Bogus on the Map – Your Favorite Tourist Frauds

 
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“Nessie Wasn’t Here”

I hate to break this to you, but the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie herself, is not real. Yet, every year since 1933, thousands of people have traveled to Scotland to see the amazing creature that isn’t really there. Someone may have done a study about the percentage of people visiting Loch Ness who actually believe in the monster and those who don’t. I didn’t get around to looking that up. Still, I’m pretty sure that quite a number of people who go to Loch Ness because of the monster, don’t believe in the monster.

This year my wife and I have taken on the challenge of visiting a bar in every state and, in the last couple of weeks, we’ve visited bars that also happen to be delightful tourist frauds.

dsc01884In Deadwood, South Dakota, we went to the Old Style Saloon #10. In the bar, they proudly display “Wild Bill’s Death Chair.” If you ask, a bartender might happily point to the place where Wild Bill Hickok sat by the fire — where some still see his ghost. Though it doesn’t take much research on the Internet (or the signs on the street) to learn that almost all the buildings in that section of Deadwood were destroyed by fires in 1879 and 1899. Helpful signs inform tourists that the original #10 was across the street from the current location. But these “facts” don’t keep the current #10 from being a fun place to visit.

A couple of months ago, Fred Cole reported in The Daily Shot about Hanson’s Bar in Robinson, North Dakota. The town now owns the trademark of being the geographic center of North America. Cole may have written about Hanson’s, but he didn’t go there (couldn’t pull himself away from those ritzy New York Libertarian cocktail parties). We did.

dsc06644-1It doesn’t take much digging to find that their claim to actually be the center of the continent is no more legitimate than that of the previous trademark owner, Rugby, North Dakota. But it’s still fun to stand on the sticker that marks “the middle of North America.”

What other historic and geographic tourist locations can be found near you? What are other places that people like to visit, perhaps near you, even though it’s not “real?”

A Bigfoot Museum? UFO Landing Spot? Superman’s Hometown? Include photos if you have them.

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  1. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    The suicide table in Virginia City is real.  Gamblers lost at Faro and a few offed themselves.  We also have Tahoe Tessie from 1800 ft plus Lake Tahoe.

    • #1
  2. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    I have been to Metropolis. :)

    • #2
  3. OldDan Rhody Member
    OldDan Rhody
    @OldDanRhody

    Eustace C. Scrubb: This year my wife and I have taken on the challenge of visiting a bar in every state,

    I checked out your site – a worthy project.  Naturally I had to see what you had to say about a Wisconsin bar.  Yup.  Guess I’ll have to read some others too.

    • #3
  4. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    I once visited Lake Memphremagog in Canada.  I was drawn to the town near there called Magog, of Gog and Magog fame.  There is a monster in the lake called Memphre.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphre

    • #4
  5. michael johnson Inactive
    michael johnson
    @michaeljohnson

    as Old Dan says….your’s is a worthwhile endeavor.

    • #5
  6. Bob W Member
    Bob W
    @BobW

    A recent geo. survey showed that the monument at “four corners” was  not near the actual point AZ,CO,NM and UT meet. The original survey was done quite a while ago with very basic instruments, it was acknowledged that they had done a very good job though.

    The problem was solved by passing a law stating it was.

    • #6
  7. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    The shoot-out at the OK Corral took place in a small vacant lot between the Harwood House and the Fly Boarding House.

    The McLaurey’s and the Clantons left the Dexter Feed and Livery Stable and walked across Allen Street and through the OK Corral and onto Fremont Street. The Earp’s and Doc Holliday left Hafford’s Saloon on the corner of Fourth Street and Allen Street and walked towards Fremont Street. The Earp’s did not enter the Ok Corral. The shoot-out occurred in a small vacant lot two houses away from the corner of Third Street and Fremont Street.

    Tourists pay an admission fee to enter the OK Corral to watch a re-enactment of the infamous shoot-out.

    • #7
  8. michael johnson Inactive
    michael johnson
    @michaeljohnson

    also, I’ll take a good fraud over a myth anyday.

    • #8
  9. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    michael johnson:also, I’ll take a good fraud over a myth anyday.

    We have both as president now.  I’ll have a good draught plus a fifth tomorrow.

    • #9
  10. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    I understand some people believe this:

    building_0

    to be some type of record-sized trailer home.

    That’s a myth. It’s a Presidential library, although I think the stories of  a Bob Guccione and a Hugh Hefner Room containing that President’s casual reading might just be true.

    Seawriter

    • #10
  11. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    Oh I see how the game is played, one more covering it all up.

    Alaska’s mysterious “Ice Monster” sparks comparisons to Loch Ness

    Sure of course you would like me to believe there is nothing going on, not buying it.

    Well maybe, kinda. That does just kind of look like a bunch of frost on a log, but you can’t deny that funky movement. So how’s the trip going?

    • #11
  12. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Doug Watt:The shoot-out at the OK Corral took place in a small vacant lot between the Harwood House and the Fly Boarding House.

    The McLaurey’s and the Clantons left the Dexter Feed and Livery Stable and walked across Allen Street and through the OK Corral and onto Fremont Street. The Earp’s and Doc Holliday left Hafford’s Saloon on the corner of Fourth Street and Allen Street and walked towards Fremont Street. The Earp’s did not enter the Ok Corral. The shoot-out occurred in a small vacant lot two houses away from the corner of Third Street and Fremont Street.

    Tourists pay an admission fee to enter the OK Corral to watch a re-enactment of the infamous shoot-out.

    Although the historical museum in the old court house is excellent, I thought the rest of Tombstone is terrible.  I noticed the same thing about the OK Corral.  Enjoy reading about the Earps in Tombstone though.

    • #12
  13. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    The museum in the old court house is worth the trip. My suggestion would be put that on your list and then head south to Bisbee. Bisbee is worth the trip, Arizona’s version of an Italian hill town. Have lunch on the veranda of the Copper Queen Hotel.

    IMG_0272

    • #13
  14. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    @roberto “So how’s the trip going?”

    It has been going well. We’ve been to 43 states, with 7 left and are on schedule for the last seven. We’ve been meeting good people and having a good time. Thanks for asking!

    (Remaining on the trip: Next week Colorado, then on to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and then back home to state #50, California.)

    • #14
  15. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    The Yogo inn in Lewistown Montana (where I grew up) has a tile on the floor of the swimming pool room, claiming to be the exact geographic center of Montana.

     

    • #15
  16. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    Eustace C. Scrubb:@roberto “So how’s the trip going?”

    It has been going well. We’ve been to 43 states, with 7 left and are on schedule for the last seven. We’ve been meeting good people and having a good time. Thanks for asking!

    (Remaining on the trip: Next week Colorado, then on to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and then back home to state #50, California.)

    Well then it appears I missed your stop in Yakima Washington!

    • #16
  17. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    @ryanm We were in the Seattle area this summer in order to fly to Alaska and Hawaii (Fairbanks in December didn’t sound like a good idea.)

     

    • #17
  18. Jason Rudert Inactive
    Jason Rudert
    @JasonRudert

    A couple suggestions:

    The Owl Bar in Salmon Idaho

    Rays Tavern in Green River Utah.

    Youre going to churches too, right? The Summum Temple in Salt Lake city.

    • #18
  19. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Well. Regarding Nessie.

    When I was a very young child a mysterious stranger (my dad’s old buddy from Toronto who hailed from Dumbarton Scotland) sat me on his knee and told me about a monster he saw in Loch Ness when he fished there as a young man.

    I saw him in 2010 and asked him to confirm. And confirm he did. Seems he had the crap scared out of him and he never fished there again.

    Does the Loch Ness monster exist? I have no idea, even though I’ve been there many times. But I know one old guy who believed. (RIP Pat Docherty)

    P.S. Loch Ness is a lovely spot and Inverness is a lovely town. Many reasons to visit that have nothing to do with monsters.

    • #19
  20. dnewlander Inactive
    dnewlander
    @dnewlander

    My house is one block off from the “Breaking Bad” tour route. And we were actually scouted to be Jesse Pinkman’s house before filming started.

    When I sit in my living room, the two closest “landmarks” are “Tuco’s Headquarters” and “The Dog House” — both locations from Breaking Bad.

    But I also know that I live in the only town in America that has had a hydrogen bomb (live!) dropped on it. (http://www.hkhinc.com/newmexico/albuquerque/doomsday/)

    And Microsoft was founded just down the street: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft

    We have the location of the most famous Final Four: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICZ8HO8c9bw

    And the longest unsupported aerial tram: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_Peak_Tramway

    And, of course, the best food in the entire world:

    Oh, and the ditch witch:

    http://www.adobenido.com/blog/2009/albuquerque/all-souls-day-day-of-the-dead-and-la-llorona/

    • #20
  21. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    We went to Loch Ness when I was 13.  Even though I “knew” it was fake and would tell you it was fake, I still spent as much time as I could staring at the lake to see if it would surface.

    • #21
  22. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Eustace C. Scrubb: What are other places that people like to visit, perhaps near you, even though it’s not “real?”

    Washington, DC?

    • #22
  23. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    @jasonrudert Thanks for the ideas!

    • #23
  24. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    A couple of weeks ago we were tourists in Derry (Northern Island) and took a couple of guided walking tours. The second was a tour that went along the old city wall, which is in good repair and intact.  Part of its history is a 105 day siege in 1689, when the forces of King William were besieged by the Jacobite forces of the ousted King James II, who was trying to get his stuff back.  Our tour guide told us that it was the longest siege in British military history, and the guided tour web site agrees, saying it was the longest siege in Irish and British military history.

    I kept my mouth shut and let our tour guide talk, but I wondered how it compared to the Siege of Detroit in 1763. Later I verified that the Detroit siege was longer – by about a month and a half. One of our party said yes, but that’s America. I pointed out that this part of America was British territory at the time, and the fort was garrisoned by British soldiers.  There weren’t nearly as many people inside, but we’re talking about the longest siege, not the most fatalities.

    So I call fraud. But it’s a good fraud. The tour was well worth the time and money.

    Derry city wall, near the Guildhall

    This photo was taken the previous evening, and shows one of the gates through the wall.

    • #24
  25. AUMom Member
    AUMom
    @AUMom

    Arahant:I have been to Metropolis. ?

    I pulled on Superman’s cape but didn’t spit into the wind.

    • #25
  26. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    By the way, you should post updates more often, so we will be reminded to visit your web site again.

    • #26
  27. Matt Bartle Member
    Matt Bartle
    @MattBartle

    There’s a village south of Buffalo named Hamburg.

    They claim to be the home of the hamburger, and even have an event celebrating it:

    http://www.hamburgburgerfest.com/

    But there are other claimants to the hamburger’s origin, including some place in Germany.

    • #27
  28. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    Delaware. I don’t believe it exists.

    • #28
  29. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    Doug Watt:The museum in the old court house is worth the trip. My suggestion would be put that on your list and then head south to Bisbee. Bisbee is worth the trip, Arizona’s version of an Italian hill town. Have lunch on the veranda of the Copper Queen Hotel.

    IMG_0272

    LOVE Bisbee. Yes, it is hippie central, but there are also bikers and grizzled old miners and cool little B&B’s. Plus it’s a great place to use as an HQ for exploring Tombstone and Kirchner Caverns and Patagonia (great wine to be had in Sonoyta) and Kitt Peak and all of southern Arizona.

    • #29
  30. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    This guy thinks the world revolves around him.

    No, really.

    • #30
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