Michigan Roadside Oddities!

July 9, 2015

Part of the charm of a road trip is the wacky, pure Americana things you see along the way. Some of them are quaint, some are eyebrow-raising, some are cause for immediate laughter — and many are simply downright strange. All of them make for great summer memories and there are plenty to start with right here in Michigan. Here’s our guide to a few of the oddest.

PIE PAN PERFECTION

Not one, but two giant pie pans can be found in northern Michigan, symbolizing Traverse City vs. Charlevoix in a battle for… well, nothing much, since both these pie pans are empty. Charlevoix’s was first, and that pie pan was full when this whole thing started.

During the bicentennial celebrations of 1976, Charlevoix businesses and farmers aimed at making the world’s largest cherry pie, which set a world record at 17,420 pounds. Traverse City wasn’t going to take that one lying down, though. In 1987, Chef Pierre Bakeries in TC crafted a 28,350-pound pie, 15 feet in diameter, that the Guinness Book of World Records certified as the largest pie ever. Both of these herculean efforts paled when a town in Canada baked a cherry pie of 37,740 pounds in 1992. Game over.

The pie pans remain a testament to both towns: Charlevoix’s on a circular brick oven pedestal containing a concrete replica pie slice and Traverse City’s accompanied by its official Guinness certificate. Who really won the pie battle? You decide.

World’s former largest cherry pie pan, Charlevoix: 6591 S. US Hwy 31, near the water tower. World’s other former largest cherry pie pan, Traverse City: 3424 Cass Rd.

WHO YOU CALLIN’ A YOOPER?

Far into the Upper Peninsula is a place where true Yoopers form the bulk of the year-round population. These full-time U.P. residents are hardy folk, weathering winters that completely bury them in snow and summers that are as much about fighting giant swarms of mosquitoes as they are about fishin’ and four wheelin’.

To the rest of America, Yoopers are almost as alien as Alaskans, which is where Da Yoopers Tourist Trap comes in to explain it all. You’ll see more than a few stereotypes here, most of which involve belching, beer and inept sportsmanship, but it’s all presented with good humor, from the indoor museum of Yooper Artifacts to the gift shop, which includes a full-length winter coat made of cow hair and an entire section of fart gifts (don’t ask).

But the Yoopers really show their stuff outdoors. This is where you’ll find a collection of junker vehicles Frankensteined together from odd car, lawnmower and snowmo bile parts. Big Gus, the 23-foot long largest working chainsaw in the world makes a heck of a sound when its V8 engine is fired up (the local fear is that the chain will fly off across Highway 41). Big Ernie, claiming to be the world’s largest working rifle, fires rocks wrapped in duct tape. There’s even a signed photo of classic rocker Ted Nugent, too.

Da Yoopers Tourist Trap, Ishpeming: 490 N. Steel Street off US Hwy 41, on da south side of the highway.

BUNYAN TIMES FIVE

Logging is a big deal in Michigan, which is perhaps why legendary folk hero logger Paul Bunyan is equally popular. How else could we explain five Paul Bunyan statues in one state?

Perhaps the best known, or the most visible, is the one that rises tall above I-75 just after you cross the Mackinac Bridge: Paul Bunyan and Babe of Castle Rock. Unlike many other Paul Bunyan statues that depict the logger standing majestically, Paul’s sitting down in this one, gazing pensively toward the lake as Castle Rock towers overhead. Pay $1 to climb Castle Rock and you’ll get a closer look at Paul and Babe, too.

Next up is Alpena’s Kaiser Paul, a 30-foot version made of old Kaiser car parts, mostly fenders and hoods, salvaged from Detroit junkyards. This Bunyan was built for the former Paul Bunyan’s Gas and Eat gas station of Gaylord in the early 1960s and cost around $4,000. Last year, he was sandblasted and repainted.

A little farther south, you’ll find a casual Paul with an axe and a log just hanging out between the highway and the local baseball field in Oscoda. In days past, there was a speaker with a button that you could push to hear the story of Paul and his ox, Babe, but those times are long gone.

In the U.P., you’ll find Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox of Ossineke. Babe was originally a cow built in 1937 and painted white (the legend being that a white cow on a hill meant good luck), but in 1950, new owners bought the property, built Paul in 1953, and painted Babe blue. If you get tired of admiring this particular Paul, you can always wander down the road to Ossineke’s Dinosaur Gardens, a 40-acre park of life-sized concrete dinosaurs and cavemen (often in the throes of battle) and a giant brontosaurus that you can climb inside.

Finally, there’s the 15-foot Paul Bunyan of Manistique, which actually refers to itself as “The Home of Paul Bunyan.” This one holds a double-sided ax aloft to incongruously welcome people to the local chamber of commerce.

Castle Rock’s Paul Bunyan and Babe: west side of N2690 Castle Rock Road, I-75 exit 348. Kaiser Paul of Alpena: 666 Johnson Street on the campus of Alpena Community College, next to the Park Arena. Paul Bunyan of Oscoda: Paul Bunyan Park/ Furtaw Field, east side of US 23, opposite Ottawa Drive Paul Bunyan and Babe of Ossineke: southwest corner of US 23 and Nicholson Hill Road. Paul Bunyan of Manistique: Chamber of Commerce, 1000 West Lakeshore Drive, north side of US 2.

ROLLIN’ INTO DETROIT

Finally, we had to include at least one downstate standout. As a roadside homage to the Motor City, we present The World’s Largest Tire, an 80-foot, 12-ton Uniroyal built to withstand hurricane-force winds and anchored in 24 feet of concrete and steel.

The tire, visible from the freeway, was crafted for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, where it actually served as a massive Ferris wheel, with 24 gondolas inserted where the half-foot-deep treads are today. It was built of a special polyester resin/glass fiber combination to make it flame-resistant.

A few fun facts: in 1998, Uniroyal stuck the tire with an 11-foot-long nail to promote their puncture-resistant Nailgard tire line; the nail was later sold for $3,000 to benefit a charity. It was last refurbished in 2003 at a cost of $1 million and, on May 20 of this year, Uniroyal celebrated the tire’s golden anniversary with a press event that allowed guests to finally tour the inside of the tire itself. And, no, the urban legend that the tire once broke loose and rolled around crushing cars, houses and people is not true.

World’s Largest Tire, Allen Park: I-94, east of Detroit Metro Airport.