The Spam Museum

Location: 1101 N. Main St., Austin, MN
Admission: Free!
Handicap Accessibility: Definitely!
Website: Spam Museum

The Spam Museum is a great place to go with your family! It has educational information about Hormel and its products, as well as fun things for kids to do, including a game show simulation and dress up area. Also, when you go into the gift shop, there are tons of different kinds of Spam. Crazy!

 



The Jolly Green Giant Statue

Location: Blue Earth, MN
Admission: Free!
Handicap Accessibilty: Yes, in the park. Not if you want to pose with the statue.
Website: Roadside America Article

 

Who wouldn't want to go see a ginormous statue of a green man wearing a leaf tunic? Seriously. It is a definite must-see! The Jolly Green Giant Statue is situated in the middle of a nice park that has several picnic tables and is right next to a Dairy Queen (score!). They have a tiny little shop with merchandise, for those people who collect trinkets. There isn't much to do other than take pictures and stare at the behemoth man, but if you bring a picnic lunch and go to the Dairy Queen, it makes for a nice early afternoon to spend with your family.

 

 



The World's Largest Ball of Twine

Location: Darwin, MN
Admission: Free!
Handicap Accessibility: Definitely!
Website: Twine Ball

My obsession all started with Weird Al Yankovic. Yes, I am the biggest Weird Al fan known to the world. One of his songs is called The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota...so of course for a large chunk of my life, I wondered if such a thing actually did exist. Once I moved to Minnesota, I became curious enough to look it up online, and surprise! There it was!

 

 



Here's the Youtube video I found.

 



The town of Darwin doesn't really have much to offer other than the attraction to the Twine Ball as well as the Twine Ball museum, which has some interesting inventions that were made by the same man who made the twine ball. The second weekend in August every year there is a Twine Ball festival, which we attended one year. There is a parade and several vendors, as well as touristy things to buy (tshirts, magnets, etc.). Across the street from the twine ball is a little park, which is nice if you bring a picnic lunch and can have the kids run around to get some energy out.

 

 

 

Here's a couple more pics from the twine ball: