It’s true that the world is a freakish place and not all of its weirdness is good, but Ripley’s Believe it or Not! museums do a fantastic job at reminding us that there is fun in letting your freak flag fly. Now, San Francisco, home of what was the longest suspension-built bridge when it opened to traffic in 1937, not to mention the birthplace of hippiedom, has reopened its Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Odditorium on Fisherman’s Wharf after $5 million in renovations.
There, the curious public can see a replica of that famous Golden Gate Bridge made out of a single toothpick or a ball of hair weighing in at 167 pounds. And its newest attractions include the Marvelous Mirror Maze, which has 200 mirrors arranged in a boggling 2,000-square-foot labyrinth and more than 70 other new interactive and hands-on exhibits.
OK, so maybe your childhood summer vacations did not include a stop at the Ripley’s Believe it or Not! museum in St. Augustine, Fla., but mine did and I am not at all embarrassed to say that I thought that place was freakin’ awesome (and maybe haunted, for real). A Ferris wheel made out of Erector sets! Yes!!! It is the oldest Odditorium in what now numbers 21 Ripley’s attractions in North America and 10 more between Bangalore and Tokyo. Where else can you find a masterpiece Mona Lisa made entirely out of burnt toast or a car in which an earthquake survivor spent 89 hours under tons of rubble before being rescued in 1989?
Yes, thanks to a franchise founded by Robert LeRoy Ripley, summer vacations can include a visit to emporiums stuffed with bizarre and odd treasures that express all that is weird, wonderful, or wacky in the world.
Photo by Ryan Somma via Flickr.