Jaunting around America and Canada can be a visual adventure. But to truly experience the kitschy side, sometimes you need to meander the back roads. That's where you'll find giant roadside statues, fascinating collections, and these unusual attractions.

1. World's Largest Ball of Twine

Determining the world's largest ball of twine can be difficult. But the hands-down winner in the solo winder category has to be the nearly 9-ton 11-foot-tall hunk of string on display in Darwin, Minnesota. Francis Johnson spent four hours a day between 1950 and 1979 rolling the ball. He used a crane to hoist the ever-expanding ball as it grew, to ensure uniform wrapping.

Another ball in the running is the 1,300-mile-plus length of string originally rolled by Frank Stoeber of Cawker City, Kansas. From 1953 until his death in 1974, Stoeber diligently wound this twine ball. Every August, Cawker City hosts a festival during which anyone can add a bit of twine to the ball, so it now outweighs the one in Darwin, but it has had more than one person working on it.

2. Coral Castle

Coral Castle was the brainchild of Edward Leedskalnin, who was jilted by his fiancée the day before their wedding. Crushed by the rejection, Leedskalnin moved from his home in Latvia and set out to build a monument to his lost love. The result was Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida. Without any outside help or heavy machinery, the distraught lover sculpted more than 1,100 tons of coral into marvelous shapes. The entry gate alone is made of a single coral block weighing nine tons. The fact that Leedskalnin was barely five feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds adds to the feat.

The Jolly Green Giant resides in Minnesota.

3. Paul Bunyan Statues

There are enough Paul Bunyan statues around the continent to delight any teller of tall tales. Representations of the big fella -- known for his ability to lay down more trees in a single swath of his ax than any contemporary logging firm -- can be found wherever there have been logging camps.

One of the most memorable statues is located in Bangor, Maine, the lumberjack's alleged birthplace, where a 31-foot-tall, 37,000-pound Paul shows off his ax and scythe. Other statues, such as those in Klamath, California, and Bemidji, Minnesota, show Bunyan accompanied by his faithful companion, Babe the blue ox.

Ever been to a corn palace, seen a giant green man, or been inside a giant elephant? Find out where you can do all this and more on the next page.