Secret Salt Lake City A Guide To The Weird Wonderful And Obscure

Where can you find a chunk of the Matterhorn enshrined at a Utah ski resort? What is the origin of Josepa, the Hawaiian ghost town in the desert? And why is Utah called the Beehive State? You hold in your hands the answers to these questions and more in this guide to the oddities, wonders, myths, and legends of Utah’s capital city. Secret Salt Lake City opens a window into the weird, the bizarre, and the obscure secrets of the city, some of which are hiding in plain sight. Founded by religious pioneers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1847, its one-of-a-kind origin story makes Salt Lake City a rich backdrop for frontier grit, culture, and curious relics. Did you know that there is an alphabet hidden in your computer that was invented in Salt Lake City? What is the significance of the religious symbols on the Salt Lake Temple? And how did Sherlock Holmes solve a fictional mystery in London that originated in Utah? Lifetime resident and author Jeremy Pugh and Mary Brown Malouf unlock these mysteries and more to pull back the curtain on the secrets of Salt Lake City. This isn’t your traditional guidebook, and it will enrich your visit to the Crossroads of the West.

Take a journey to explore hidden nooks and crannies, that you never knew existed in Cleveland, without leaving your home. Haunted locales, “World’s largest”, odd sights, noteworthy inventions, unique foods and more exist among the pages of Secret Cleveland: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure. Discover where you can: •find a cure for your cravings •see a weeping angel •visit Lake Erie whales •walk in the footsteps of giants •take a bridge to nowhere•explore roadside attractions •visit the crypt of an ex-president •learn about a misplaced historical marker If you dare, take a leap down rabbit holes you never knew existed as you tour through ninety often overlooked gems in the greater Cleveland area. From bizarre to funny to surprising, you’ll learn what makes Cleveland such a diverse and interesting destination to visit or call home. Never a boring moment, Secret Cleveland is a literary trip that will keep you wondering what you’ll discover on the next page as it walks you through attractions in Greater Cleveland, Bay Village, Lorain, and Medina, to name a few.

Did you know ...that a hidden room exists behind Abraham Lincoln s head on Mt. Rushmore? ...that North Carolina was almost accidentally destroyed in a nuclear holocaust? ...that the Mason-Dixon Line had nothing to do with dividing north from south? ...that Major League Baseball once hosted a single game between three different teams? ...that there is a designated state highway in Michigan where cars are not allowed? ...that 21 people were once killed by a 15-foot wave of molasses that devasted a Boston neighborhood? ...that the National Security Agency has a gift shop with logoed merchandise? Whether you want to visit the New York grave where Uncle Sam is buried, stop by the future hometown of Star Trek's Captain Kirk in Iowa or see the room in California where the Internet was created, Secret America: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure is your ticket to some of the nation's least-known but most interesting spots. It is here where you can explore a historical marker dedicated to Barack and Michelle Obama's first kiss, find out how to acquire logoed merchandise at the National Security Agency's gift shop or examine why Case Western Reserve University has such an unusual name. Secret America is a look at the United States as you've never seen it before a tourist guide that gives you answers to the questions no tourist ever never knew they were supposed to ask. If you are tired of trying to enliven dull family roadtrips searching backroads for the World's Largest Ball of Twine, this is a handbook for truly interesting sites that can transform any cross-country adventure into a tour of the unique spots that make America the odd but fascinating nation that it is.

Whether you are exploring the rabbit warren of rooms that comprise Mystery Castle, hiking the steep, jagged face of Piestewa Peak named after the country's first female Native American killed in combat, or standing among the towering saguaro cacti found only in the Sonoran Desert, it is hard to avoid adventure with a copy of Secret Phoenix: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure in your backpack. This book traverses the historical, geographical and cultural landscape of an unlikely city that has risen from the dust of an ancient civilization to be the sixth largest city in the U.S. From the native peoples who first established the vital canals of yore to the lungers plagued with tuberculosis who flocked to the dry, dry desert to find some relief to the builders, engineers and architects who created the highways and skyline you see today, the city's story is one of survival, innovation and rugged determination. A new and eager city bent on growth, Phoenix has often eschewed history for the sake of progress and over time has lost too much of its heritage; however, for those who look closely, ask the probing questions and choose to explore, there is a history (and a future) to be found. From Glendale to Tempe, Scottsdale to Goodyear, Chandler to Carefree, this book is an examination of metropolitan Phoenix through the bits and pieces left behind and the new spaces and places just beginning to take shape.

