In terms of searching for giant sculptures as part of our driving road trip, finding two unique attractions in Michigan, USA felt like hitting the jackpot.
Da Yoopers Tourist Trap located just outside of Ishpeming, Michigan, has a souvenir shop, a rock museum and an entire field full of weird, quirky displays. The term "Yooper" refers to variation of English dialect of the people
from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which has Finnish influences,
resulting in phrases like "I'm going mall" instead of "I'm going to the
mall". The souvenir shop sells a small dictionary of Yooper phrases
along with Yooper Tshirts/sweatshirts and other touristy memorabilia
items.
In the field, one area is designated as a deer camp called "Camp Buck-n-Brew", featuring a role reversal where the deers were the hunters and the humans the game. Another section specialized in "Yooper Innovations" such as a "Bicycle Built for Two Old Farts" which puts the riders on a "tandom-like" bicycle that is 5 bike lengths apart so the husband can't hear the wife nagging.
A humourous sign proclaims the Yooperland state bird to be the "Chiquito", a vicious creature that is a cross between a chicken and a mosquito which will attack for blood. In typical Yooper-speak, you are advised that "in case of attack, trow da wife at 'um and run like hell!".
There seemed to be alot of bathroom humour, including a side by side "two-holer" outhouse for deers called the "Deer Depository Station" and another "two-holer" that is stacked one above the other (pity the poor person on the bottom!). You can sit on a chair next to an old-timer who is asking "Who Farted?". "Da Yoopers Internet Travel Da Web Mileage Meter" measures the distance to various popular locations.
Throughout the grounds can be unusual sculptures made from found objects including a coyote-like creature whose body is a bright yellow oil barrow, a car sawed in half and converted into a love seat painted in the colours of the Finnish flag for a festival, a bird made from garden shears and a rake, and a man riding a bicycle with a giant wheel.
Located on Highway 28 about 15 miles east of Marquette, Michigan,
Lakenenland Sculpture Park contains a vast collection of junkyard art, created from scrap iron by artist Tom Lakenland. This delightfully whimsical park is open 7/24 and free to the public. The numerous sculptures are positioned in the forest on either side of a path wide enough for a car to drive through.
The sculptures were so varied in style and content and so interesting that I had to get out of the car to take a closer look and started to walk between them to get better photos. However they went on for so long that eventually I gave up and we drove the rest of the way.
Some of the works had a more serious or political theme, such as the 9-11 memorial, one depicting the American flag and the words "Economy/Jobs, Health Care, Education, Iraq, Taxes ...", a huge pink pig juxtaposition-ed against the tiny "Average American Worker 2004" who has been crapped upon by this "Genuine North American Corporate Greed Pig", and a tribute to the US Marines.
It was amazing to travel through the park and see all the different
varieties of creative sculptures that have been lovingly created. Given
the size and scope of the collection, it is clear that the artist must
really enjoy making them and sharing them with the public.
Lastly, I was extremely impressed and grateful for the makeshift outhouse that was made available in this isolated park in the middle of the highway. It was a cute little wooden hut with an amazingly clean interior, a flush toilet, a homemade urinal and even hand sanitizer and hand cream.
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