Oddball Ohio is not a typical travel guide by any means. Rather, this book is designed for tourists who like their
attractions far off the beaten path. Of the tips this book suggests for tracking down some of the sites, the one about asking locals for help is certainly the best. Crusty old men at diners are much more knowledgeable about their town’s one claim to fame than teenagers at the station, so choose your surrogate guide carefully! Also, it is important to call many of the museums before you try to visit; these small and unusual places run by locals and families often keep irregular hours.
The
sites are broken down into seven major areas of Ohio, all with starred maps of the region. The chapters Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus give you a pretty good idea of exactly how far away from where you’re staying the attractions can be found.
Although the book lists hundreds of
strange things to see, there are some definite highlights. Apparently in Ohio, there is a
museum for everything. The bathroom museum, hearing aid museum,
celebrity eyeglass museum, and medical instruments museum are all some of the things Ohioans have chosen to dedicate museums to. My personal favorites are the museum that poses old wax celebrity figures in Bible scenes (Elizabeth Taylor fishes Moses out of the river!) and the museum devoted to the first eight presidents of the United States under the Articles of Confederation (George Washington was actually the ninth!).
Several of the world’s largest things can be found in Ohio, including the world’s largest picnic basket, chair, FREE stamp, cockroach, and cuckoo clock.
The truly strange include a field of corn sculptures, the
Great Pumpkin water tower, a two-headed calf, and a house built like a spaceship.
For the more morbid traveler, Ohio offers plenty of ghost sighting opportunities, the burial site of a man who’s dead body hung out in a funeral home for several years, and
historic murder sites.
The men's tour listed at the end of the book guides you through more testosterone-filled tourist sites. The manly suggestions include historic places to eat fast food, see classic cars, and learn about Clark Gable.
Even if you aren’t planning a trip to Ohio any time soon, this is a great book just to read for the heck of it. It will certainly make you wonder what you don’t know about your own state’s oddball attractions.
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