Did you know that there’s a Connecticut hotel room with a real helicopter inside? Can you guess who inspired the character of Indiana Jones, who was president before George Washington, and who flew before the Wright Brothers? Find the state’s most interesting and offbeat stories in Secret Connecticut: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Are you interested in taking a safari or racing a chariot? Had you ever heard that Martin Luther King Jr. spent two summers in Connecticut? Included are more than eighty engaging stories that provide insight into one of America’s oldest states. Inside are tales of pirates, an underground prison, and a possessed doll. Aren’t you curious about the spectacular stained glass church that was unknowingly built in the shape of a fish by a famous architect? From the world’s smallest Native American reservation to professionally coiffed cows and a replica of Marie Antoinette’s palace, you’ll find intrigue around every corner of this small but surprising state. Author Anastasia Mills Healy brings to life the long history of intriguing people, places, and events that will fascinate even life long residents of Connecticut.

Where in Charlotte can you… - get up-close with the “Miracle on the Hudson” plane? - indulge in conspiracy theories about occult symbols in public murals? - see a giant head sculpture by a notorious Czech artist? - eat something called burgushi? - hear a parking garage that sings? - watch a giant dragon blow smoke? - visit the grave of cojoined twin sisters who were the inspiration for a Broadway musical? Whether you’re riding at top speeds around the 24-degree bank of a NASCAR track turn, exploring the history of Charlotte’s gold rush and the 17-pound nugget that started it all, or eating ice cream at a Dairy Queen that’s a designated historic site, it’s impossible to be bored in the Queen City with a copy of Secret Charlotte: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. From delightful surprises to hair-raising theories, in these pages you’ll find answers to the questions around town you didn’t even know you had. Filled with fascinating—and often bizarre—stories about the locales that define Charlotte’s culture and history, this is the city’s ultimate scavenger hunt.

Secret San Antonio: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure is an offbeat cultural guide to one of America's most fascinating and least-understood cities, a metropolis older than the United States. It's a tour in book form for SA natives, intrepid tourists and weird history buffs by a hometown girl and self-described "San Antonio nerd." Mosey down this twisted trail of bloody battles, romantic intrigues, true crime, hauntings, secret heroes, brujería, political shenanigans, odd factoids, bar culture, chili queens, and contemporary culture. You'll never look at a coonskin cap the same way again.

Where in St. Louis can you… …picnic at a radioactive waste dump? …learn what West County Center’s famous dove really represents? …visit the grave of the man who burned Atlanta? …join a nudist resort? …view a cube comprised of a million dollar bills? …see a piece from New York’s Twin Towers? …find out exactly what a Billiken is? Whether you are piloting a simulated barge on the Mississippi River, exploring the hidden history of Abraham Lincoln’s bizarre swordfight in St. Charles County or eating a ten-pound apple-pie in Kimmswick inspired by the Great Flood of 1993, it is hard to get bored with a copy of Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. By turns wistful and whimsical, this is a book which answers the questions you never knew you had about St. Louis while taking readers on a whirlwind tour through 97 unique but often little-known spaces and places that can’t be found anywhere else. A tourist handbook for people who thought they never needed one, “Secret St. Louis” provides a scavenger hunt of hidden gems traversing the somber, strange, surprising and silly locales which define the culture and history that make St. Louis such a diverse and amazing place to call home. From Weldon Spring to Wildwood, from Overland to O’Fallon, from Bellefontaine to Bridgeton, this is an exploration of St. Louis’s odds and ends like no other.