The Odd Midwest

What are the odds?

(Click photo to enlarge) - Story and Photos by Karl Stover

          File Under: strange places, roadside attractions, trips
          Location:  Keokuk, Iowa (Mapped)

      I have been known to travel quite a bit here and there on my way to a particular destination in the midwestern states. Most weekends I am in the car logging precious road warrior miles in my Mopar legend. It is not uncommon to encounter a sunburst of colors in this voletile area of the country. The weather has been known to change as quickly as......well, who cares. But, it is truely a rare occasion that you come across the senerio which I discovered a saturday or two ago. On my way to the mecca of Burlington, Iowa I came about a burdening feeling. One that could not be passed up....and I found it. Hardees and Taco Bell in the same place, existing in harmony only to create a naging delima. Where do I eat? Hey check out the double rainbow in the background too.

Why was I in the middle of nowhere heading towards Burlington, Iowa which is definitely somewhere. Somewhere, because it is home to the “Crookedest Street in the World” (entitled by Ripley’s Believe It or Not). Quite appropriately named, Snake Alley, this cobbled alley climbs a hundred feet in a heartbeat and switches back 5 times. Snake Alley is lined with homes from the mid-to-late 1800s, and shadowed by stone walls from the same era. Every year on Memorial day, bicycle racers test their mettle on this short climb. Not many survive.

"Burlington’s Snake Alley--five 180-degree switchbacks and two 90-degree turns, on a street 275 feet long. The 103-year-old street twists back and forth, down a lawn-covered slope, linking a residential district at the top of the bluff to a business district and the river Port of Burlington, with a tourist information center, and the dock of the mighty Catfish Bend Riverboat Casino, a gambling ship, 58 feet below."

 

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Do you have any roadside attractions from the Midwest, email us and tell us about them.
 

Roadside Attraction: The Tire Tree

The rusty tire rim makes for an interesting knot in the tree.

          Location:   Alton Illinois (Mapped)
          File Under: Roadside Attractions, Odd Tree

While going to McPikes Mansion in Alton we noticed an old stone staircase on the opposite side of the road from the Mansion, just a few hundred feet up the road. I thought maybe it was going to be a cemetery but it turned out to be an empty lot, most likely an old house that had been torn down. Towards the back of the lot you will see an old tree, in the center of the tree you will see an rusty tire rim about 4 foot up If you think about it, it's pretty amazing that the tree grew up and around an old tire, totally engulfing the entire tire. - Justin Makler

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Do you have any raodside attractions from the Midwest, email us and tell us about them. 
 

The face of the Virgin Mary appears in Chicago

 

A steady stream of the faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, have flocked to an expressway underpass for a view of a yellow and white salt stain on a concrete wall that some believe is an image of the Virgin Mary. But the story doesn't stop there, if you follow the headlines below you will see that the image has been defaced a couple of times but keeps coming back. Is this the work of god or just more stinky sewer water playing tricks with us. You be the judge.

If you have photos that we can use of this sighting, please be in touch.

Is it a stain or the image of the Virgin Mary, you be the judge.
CNN Story: Underpass
ABC: Virgin Mary or Salt Stain

Virgin Mary of Chicago Defaced then Painted Over
Illinois Department of Transportation employees painted over the image of the Virgin Mary that appeared on the wall of a Chicago Expressway underpass. Authorities charged Victor Gonzalez, 37, of Chicago Friday morning with criminal damage to state supported property, a misdemeanor, for allegedly writing with black shoe polish the words "Big Lie" over the image, police spokesman David Banks said. Since its appearance in April, thousands of faithful have visited the image.  The IDOT decided that it was best for the entire image to be painted over since it was defaced.
Source: Chicago Tribune

Photo Albums from a believer. - Notice the Satan Rules graffiti, oh those goofy taggers.
http://www.conservative-thoughts.blog-city.com/read/1216675.htm
http://www.conservative-thoughts.blog-city.com/read/1214191.htm

She's Back! Virgin Mary returns after graffiti attack, this time she's pissed!
Less than 24 hours after she was lacquered in dark brown paint and mocking graffiti, the "Virgin Mary" emerged again to greet her flock Friday afternoon. Armed with "Engine Shampoo," devout Catholics Rosa Diaz and Anna Reczek walked to the Fullerton underpass during their lunch break at a nearby car wash to remove the paint and vandalism that obstructed believers' view of the holy apparition....
Stolen from: Ghostly Talk - Which by the way is a great site.

