006 as we spotted the pile in the distance, like a tilting Christmas tree or something out of Dr. Seuss. The Sinclair station was long gone and the pile was sitting on the property of the Loegring Company. The reason I'm reporting this all in the past tense is, once again according to roadsideamerica.com, the can pile is no more. In 2012, the property's new owner didn't want it and the town didn't want to spend the money to move it, so can by can it was disassembled by someone who reportedly wants to try to reassemble it in Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes and oil cans, apparently). We're so glad we had the chance to see this roadside marvel and carpe'd the diem back in '06. Ahbahdee, ahbahdee, that's oil folks!

Some enchanted achievement: Gary Greff's Enchanted Highway of Regent, North Dakota

 So you're driving along a quiet North Dakota road...

 ...when some of the world's coolest, and biggest, outdoor sculptures pop up!

That's us sitting on this big guy's shoes, for scale.

There are eccentric roadside attractions and then there are the standards by which all others are measured. Western North Dakota's Enchanted Highway belongs in that pantheon. It's a road off Interstate 94 (Exit 72) approximately 20 miles east of Dickinson. It extends for 32 miles south to the town of Regent. Artist Gary Greff has created what's billed as the world's largest metal sculptures along the highway, depicting 50-foot native geese, grasshoppers, deer, prairie birds and fish. He also erected a 51-foot tribute to President Teddy Roosevelt and a whimsical Tin Family made from used farm equipment. We were lucky enough to visit back in 2006 and I can't say enough about how wonderful this place is. Every few miles, the flat, quiet, "middle of nowhere" landscape is interrupted with an awesome display of whimsy, beautifully executed. The scale of these metal sculptures bowls you over and the craftsmanship is remarkable, too. Greff's intention is admirable as well. Worried his hometown might die soon if it relied solely on farming, he began dreaming of ways to bring people and businesses to the small community. He was a teacher and a school principal who had never done any artwork or welding prior to 1989, but he came up with a magical folk art mystery tour of enormous proportions, leading admirers and curiosity seekers to Regent.

And it is with extreme delight that we learned that in the last year Greff has bought the town's high school, of which he graduated in 1967, and has remodeled it into a castle-themed motel, complete with drawbridge. Seems like a natural, since lots of people drive to Regent to see the Enchanted Highway and motels in these parts are scarce. Greff plans to use profits from the Enchanted Castle Hotel to fund future sculptures along the highway. Rooms come with and without hot tubs, and if you feel like shooting a few hoops, the former high school's gym is available. Here's what the Bismarck Tribune has to say about it. Greff also has plans to erect the world's largest motorcycle at 102 feet long and 42 feet high in downtown Regent, to attract the Sturgis crowd as well as fun-loving kooks like us.

God bless guys like Gary Greff, who use their eccentricity to make the world a truly better place. We're enchanted.

An Enchanted Highway slideshow

Udder perfection: New Salem, North Dakota's Salem Sue, World's Biggest Holstein Cow

This may be milking it, but Sue is udderly cool.

And don't forget to visit the rest of New Salem, too!

This post is a rerun from some time ago but one of our favorites:

North Dakota offers a glittering array of eccentric roadside attractions for those willing to pull off the Interstate and gawk, not the least of which is Salem Sue, who bills herself as the world's biggest Holstein cow. Seems funny they have to add "Holstein" to the title... does another state have the world's biggest Jersey or Hereford? One can only hope. Salem Sue was built as a tribute to the local dairy farmers by the New Salem Lions Club and she stands 38 feet high and 50 feet long. She sits high on a hill and can be seen from Interstate 94. She's made of the finest fiberglass money can buy and is beautifully painted. The drive from the highway to Sue builds up anticipation, as you can see her profile off in the distance, as well as "New Salem" proudly spelled out in rockwork on the hill. Not a heck of a lot else to see here folks, just a really big cow, but how can you not stop? That would be udderly ridiculous.

I'm gonna live forever: Some Halls of Fame seen along the way

THE RV/MH HALL OF FAME

Elkhart, Indiana

Past inductees Eldon Coons and Roger Reynolds.

THE NATIONAL BUFFALO FOUNDATION BUFFALO HALL OF FAME

Jamestown, North Dakota

Jamestown has the world's largest buffalo statue, the National Buffalo Museum and, of course, the Buffalo Hall of Fame.

THE OHIO BAND DIRECTORS HALL OF FAME

Akron, Ohio

Past inductees Phillip P. Gates and Glenn E. Walker.

THE IDAHO POTATO MUSEUM HALL OF FAME

Blackfoot, Idaho

Ricahard Polatis and Daniel Polatis were inducted in 2009.

One of the pleasures of stopping at eccentric roadside attractions is unexpectedly coming across a Hall of Fame devoted to an unusual subject. Potatoes, RVs, Ohio bands and buffaloes may not seem to have much in common but each has a Hall of Fame in its honor with a wall of inductees' plaques proudly on display. What I'd like to see is a Hall of Fame Hall of Fame with all the best Halls of Fame honored with wall plaques. Kudos to all the honorees in these hallowed Halls. You've done your field proud and, even though it's an honor just to be nominated, to be in the rarefied air of the cream of your chosen crop is an even bigger accomplishment. Light up the sky like a flame...baby, we'll remember your name.

Udder delight: Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein cow of New Salem, North Dakota

This post is a rerun from last year, but I was in the mooood for a big cow today so here it is:

North Dakota offers a glittering array of eccentric roadside attractions for those willing to pull off the Interstate and gawk, not the least of which is Salem Sue, who bills herself as the world's biggest Holstein cow. Seems funny they have to add "Holstein" to the title... does another state have the world's biggest Jersey or Hereford? One can only hope. Salem Sue was built as a tribute to the local dairy farmers by the New Salem Lions Club and she stands 38 feet high and 50 feet long. She sits high on a hill and can be seen from Interstate 94. She's made of the finest fiberglass money can buy and is beautifully painted. The drive from the highway to Sue builds up anticipation, as you can see her profile off in the distance, as well as "New Salem" proudly spelled out in rockwork on the hill. Not a heck of a lot else to see here folks, just a really big cow, but how can you not stop? That would be udderly ridiculous.