Welcome to Weird and Wacky Virginia.

The Virginia Tourists Guide is the most comprehensive travel and tourism information guide for Weird and Wacky Virginia. Every state has peculiar attractions and destinations, and Virginia is not different in that respect. However, the weird sites in Virginia are distinctly Virginian, and you will find it here on the Virginia Tourists Guide.

White Post - Virginia's Dinosaur Land is home to about 37 fiberglass prehistoric creatures ranging in height from 3- to 30-feet tall and as long as 90 feet. The man who built Dinosaur Land in the 1960s was Joseph Geraci, and his resulting masterpiece looks strikingly like Jurassic Park. Be sure to bring your camera and plenty of film to this quirky attraction.

Strasburg - The Jeane Dixon Museum & Library is devoted to the psychic who was best known as, “The Psychic Who Predicted Kennedy's Assassination”. Born Jeane Pinckert in Medford, Wis., she left her estate to the Wayside Foundation of American History and Arts started by Leo Bernstein, who lives in the area. Perhaps she foresaw that a museum in her memory would be most suitable in lovely Virginia.

Luray - Luray Caverns is home to the World's Largest Musical Instrument, a stalacpipe organ that plays Oh, Shenandoah. Mr. Leland Sprinkle explored the vast chambers in the caverns searching for the perfect music tones on the stalactites in 1954. He then wired the stalactites with rubber-tipped mallets and connected the individual wires to an organ. Something very special awaits visitors when they hear the cavernous tune. Mr. Sprinkle's name probably influenced his choice of hobbies, as driplets of moisture actually cause the formation of the stalactites themselves! Note to photographers: Be sure to put an upright person in your pictures so you can tell afterwards whether you shot stalactites or stalagmites.

Shenandoah Caverns - Where in the world can tourists go to see retired parade floats and big slices of bacon all in the same location? Impossible, you say? Well, not so in Virginia! Go to Shenandoah Caverns after breakfast and by lunchtime get your picture taken on a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float at American Celebration on Parade!

Natural Bridge - It's been described as "Scooby Doo meets the Twilight Zone." Professor Cline's Haunted Monster Museum is full of sound and light effects and mazes with a Willy Wonka appeal. "There's no blood," said Mrs. Cline, the mad professor's public relations rep, "no guts or body parts, either." She said kids as young as 6 are tickled with the museum's displays, so it depends on the individual fear factor. Tickets are $5 per person, and children under age 5 are free. So, jeepers, gang, let's go, rokay?

Natural Bridge - See Professor Cline's Foamhenge, a complete replica of England's Stonehenge, but totally made out of foam! This massive masterpiece opened unofficially on April Fool's Day and ready for bus loads of tourists! Bring your camera; fool your friends!

Lexington - To see a famous stuffed horse like "Trigger," visit Virginia Military Institute Museum where Little Sorrel is a wonder horse of taxidermy. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was riding Little Sorrel when he was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville in 1863. Little Sorrel died 23 years later at the age of 36. Little Sorrel's bones were cremated and interred on the VMI grounds in 1997. You can ask where those bones had been kept for 130-odd years when you visit.

Fredericksburg - The Lacy family cemetery at Ellwood is the final resting place for Gen. Stonewall Jackson's amputated arm.The cemetery is now part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Visitors who wish to visit the arm grave must first check in at the Chancellorsville Battlefield visitor's center.Civil War buffs can tell you all the why-fors surrounding the decision to bury his arm separate from the body . . .

Arlington - Another unusual place to visit is the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum — the only museum in the nation devoted to drugs, drug abuse and drug-law enforcement. Located across from The Pentagon, visitors can learn the history of illegal drugs in America from the opium dens of the 1800s, the '60s drugs — marijuana, amphetamines and psychedelics — to present day designer-type drugs. Enjoy replicas of a drug store, head shop and crack house! Also, be sure to visit the gift shop featuring DEA Beanie Babies, DEA Christmas ornaments and fine DEA jewelry with the Special Agent emblem. Only in America . . .

Alexandria - Another offbeat museum is the John Q. Adams Center for the History of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free! One of the most bizarre implements is a set of Chinese ear-cleaning instruments with two scrapers and a pair of tweezers linked together on a chain, possibly to hang from your belt loop to keep it handy. Some of the cool exhibits include an Introduction to Tracheotomy, Hearing Aids Through the Ages, Rhinoscopy Tools Through the Ages and Early Tonsillectomies.

Sperryville - Mead was man's first fermented drink, popular in the Old Country where your ancestors lived. The Smokehouse Winery specializes in making this wine out of honey instead of grapes and is the only meadery in Virginia! The meadery is open for tours every weekend, noon-6 p.m. Did you know that barrels-full of mead makers are spouting up around the country? Mead has about 10-12 percent alcohol, compared to wine's 8-10 percent and beer's 4-8 percent . . . could be the reason.

Arlington - Almost all of them are in Russia, but there's a headless Vladimir in Virginia, too! Go to Freedom Park in Arlington and see it toppled over next to segments of the Berlin Wall.

Bealeton - See the Flying Circus Airshows in Fauquier County every Sunday from May - October. Just like the old Barnstormer shows, you'll thrill to the whirling daredevil stunt pilots, crazy wing-walkers like in the 1920s and skydivers and hot-air balloons falling out of the sky! You can even pay to ride in a biplane after the show.