Washington Post: The Image Returns

Tell us what you think, is this a sign from god, stinky sewer water? Why does the face of Mary appear on toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc...

By the way here is the Virgin Mary on a Tortilla shell that I found. I'll have it on eBay by the end of the day, bid high.

    File Under: Ghost, strange places, Roadside Attractions, Virgin Mary
    Location:  Chicago, Illinois

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Do you have a story, photos or material to share? Please send contact: Justin Makler

Roadside attractions Number 1

- Photos and story by Jason Ray

          Location:   Alton Illinois (Mapped)
          File Under: Roadside Attractions, Haunted Places, Urban Legends

"After reading your scavenger hunt story I spent sometime on the GeoChache site that you referenced. If you put in a zip code you will can see the related Geochache's in that area. This along with nothing else better and a tank full of gas I set out on a short journey through Southern Illinois."

First Stop Robert Wadlow 8AM
" I thought why not do a Geocache adventure this weekend. I found out on the www.geocaching.com site that there was a multi spot cache and the first stop led us to the Robert Wadlow statue in Alton. Once we made it to the statue we were to decode the birth date and death date for the coordinates for the location of where the micro cache was hidden. We took pictures of the statue, his chair, and birthplace home. After spending an hour walking around the grounds we realized we had to drive to the next location for the new coordinates, which led us to the Gordon F Moore Community Park about a mile east. Once we made it to the park coordinates we spent another hour looking for the micro case within a 20 foot circumference. We were told to take our own pen to write in the log. Being it was a micro case and our first geocashing adventure, I wasn't sure what we were looking for, maybe a small 35mm film canister. My first geocashing was a disappointing "no find." However, I did find a golf ball from the nearby golf course. Oh, Joy."

Facts:  
Robert Wadlow was born February 22, 1918 on Monroe Street in Alton, Illinois, weighing 8.7 pounds but grew to 8' 11.1" which qualifies him as the tallest person in history, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. At the time of his death he weighed 490 pounds.

Location: (Mapped)
Robert Wadlow Statue: College Avenue, Alton, Illinois

Related Links:
Alton Web:
Alton Meseum:
Wadlow Book:
Great User Comments

2nd Stop The Haunted McPikes Mansion
"The second stop of the day was the haunted "McPike Mansion" in Alton. We were able to get several pictures, but we could not enter the property. There were several vans in the driveway of workers. I had to stop and block traffic on "2018 Alby Street" to take pictures. It is a creepy looking place and look forward to the Halloween Party they have every year. This should be a blast."

Facts: (Mapped)
McPikes Mansion Alton, sits among the bluffs of the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis, Missouri. The historical town still holds the remains of a civil war prison, a monument to those who died here during a small pox epidemic in the 1800's, the site of the Lincoln-Douglass debates and a monument to Elijah P. Lovejoy, as well as many beautiful historic homes. Atop Mount Lookout Park, the highest point in Alton, stands the McPike House. Once a proud addition to the town, the mansion is in need of much repair to restore it to its former glory. The McPike Mansion is private property and trespassing is not allowed. However, tours of the property are conducted on a regular basis and you should contact Sharyn and George Luedke at (618) 462-3348, or the Alton Visitor's Center, for more information. Fact or Fiction: - You tell us. The most Haunted location in Southern Illinois

Related Links:
Prairie Ghost:The History of:
Photos:  - Proof of the place being haunted or just lens flare?
Gateway Ghost Hunters (Good Photos):
Strange Orbs:
More Strange Orbs:

The third stop was the Piasa Park
"I uploaded a lot of pictures of the bird and caverns. Seen a couple of Hawks or Eagles. Tried to make my girlfriend a finger puppet with the dead bird head I found. Which may have been the highlight of the day."

Facts: (Mapped)
The Piasa Bird painting is carved into the bluffs that line the Mississippi River in Alton Ill. Louis Joliet and Father Marquette, in 1673 the two explorers described seeing a painted "flying reptilian dragon". The legendary Piasa Bird was said to have been first painted into the rock by an ancient Indian tribe living near the river. The original archaeological find was moved from place to place as dirt and rock were moved to facilitate the city's growth.

Related Links:
Great River Road:
Prairie Ghost:
Alton Meseum:

"In Summary I have to say that somethin' ain't right in Alton... The people are a little slow and different, more like "disturbed" than like the "simple" people south of here. I don't know if its in the water, or if its generations of people that they let out of the nut house. The one that closed years ago and maybe they just continue to breed."

