These places might not be perfect for your family vacation.
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Odd Ball Museum #1
Tour L. Ron Hubbards House in Arizona – Cost: Free
As if you hadn’t heard enough of the insanity that is Scientology from Tom Cruise and the gang, now you can visit the home of the founder of the evil brainwashing cult religion. It’s sort of like a trip to Bethlehem to see the manger that Jesus was born in, only it’s a home built in the 1940’s and… um… that’s it. Nothing magical, no picture opportunities, no awesome collectible spoons or magnets. It’s just a house, probably like your own grandparents home.
The house is located at Camelback in Phoenix, Arizona. And that’s where the interesting facts pretty much taper off to nothing. What can you do at L. Ron Hubbard’s House the birthplace of Scientology? How about a tour of his living room where he met with students and demonstrated the newly developed E-Meter. Cruise on by his bedroom where his desk holds pens, notes, and even Hubbard’s actual dictaphone. And no, we didn’t make up the word “dictaphone”, and yes we know it sounds like a penis that works as a phone.
The Dickphone, by Acme!
A visit to Camelback will walk every Scientologist through the footsteps of the man who “forged the path to spiritual freedom” right to the bathroom where Hubbard took his shits.
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Odd Ball Museum #2
Toilet Seat Art Museum, Arlington Texas – Cost: A Phone Call To Set Appointment
Everyone certainly enjoys a good toilet seat. We’re big fans of those cushioned ones like they have at our Grandma’s place. It’s like sitting on the couch while doing our business and if you take a beer and a good book in there with you, there’s no reason to leave.
But, as much as we like toilet seats, we don’t have shit on Barney Smith. He runs a Toilet Seat Art Museum out of his home in Texas, full of his self created Toilet Seat Art. Smith has been designing, carving, painting (and assorted other art words) toilet seats for around 40 years. We can only guess at what inspired Mr. Smith to take up toilet seat art, but basic theory around here seems to point in the direction of “lights off and forgetting to put the seat up.” You’ll find around 645 different seats in Barney Smith’s museum, decorated with everything from state license plates to a genuine marijuana leaf to a group of dead hornets. Smith said “One of them stung me on my head, and I just said, I’ll put you on my toilet seat”. Perhaps it would be best not to cross this gentleman unless you want end up mounted on a toilet seat and the subject of a horror film.
Barney is 81years old and started the museum up while working as a plumber stating that he “was comfortable with the medium.” Comfortable, like the cushioned seats at Grandma’s!