Bedford - It is quite amazing what people can accomplish on 250 acres with some divine inspiration!Visitors to Virginia can actually visit the Holy Land and take a 3-mile journey through the Biblical lands of Israel. Holy Land USA traces the steps of Jesus from his birth in Bethlehem to his ascension from the Mount of Olives in Bedford. Visitors can take self-guided walking tours for free — which is pretty miraculous in this day and age — or they can ride in an air-conditioned vehicle with a qualified Holy Land guide for about $10 per person. Reservations are required for the guided tours. Also, see Joseph's carpenter shop and drink from Mary's well. The gift shop offers everything to sustain body and soul — devotional items, souvenirs and snack machines.

Richmond - Ever hear of a kugel? Us, neither! But we've got a kugel in Virginia! Just head on over to the Science Museum of Virginia to see it up close. Touch it, make it move, kiss it like the Blarney Stone. You won't believe it! While you're there, see some other weird things inside!

Amelia - Find those gems and take home a 5-gallon bucket full of them for just the price of admission to the Morefield Gem Mine! The tourquoise-colored amazonite is plentiful here. Other gems include garnet, topaz, feldspar, pyrite, quartz and a huge mound of polished marble, like stepping stones for your garden. Closed from mid-July to late September. Try to get there around noon, when the tailings are brought up from the mine!

Surry - In July, Chippokes Plantation State Park is the site for this popular festival named after three of Virginia's primary "P" products — the Pork, Peanut & Pine Festival. Lofty Loblolly Pines surround the park, and a barnyard of exhibits honor industries related to pork, peanuts and pine. Visitors can buy pork chops, pork rolls, pork rinds, cracklings, ham, sausage and barbecue pork along with salted peanuts, peanut candy and peanut pie for dessert. Other attractions include more than 200 arts and crafts booths and entertainment by country, bluegrass and gospel groups. You'll get a kick out of this panegyric event!

Waverly - See a peanut-sized museum devoted to the Virginia peanut at The First Peanut Museum. See peanut artifacts, such as peanut critters, antique peanut tools and peanutty displays of local products for sale down the road at peanut shops. Waverly is where the very first commercial peanut crop was grown in 1842. Did you know that the peanut is not really a nut? It's a legume like a pea!

Virginia Beach - Also in July, is the Mid-Atlantic Hermit Crab Challenge that begins with a beauty pageant for the Miss Curvaceous Crustacean. The pageant is followed by preliminary racing heats to qualify hermit crabs for the Championship Race and the coveted Order of the Mercury Claw trophy! This, like most all Virginia Beach events, is free and open to all hermit crabs, their sponsors and adoring public. If you don't know a hermit crab, you can buy one from one of many shops along Atlantic Avenue.

Williamsburg - Presidents Park aka Presidents' Heads Park is filled with gigantic heads of all the U.S. presidents. No bodies, just heads.

Chincoteague - Ever hear of saltwater cowboys? Instead of rounding up herds on the western plains, Virginia's cowboys round up about 150 wild ponies from Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and swim them across a 100-yard channel at the Annual Pony Swim & Auction. This incredible feat is something that everyone must see to believe! The ponies are the cutest little critters and appear somewhat chubby due to their diet of wild marsh grasses and lots of water. The first foal to reach the shore is named King or Queen Neptune. Also, while you're in town, stop by the Beebe Ranch where the real Misty of Chincoteague is stuffed along with her foal Stormy, a real offbeat attraction well deserving of your time and attention.

Wachapreague - Wouldn't you love to tell your friends that you plan to vacation at the
Wreck and Bone Island Natural Area Preserve? Sounds like a really spooky pirate haunt, doesn't it? It's only open to people during Sept. 1-April 14, and is accessible from the town of Oyster.

Big Stone Gap- is a city in Virginia as well as the title of a book by Adriana Trigiani. The book is about fictional pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan, who worked at the Mutual Pharmacy and served as a director in the Trail of the Lonesome Pine outdoor theatre. See other landmarks mentioned in this best-selling book when you visit the town. Folks in Big Stone Gap love talking about "Adrie" — who actually grew up in Big Stone Gap in the '70s — and the bizarre characters in the book based on real live townsfolk!

Floyd - Remember reading about the old-time general store, where folks stopped by to play checkers, catch up on the local gossip and get a cold coke from the cooler? Well, the Floyd Country Store was that place you read about and is now home to the Friday Night Jamboree with mountain music and dancing. Folks in Floyd invite y'all to sit a spell. If you can't get inside, just meander down the street a bit and listen to one of the many groups playing outside. The Washington Post described Floyd as "somewhere along the way to the 4-H Fair, Floyd took a left turn into the Age of Aquarius." Also, "It's a place where there's a united interest in preserving Floyd's unique and quirky character"!

Bristol - Depending upon what side of the street you're standing on, you could be in Bristol, Tennessee or Bristol, Virginia. The town is run by two separate governments! Bristol is the place where country music was born, and both southern states can take credit. Visit the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance Museum while you're there, and have fun sleeping in one state, eating in another, going back to the first state, and then picking up souvenirs from both! And who says you don't know how to party?

Oak Ridge - Last but not least of weird and wacky wonders is the Goat Walk at Westmoreland Berry Farm. Seeing is believing! These aren't mountain goats like seen in the alps, but just typical farm goats that climb up 20 feet off the ground just to get a Cheeto.

If you are traveling to Weird and Wacky Virginia, there are many attractions to entertain you. The Virginia Tourists Guide can help you when planning your trip.