Scratching the itch for kitsch
For most of the most famous roadside attractions, you get to look at whatever the “sight” is—the 10 Cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, Lucy the Elephant in New Jersey, or the life-sized statues of the Cabazon Dinosaurs in California—and then you’ve “done” the thing (note: don’t waste your time pulling over to find out what “The Thing” is in Arizona—it’s not worth the one buck admission fee). However, once you’ve entered the Abita Mystery House through a vintage 1930s Standard Oil gas station, your adventure is just beginning.
Located less than an hour’s drive from central New Orleans, Abita has a sprawling number of separate buildings, each with its own thematic exhibits of most anything you’ve imagined in your roadside dreams—or nightmares. You can gaze at the collections of combs and old license plates; play several arcade machines, including one made entirely from popsicle sticks; or use push buttons to animate miniature dioramas of a jazz funeral, a tiny plantation, and a roadside mart called Pinky’s What All Store with a little banner that reads “We Got It All.”
Info
Address 22275 LA-36, Abita Springs, LA 70420, +1 985.892.2624, www.abitamysteryhouse.com | Hours Daily 10am–5pm| Tip As long as you’re out near Abita Springs, stop off at Abita Beer’s Tasting Room for a tour (166 Barbee Rd, Covington, LA 70433). Established in 1986, Abita Brewing Company is the oldest and largest craft brewery in the Southeast and one of the oldest in the United States. They are far and away the most popular local beer, producing more than 150,000 barrels a year.
Out back there’s a silver Airstream trailer that was allegedly hit by a flying saucer and a house covered in thousands of fragments of tiles, pottery, mirrors, and glass called the House of Shards. Inside there’s an assortment of weirdness ranging from a vintage bicycle collection to a one-of-a-kind abomination of nature: Bufford the Bassigator, a 22-foot-long half alligator, half fish.
This shrine to tacky taste is the creation of John Preble. The teacher and artist was 50 years old when he finally put a lifetime of odd keepsakes on display for all to see.
Abita Mystery House is also known as the UCM Museum, standing for Unusual Collections and Mini-town, but we suspect Preble intended the name to be pronounced "you-see-em-mu-se-um.”
Back
To the online map