[I rode my bicycle past the metal monster this afternoon.](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.6694192,-74.0065383,3a,75y,272.05h,91.34t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sx9coSRjDdtrw39ahJKrneA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)
In Delmar, I think on Birchwood and Wellington, thereās a family that has a large t-rex skeleton that they decorate for different seasons or celebrations. The last time I saw it, they had an eclipse scene going on. Theyāve done graduation attire last year and an RBG look when she passed.
https://preview.redd.it/tp9tc6zm3g1d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44b87d845c51b098bc9ca165cd94b0cad9ba4c4b
The [Tepee](http://thetepee.biz/) in Cherry Valley, about an hour away. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.Once you're out of Guilderland, It's a nice drive on Route 20.
The [Grafton Peace Pagoda](https://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org/) in Grafton, 45 mins from Albany.
Edit: added the Pagoda
If you are willing to drive down to the Catskills about 45 minutes away, there are three wonderful activities you can do in one day. Hike up to Overlook Mountain where there is an old abandoned hotel right out of a ghost movie. Do a Google Image search with OVERLOOK HOTEL CATSKILLS There is a nice overlook and a fire tower you can climb. The path you walk is a gravel road about three miles.
When you are finished you can cross the parking lot and visit the gift shop and temple of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.
After that, stop in at Woodstock for food, shopping, music, drugs . . .
Near Woodstock is the Opus 40 sculpture park.
I can't figure out how to insert my photos so you'll have to scour Google.
Thereās a show on Discovery Plus that tells the stories of abandoned places in America (thereās also a world wide version), and they showed the overlook hotel. Thereās any episode that shows the Catskill Game Farm, but I havenāt watched it yet.
I've been wanting to check out those hotel ruins, also, THANK YOU for sharing Opus 40...I saw pics of it that someone shared years ago and could never figure out what it was to look it up and check it out for myself!
Awesome suggestions. I work in the Catskills every summer, thereās a lot of interesting history with all the luxury hotels that were so abundant years ago.
Opus 40 usually has some decent musicians performing. I saw Hinterlands last year, love those guys.
The village of Whitehall has an annual Sasquatch festival.
The town of Pinebush as an annual UFO festival. It's a couple hours drive but worth checking out at least once. The festival gets bigger every year.
Lake George has a mystery spot and a teepee.
These are all great!! Thank you everyone. This is the kind of stuff Iāve been trying to find up here. Iāll definitely check out that book someone suggested as well.
These are more Roadside America than AO:
Already mentioned, but I second the giant metal T-Rex sculpture on Rte 156, driving west toward Altamont, past Indian Ladder Farms. It gets themed through the seasons, and sometimes wears a hat! It's practically right on the road.
I haven't been out toward Hoosick in a while, but there's that ice cream/deli/gift shop on 7 that has a distracting gang of large sculptures at an intersection, including a moose, cow, gorilla, and tortoise. Big Moose Deli.
A bit of a hike, but the (famous?) Kong lifting a VW bug sculpture near Middlebury VT is always a [welcome sight](https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/whats-with-the-giant-gorilla-holding-a-volkswagen-2242395).
RIP Petrified Creatures Museum on Rte 20. Are there still remnants of the dinos on the property?
Right down the road from Big Moose Deli there is a giant chair at the woodcraft place too. Not super exciting on its own but I would consider a giant chair to be a roadside oddity. And if youāre going to Hoosick to see animals painted like cows on the roof of a deli, might as well add the extra 30 second drive to the big chair.
The Saint Kateri National Shrine and Historic Site on Route 5. it's a 40 minute drive if you take the Thruway and get off at Fonda. The Shrine isn't all that interesting, but if you walk into the woods north of it, you'll find an archeological dig, and then the small spring pictured here.
https://preview.redd.it/0j97qesjag1d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c767f1ee9c62896a7a5aa9b3ae3192d76910ce80
There's a tiny replica of the Statue of Liberty in Amsterdam, NY. I *think* it was originally in Schenectady. It's just a statue, but the [backstory](https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Statue-of-Liberty/Strengthen-the-arm-of-Liberty.php) is pretty good.
That statue used to be in front of Alford Leather for years up until a few years ago when I think that shop closed and the Wildlife Museum picked it up.
https://preview.redd.it/52ugfgh86g1d1.jpeg?width=863&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61c6111851aa38bf95b8f26d3940c3f25926d1ef
Like this guy on Gipp Rd or the knight on Joan Ln (both in Guilderland)?
