One of the things on my Bucket List is to see all of the roadside attractions in Maryland, as they are listed on Roadside America. I try to visit six new ones every month, and it ends up being a really fun day where I get to drive around on my own, listen to music, and search for strange things in cities I’m not very familiar with. There’s actually new stuff added to the list all the time (sometimes by me), so the goal might go on forever, and I’m okay with that!
You can check out the website for yourself, and find some weird, fun, and quirky places for you to visit in your hometown! You can also see other places I’ve gone to, and any tips I’ve learned along the way while trying to find their locations.
Attraction: Library With A Flying Saucer
Location: Hyattsville
This was super easy to find, and there’s parking right out front on the side of the road. It’s a really fun idea to have a flying saucer as the awning for a walkway, and I think it provides a great incentive to go into a library in a time where people aren’t as inclined to do so.
Attraction: Golden Bull
Location: Adelphi
Just a fun, giant statue on top of a restaurant and bar also named “Golden Bull”. It’s inside a shopping center with other stores, so there’s ample parking for you to snap a photo! It would be really cool to climb up on the roof and take a photo with the bull, but I wasn’t feeling as adventurous as that task requires that day.
Attraction: Mirror Yard
Location: Glen Burnie
My favorite place in the world is the American Visionary Art Museum, and lots of the mosaic structures outside the building are built by one artist. That artist happens to live a few miles away from me, and he’s brought a bunch of his work into his own front yard! The sculptures are gorgeous, shiny, and fun. Definitely worth a visit, and you can easily pull over on the side of the road in the neighborhood he lives in.
Attraction: Phoenix Shot Tower
Location: Baltimore
This is a nice tower to see as you’re driving downtown. It’s not easy to find parking around here, so your best bet for snapping a photo is at a traffic light. If you do find parking, there’s lots of other places to check out within walking distance like Port Discovery, Power Plant, and Miss Shirley’s Cafe. There’s also tons of shops and a theater in Harbor East and delicious restaurants in Little Italy. It’s possible to take a tour of the tower on the weekends.
The history of the building is also interesting, apparently they would drop lead from the top of the tower to the bottom into a vat of cold water to make “drop shots” for some old kind of rifle. I don’t know much more than that because I’m not a doctor, but that’s a pretty cool purpose for a building.
Attraction: Testudo The Turtle
Location: College Park
This is a cute little mascot statue on the campus of The University Of Maryland. The campus of this college is incredibly confusing, so relying on your GPS is fine, but you’re also going to want to pull up a campus map. This is out front of the McKeldin Library, off Library road. There aren’t really parking spots there, just spaces for service vehicles, but if you’re quick you should be fine. It’s also super close to the next attraction…
Attraction: Kermit The Frog + Jim Henson Statue
Location: College Park
Across Campus Drive, in front of the student union (about the equivalent of two blocks away from the Testudo Turtle) is this bench. This is kind of a famous bench, and you can sit and pose with Jim Henson and Kermit. Henson was obviously a student at the University Of Maryland, which is why this bench was sculpted for him in 2003. This is one of the only attractions I’ve ever featured myself in, but I couldn’t not. Parking info is the same as the turtle above.
Which of these would you like to visit the most?
