Marvin Johnson's Gourd Collection
too late; it closed in 2005
try instead:
Belhaven Memorial Museum
the Belhaven Memorial Museum is in many ways indistinguishable from its countless local museum brethren. It has no money. It has no air conditioning. It's staffed by a nice senior citizen lady who would like to retire, but can't find anyone to take her place.
What makes Belhaven remarkable is that it holds the collections of Mrs. Eva Blount Way, a seriously eccentric woman who simply couldn't throw anything away.
Mrs. Way died in 1962 at age 92, and all the stuff originally in her home was moved to the museum three years later. Her sprawling house, abandoned ever since, crumbles on the outskirts of town. Prospective buyers are probably terrified at the thought of what lies beneath its floorboards.
Exhibits of Note
* Three freak, prenatal babies in jars (given to Mrs. Way by the town doctor)
* Large, pickled tumors retrieved from the local hospital (the biggest weighs ten pounds and fills a ten-gallon aquarium)
* A one-eyed fetal pig, a two-headed kitten, a harelipped dog, and mummified squirrels
* Several snakes killed by Mrs. Way; one stuffed, swallowing a wooden egg, another made into a necktie
* A dress worn by a local 700-pound woman (she died in bed and had to be craned out the window)
* An unspent Civil War shell
* A ten-inch-wide ball of string (saved by Mrs. Way)
* A German W.W.I half-boot (looks like it was amputated along with the foot)
* 30,000 buttons (collected by Mrs. Way)
* A flea bride and groom (may be viewed with a magnifying glass)
* Hideous ingrown toenails and cataracts
* Jars of Mrs. Way's home canned products (now well over 30 years old), including one blob labeled "chicken fat." The museum sells souvenir cookbooks. yum
or possibly
Fields of the Wood
Its centerpiece is the World's Largest Ten Commandments, a 300-ft wide tableaux occupying a mountainside. Though it is tucked into the extreme and obscure western corner of North Carolina, the immense tablets are visible from orbit ... and heaven.
Ten Commandment Mountain Mountain faces Prayer Mountain, where more fit members of the congregation can ascend a long curving stairway to the altar at the top. Along the way, there are 29 important teachings of the Bible explained on headstone-like monuments.
Over on Ten Commandment Mountain, you can clamber up the 350 steps between the tablets (or just drive up the little service road around back). The five-foot tall letters set in the grassy hillside spell out all ten Laws of God. Pose your parents next to No. IV, your kids next to No. VI, your spouse and/or mistress next to No. VII.
At the top, a giant open Bible, called "The World's Largest Testament" supports an observation deck. You can gaze down upon the Baptismal Pool, the Star of Bethlehem, and hedges cut to read: "Jesus Died for Our Sins."
Back at ground level, you can ponder the Golgotha memorial, or discourage children from rolling the circular stone over the entrance to the replica Tomb of Jesus.
maybe something more secular like
World's Largest Chest of Drawers
The original chest of drawers was built in the 1920s by the Chamber of Commerce. The twenty foot tall building-with-knobs served as the local "bureau of information." In 1996, the building was completely renovated and converted into a 38-foot tall Goddard-Townsend block front chest. A real chest was used as a prototype -- it can be viewed in the Lobby of the local visitor information center.
Two gigantic socks dangle from a drawer, officially symbolizing "the city's hosiery industry."
if that was not too exciting for ya, then behold
Shell-shaped Gas Station
Radiant symbol of a bygone era, when fossil fuel seemed happily inexhaustible, this town's shell shaped service station is the last of its kind.
Eight were originally built in the late 1930s by the Quality Oil Company, marketer of Shell Oil. The station, modeled on the brand logo of Royal Dutch-Shell Oil, was constructed of concrete stucco over a bent wood and wire framework.
The clamshell stations serviced gas guzzlers for decades, but were gradually pumped into oblivion by the twin engines of Development and Progress
if you need directions, send me a PM