Big rocks in trees, WTF?

I've heard of cats in trees but 200 pound rocks? - Photos and story by - Mike from Bloomington Indiana. Be sure too check out his site

          Location:  Yellowwood State Forest office (Mapped)
          File Under: UFO's, strange places, red necks, hiking

 From Mike Stamper sent on April 21, 2005
Subject: Gobbler's Rock"

"Have you ever heard of Gobbler's Rock. I have several photos of a couple of the rocks that I've been able to find and spot, although the photos really aren't that great and don't depict the scale of the rocks compared to the trees they are in very well. I can post what I have somewhere if you'd like to see them, although the rocks are something that probably has to be seen in person to be appreciated....

Cheers, Mike"

After receiving the following email I talked Mike into making the 3 mile trek and getting us some new photos of this very strange place. My next trip back to the Midwest I'm going to have to find enougth time to make the trip myself. This place sounds down right bizarre.

"Known to locals as URBs, or Unexplained Resting Boulders, officials can’t explain how the boulders got wedged into the branches in the first place. The huge rocks couldn’t grow upward with the trees because the saplings could not have withstood their weight. The boulders must have been placed high in the trees after their trunks were sturdy enough to support them. - from Brown County Democrat story."

Tonight mike sent the following email.

From Mike Stamper sent on April 25, 2005
Subject: Gobbler's Rock"

"Okay! Here's what I'm sure you've been waiting all weekend to see...big rocks in trees!

The first three photos are not the famous Gobbler's Rock, but some other rock that found it's way up into a tree. I included the first photo because you can see the bottom of the trunk of the tree in the upper-left corner that the rock is in. The trunk is kind of crooked and really stands out from the rest of the trees that have mostly straight-ish trunks. See it yet? It's located about three miles into the Scarce-O-Fat trail in Yellowwood State Forest and well away from any sort of access roads. The other two photos are my attempts to photgraph it.

The rest of the photos are of Gobbler's Rock. I'm not sure what to say about it though. It's a big rock, and it's high up in a tree. Nobody knows how the hell it got up there, and there aren't any sort of clues around  (or on) the tree that would indicate how it got up there. It's something you have to see in person though to appreciate, although it's not as impressive as the other one.

Enjoy! "

Read the story from Brown County Democrat story and tell us how you think the rocks got up there. UFO's Tornados, Nuclear testing, random chaos theories?

Directions to as written in the Brown County Democrat story

Gobbler’s Rock:

To find Gobbler’s Rock from the Yellowwood State Forest office, head north on Yellowwood Lake Road, then turn west on Lanam Ridge Road. From Lanam Ridge Road, turn left onto Indiana 45, and then quickly turn south on Tulip Tree Road. Follow this gravel road about two miles, and park in a small pull-off near the gate.

Using a compass, continue walking south about a half-mile, and look for a cleared, grassy area on the left. Look for an old logging path that leads east from the cleared area, and follow it east and south. Gobbler’s Rock is high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine. (GPS coordinates: N39 12.204, W86 21.955)

All of Mikes photos can be seen here.

Links:

          Road Side America

          Free Republic

          Unexplained Mysteries

          Virtuallystrange.net

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Do you have a story, photos or material to share about this site or something new? Please send contact: Justin Makler

Dead Cats, Long necks and a 1965 Chevy

Dead Cats, Long necks and a 1965 Chevy

          Location:  Gosport Indiana (Mapped)
          File Under: Ghost, strange places, red necks, suicide

My wife's brother used to live in the some backwoods stump of a town called Gosport. I have to admit it's changed quite a bit over the last 15 years but I was still surprised to read that they a little over 700 people now. Gosport is hidden deep in the woods right behind Bloomington and about an hour from Indianapolis. Can you say guns, mullets, 4 X 4's and budwiser long-necks?

We would drive from St. Louis MO to Gosport sometimes after work on a Friday, by the time we would be entering Gosport it would be pitch black, the over arching trees would even block out the moon light. This was such a long creepy drive because by this point we had already worked an 10 hour day and we would be 4 hours into our drive and very red eyed. Not a good place to be driving with droopy eye lids. If you weren't dodging a million deer then you would be dodging locals in their 4X4's that took up 85% of the narrow rocked roads. I'm not sure how many times I almost ended the night in a ditch.  Anyway, right before you enter Gosport you would cross this old bridge and that's how we would know that we weren't lost and this is where my story really begins.

I have two short stories about this bridge the first one let's call it, A Cats Tail.

