Strange Tourist Attractions, 9-12

Did you find your perfect vacation spot in the 8 strange tourist attractions on the previous pages? If not, here are the last few for inspiration.

9. Chuck the Channel Cat

Chuck the Channel Cat flips his tail at visitors cruising past his statue in Selkirk, Manitoba. Erected in 1986, the two-ton, 25-foot-tall monument to the area's enormous catfish greets visitors with a smile. Chuck's mission: to help promote Selkirk as the "Catfish Capital." It's a well-deserved title -- anglers on the Red River regularly reel in catfish up to 30-plus pounds.

10. Superman Statue

Metropolis, in far southern Illinois, has nothing to fear these days because Superman lives there. In 1972, the town decided to capitalize on its famous name and subsequently adopted the moniker, "Hometown of Superman." A seven-foot-tall statue was erected in 1986, only to be replaced in 1993 by a more impressive 15-foot bronze monument. In 2008, a statue of Lois Lane will be erected next to her hunky beau in Superman Square.

11. Crazy Horse Memorial

The Crazy Horse Memorial in Crazy Horse, South Dakota, is a labor of love that sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began in 1948 to honor the great Native American leader. Ziolkowski's life's work (until his passing in 1982), the sculpture is likely the most ambitious roadside project ever undertaken. Ziolkowski's family continues the project, but the statue remains very much a work in progress. The carving is a depiction of the legendary warrior on horseback and will measure 641 feet long by 563 feet high when completed.

12. House on the Rock

Resting atop a 60-foot stone formation in Spring Green, Wisconsin, the House on the Rock is one of the best-known architectural oddities in the United States. Built by eccentric artist Alex Jordan in the 1940s, the House on the Rock was his vacation home before being turned into a museum in 1961. Jordan sold the building in the early 1980s, but it continues to grow as a tourist attraction.

With 14 unique and lavishly decorated rooms - including the Infinity Room, with 3,264 windows -- and a surrounding complex that houses a miniature circus and the world's largest carousel, the House on the Rock is at once wacky, tacky, innovative, and elegant.

Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen