Top Ten Wacky and Wonderful US Tourist Attractions

The best vacations are the ones that leave lasting impressions. Half the fun of taking a trip to a new place is learning the culture and history of a place through local museums, landmarks, and attractions. Fortunately for U.S. travelers, this country has tons of wild and zany attractions that travelers can stop by and visit when in town or just passing through.

Here are a few of America's wildest tourist attractions--for little to no cost:

Carhenge (Alliance, Nebraska)

Carhenge was built by Jim Reinders. This creation of 38 vintage automobiles is Reinder's now well-known replica of Stonehenge. While the idea is bizarre, the creation is actually surprisingly similar to the original. Cost: free.

The Beer Can House (Houston, Texas)

This lovely house made of beer cans was begun by John Milkovisch in 1968. He began by laying marble, rock and wood landscaping around his home. To pretty things up a little more, he decided to flatten countless cans of beer and use them as aluminum siding with which he covered his entire home. His project went on in various phases over 18 years putting to use over 50,000 beer cans. Admission: $2. Guided tour: $5.

Bishop's Castle (Pueblo, Colorado)

Jim Bishop has worked on this one-man construction project--a castle to be exact--for the last thirty years. The home now stands 130 feet tall. It is not yet finished, however, it does appear to hold the unofficial record as the tallest one-man construction in the United States. Cost: free

Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas)

Millionaire Stanley Marsh III and an architect trio from the Ant Farm group created this monument in 1974 as a temporary display. The fixture has been a tourist attraction since then, and how could it not be? Who wouldn't want to visit ten Cadillacs planted in the ground nose up at the same angle as the Great Pyramids? The site was moved in 1997 and now sits in a cow pasture near Route 66. Visitors are encouraged to bring spray paint to leave their own mark on the legacy of Cadillac Ranch. Cost: free.

The Real London Bridge (London, England to Lake Havasu City, Arizona)

The London Bridge was originally built in 1831 in across the Thames in London, England. London's traffic overwhelmed the structure in the mid 20th century, at which time it was auctioned. Purchased by a wealthy Arizona oil baron for $2,460,000, the bridge was dismantled and rebuilt (for an additional $7 million) in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. This historic treasure spans 950 feet and comes complete with a Tudor backdrop. Cost: free.

Paper House (Rockport, MA)

In 1922, engineer Ellis F. Stenman began building a summer home. He initially intended to use newspaper in the home's foundation, but added little by little until he'd constructed almost the entire home from paper held together with glue and coated with numerous layers of thick varnish.  (The framework and floor of the home are wood, and the roof is shingled--everything else is paper.) He eventually added paper furniture, including a piano, desk and chair, and more. Cost for admission: $1.50.

Gravity Hill (Bedford County, Pennsylvania)

Gravity Hill rests atop the type of beautiful, relaxing country roads that make for a great weekend drive. The difference in this hill and others--here, a car in neutral can roll uphill, rather than downhill. Pour water onto the road, and it will flow uphill. There is a Gravity Hill in Pasadena, California that exhibits similar phenomena--all explained by the superstitious as gravity warps, but by critics as optical illusions. Cost: free.

Mystery Spot (Santa Cruz, California)

The Mystery Spot is surrounded by a slanted shed in which visitors--and lots of them--see oddities such as objects rolling up a plank rather than down, people who appear to be leaning at a 45-degree angle while claiming they are standing upright, and many other fun and unusual sights. Cost: $5 to visit and $5 to park.

Grotto of the Redemption (West Bend, Iowa)

Father Paul Dobberstein built his Grotto of the Redemption from precious gemstones and concrete as a shrine to the Virgin Mary for healing him from pneumonia. With a value of over $4 million, this shrine is not only visual stunning but also the world's largest collection of minerals and petrified material. The site took 50 years to build, spans the length of a football field, and hosts 100,000 visitors each year. It is believed that that this grotto inspired others like the Dickeyville Grotto in Wisconsin, visited by 50,000 annually. Cost: No specific amount, but donations are encouraged.

The World's Largest Ball of Twine (Cawker City, Kansas)

For travelers who like to see the best and the most, perhaps the world's largest ball of twine should be added to the list of to-see and to-do's on the next road trip. The creator, Frank Stoeber, began the project in the early 1950s and worked on it for ten years until he passed away. But the work didn't stop there. An annual town festival includes twine-winding each year to "keep the ball rolling" if you will. Cost: free.

What interesting landmarks have you seen while on a recent vacation? Any you'd recommend visiting? Please let us know in the comments below.