It was a little after midnight and we were just coming to the bridge when we saw this cute little white kitten running down the center of the bridge. My wife yelled for me to stop so that we didn't scare the little critter into an on coming car or worse yet, scare him off the bridge. I stopped the car in the center of the bridge, the car lights illuminated the entire rusty dump of a bridge. When I stopped the car the kitten stopped as well. He then turned around stared right at us and sat down right there in the middle of the bridge. I decided that I would get out and get the kitten in order to take him to a safer spot. When I opened the car door and walked out in front of the headlights, the kitten made a single meow and walked to the bridges edge. He perched himself on the edge as though he was looking at something in the water and then he was gone. There was no splash, no meow, nothing. The damn thing jumped. I ran to the edge expecting to see the cat floating down river, but nothing. The drop was about 20 feet and you could just barley make out the water. I was convinced that he must have jumped to a supporting beam below the bridge but there weren't any. I'm a realist and don't believe that it was a ghost cat, nor do I think it committed suicide but I'll be damn if I know what the hell happened to that little kitten. I will never forget his face, nor the look on my wife's face when I returned to the car. I still get teased about this story by the locals that know me there, "Seen any suicidal cats lately."

The second story was told to me a couple of the locals and I have no reason to doubt the story after hanging with them for the night. I guess when you live in the middle of nowhere you have to invent your own amusement. If you have ever been to Gosport then you know Kip IS the local amusement. They say you could tell when Kip was going to go out on a hell bent night by the a single wrinkle that would appear on his forehead. Although there are a lot of stories about Kip, the one related to the bridge is about how he used to scale the side of the bridge with a six pack of long-necks. He would then sit there and drink the night away, only coming down once all six had found their way to the bottom of the river. This started a little uproar in the city because people had seen him on several occasions 40 feet over head drinking his beer as they drove through. Although there was a lot of the town that didn't believe the story, the bad shape the bridge was in would be suicide to scale. Kip didn't like to be doubted so he started stealing stuff and leaving atop the bridge, each item bigger and heavier than the last. Items included lawn ornaments, street signs and even a bicycle. The final item was a head off of his 1965 Chevy that hadn't run in years. I'm not sure what a head off of a 65 wieghs but I do know it most likely weighed twice what Kip weighed.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't have believed this story if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes (sumer of 1989). When I made it back this past year, it wasn't there anymore. I asked a couple of the people that knew the story and they said no one knows what happened. Best guess it was blown off by one of the several tornados that have hit the area over the last dozen years or maybe Kip just got tired of the story and finally put that 1965 Chevy back together. - Justin Makler

Couple more photos of the bridge.

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Do you have a story, photos or material to share about this site or something new? Please send contact: Justin Makler

Jesus is watching

 

Jesus is watching - Photos and story by Justin Makler

          Location:  Bethalto Illinois, Roselawn Cemetery.
          File Under: Roadside Attraction, Madison County, Illinois, Cemetery, Religion    

     When I was a kid growing up in the Midwest I had more than one friend who's parents would fall under that category of "religious freak". I'll even admit that I've been to a few religious bonfires in my time. You know when the holy rollers get together and start burning books and record albums in the name of God. I even remember one parent that decided that all "creatures of the night" were a sign of satan. We stood in the backyard and watched as she burned sweatshirts with owls, books about reptiles and even a t-shirt with a snake that read, "Don't tread on me. With all of this said, the following story won't be much of a shock. I was about ten and staying over at a friends house, I can't remember what we were doing at the time, but my friends mother got really upset with us. Began to explain how we had disappointed Jesus. I remember replying something stupid like, "What he doesn't see won't hurt him". This enraged my friends mother, she glowed red. Grabbed me and Ross by our shirt collars and drug us to the car. She drove about 10 minutes to Bethalto Illinois and stopped off at Roselawn Cemetery. She stopped the car just after dusk in front of the following statue. She yelled at us to get out of the car and to apologize to Jesus. "He can't hear you!", she yelled at an earth shattering volume. We both began to cry as we got out a quick heartfelt, "Sorry". She then had us walk around the statue so that we could see that Jesus was watching no matter where we stood.

It's true, the eyes would follow you no matter which angle you were at. Jesus was watching. After getting my drivers license I remember I would drive friends through the cemetery late at night and show them what I learned on that day. Jesus is watching...

My eyes are upon the faithful of the land that they might dwell with me.

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Do you have a story, photos or material to share. Please send contact: Justin Makler