Your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Show-Me State has to offer! Whether you’re a born-and-raised Missourian, a recent transplant, or just passing through, Missouri Curiosities will have you laughing out loud as Josh Young takes you on a rollicking tour of the strangest sides of the Show-Me State. Wander with tigers at the world’s only big cat bed-and-breakfast, browse through America’s only corncob pipe museum, and swim in the world’s largest underground lake. Meet some crazy catfish-catching noodlers; a wacky-artwork-welding artist; and a pint-size, punch-packing former wrestling champ. Discover the fun of swinging sausages while you dance, and duel with dinosaurs—you’ll roar with delight!

Each fun and intriguing volume in the award-winning series offers more than 250 illustrated pages of places where tourists usually don't venture: the oddball curiosities, ghostly sites, local legends, crazy characters, cursed roads, and peculiar roadside attractions.

"Examines the historical and cultural significance of Missouri caves, describing ways that people have used them historically for shelter, cold storage, burials, moonshine stills, mining, and even as hideouts for Civil War soldiers and outlaws including Jesse James. Describes growing public appreciation and conservation of these unique and beautiful resources"--Provided by publisher.

"The Ozark Mountains reach into Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, forming a region with great natural beauty and a distinctive cultural and historical landscape. This comprehensive volume, a fully updated edition of a beloved classic, reaches into history, anthropology, economics, and geography to explore the complex relationships between the Ozarks' people and land through times of profound change. Drawing on more than thirty years of research, field observations, and interviews, Rafferty examines this subject matter through a range of topics: the settlement patterns and material cultures of Native Americans, French, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Italians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in the region; population growth; the guerrilla warfare and battles of the Civil War; the cultural transformations wrought by railroads, roads, mass media, and modern communication systems; the discovery, development, and decline of the great mining districts; the various forms of agriculture and the felling of the region's vast forests; and the built landscape, from log cabins to Victorian mansions to strip malls. This new edition also explores the new and potent forces which have reshaped the region over the last twenty years: tourism and the growing service industry, suburbanization, rapid population growth and retirement living, and agribusiness. Lavishly illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs, maps, and charts."--Publisher's description.

The definitive collection of South Dakota's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for South Dakota residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.

Most visitors know all about Kansas City’s barbecue, jazz, and football success, but there are hidden gems and wild pieces of trivia around every turn in Missouri’s largest city. Is the giant Hereford bull anatomically correct? Can a seed that’s been to outer space still grow into a normal tree? And who really killed President William Henry Harrison? You’ll find answers to the questions you didn’t know you had in Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Learn why three completely unrelated groups have chosen Kansas City as the center of the world and the place you want to be when the world ends. Between these covers, you’ll also find castles, a horse buried in a cul-de-sac, a ghost who likes a good laugh, and the world’s longest snake. This is not a tour guide for outsiders; it’s a scavenger hunt—insiders only, please. Longtime Kansas Citian Anne Kniggendorf is at your service to bolster your love and boost your respect for this middle-of-the-map city. With her eye for the odd leading the way, you’ll have a great time discovering Kansas City.