The "first cat," "first dog," and even a presidential pygmy hippo all get their due in this museum.

This eye-catching sculpture of rural life seems a bit out of place at a suburban intersection in front of a car dealership.

Get up close and personal at this Fresnel Lens.

A whopping 14,000 copper coins cover this miniature fighter jet.

The iconic statue was moved to a new spot overlooking the James river after several years as a mascot for the local baseball team.

Nine of the very few concrete ships ever made in the U.S. are beautifully decaying off a Virginia pier.

Heron, whitewater rapids, and urban industrialism all add to the beauty of this concrete nature walk.

Exact replica of the ancient monument, but much, much lighter.

Outsider art meets paleontology at this roadside reptile repository.

A 300-yard long natural tunnel runs through a ridge deep in the Appalachian Mountains.

Giant busts of 42 U.S. presidents are sitting in a field in Virginia.

Andy Griffith's hometown has made itself up to look like the fictional town of Mayberry.

This multi-story wooden waterpark offers homemade thrills.

The author's beautiful and historic home is also a fully functioning goat farm.

A vast collection of everyday items amassed by one man.

Inside this old train depot resides a multi-line model train covering western North Carolina.

This ceremonial mound is one of the first officially recognized Native American historical sites in North Carolina.

The only known Futuro house in North Carolina sits along a stretch of desolate highway on the Outer Banks.  .

North Carolina's finest examples of Native American pictographs have survived for 5,000 years.

The highest point in Tennessee, Clingmans Dome bears witness to the ravages of one type of insect.

Mysterious ancient boulder carved with petroglyphs in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

This small exhibit explores the lives of Chang and Eng, the first known conjoined twins.

Garden dedicated to native carnivorous plants and site of huge flytrap heist.

The "mysteries" of this quintessential roadside oddity were almost destroyed by neglect but were saved by fans of kitschy wonder.