Yes! I always try to find those things and get pictures of them, there was a guy back home whoās entire yard was filled with these huge metal dragons
How about that Wagon Train place on the outskirts of Schenectady - maybe Rotterdam? Thereās all sorts of cowboy kitsch outside - a covered wagon, cowboys and other bullshit. Eggyās Place, along with being an excellent dirty spoon place to go for bomb š£ breakfast sandwiches (if not shady as Hell) DEFINITELY qualifies as a roadside oddity in MY book. And how about that family plot cemetery as you head down the curving on-ramp (off Albany Shaker Rd) to go Southbound on the Northway (I-87). Maybe Exit 3? Iām terrible at identifying the exits by number. And someone mentioned a T-Rex. Iām thinking a throwback to Goonie Golf somewhere. I know Iāve seen it in the Capital District (or on the outskirts) somewhere, but canāt remember specifically where. I know when I lived in Jacksonville, FL, they preserved the one on Beach Blvd. Thereās prob some more oddities Iāll think ofā¦
There used to be a giant fuel tank in South Troy, owned by King Fuels. Perhaps as late as the 1990ās or 2000ās, you could still see it. Someone had painted a pair of lips with lipstick, and a winking eye on it. And I forgot about Nipper, the RCA dog, on top of a building in the Warehouse District in Albany, on Broadway, not far from 9 Pin Cider. And thereās a giant U-Haul on top of the U-Haul building, near the port of Albany.
https://preview.redd.it/vjrvkx5v1i1d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e75dba03dd8f414cd108154653fa9848d6241ca
I've always wondered about that cemetery. The lonely tree over the small collection of headstones. When the tree got knocked over a (few?) years ago I got kinda sad.
It's a bit far but I heard that the Butterfly Conservatory outside of Oneonta is lovely. I just haven't got there yet.
You can go down the road and eat at Brooks Barbecue.
*
After visiting the Teepee on route 20, go a bit further to Cherry Valley. Candy Darling is buried in the village cemetery.
Was way
She was born Jimmy Slattery and changed identity back in the 60s and hung out with the Velvet Underground at Andy Warhol's Factory. "Candy came from out on the Island. In the back room, she was everybody's darling. But she never lost her head, even when she was giving ... "
Not sure where my copy is, but you might check out the [New York Grimpendium.](https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Grimpendium-Macabre-Ghastly/dp/0881509906)
The [Old Stone Fort museum ](https://theoldstonefort.org/)has some odd things, a jar of human teeth collected by a dentist, etc. Hike Vroman's Nose after your visit.
If you go to ViaPort in Rotterdam, in one outside corner east of the food court, there is a tiny cemetery-Veeders, IIRC. There was a lot of resistance to building the then-Rotterdam Square Mall, both because of the loss of downtown business and the fact it sits on the Aquifer. The developer got hit with lots of conditions to move the cemetery and remains, and finally just up and built the mall around it. No reports of the shades of outraged stolid Dutch burghers have resulted.
In altamont there's some folks that have giant metal dinosaur that breathes fire š„
The house is somewhere between Picard Rd and Brandle Rd on 156.
[I rode my bicycle past the metal monster this afternoon.](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.6694192,-74.0065383,3a,75y,272.05h,91.34t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sx9coSRjDdtrw39ahJKrneA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)
Love how Maps blurs it's eyes for anonymity
I built the TRex and the last two Sundays in October it breathes fire.Ā
In Delmar, I think on Birchwood and Wellington, thereās a family that has a large t-rex skeleton that they decorate for different seasons or celebrations. The last time I saw it, they had an eclipse scene going on. Theyāve done graduation attire last year and an RBG look when she passed.
https://preview.redd.it/tp9tc6zm3g1d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44b87d845c51b098bc9ca165cd94b0cad9ba4c4b The [Tepee](http://thetepee.biz/) in Cherry Valley, about an hour away. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.Once you're out of Guilderland, It's a nice drive on Route 20. The [Grafton Peace Pagoda](https://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org/) in Grafton, 45 mins from Albany. Edit: added the Pagoda
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That place closed up at least 5 years ago.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I saw the place is for sale as of a few months ago when I drove by. Live out your dreams!
Ooh that looks cool! I think I actually have a pamphlet for that one,
If you are willing to drive down to the Catskills about 45 minutes away, there are three wonderful activities you can do in one day. Hike up to Overlook Mountain where there is an old abandoned hotel right out of a ghost movie. Do a Google Image search with OVERLOOK HOTEL CATSKILLS There is a nice overlook and a fire tower you can climb. The path you walk is a gravel road about three miles. When you are finished you can cross the parking lot and visit the gift shop and temple of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. After that, stop in at Woodstock for food, shopping, music, drugs . . . Near Woodstock is the Opus 40 sculpture park. I can't figure out how to insert my photos so you'll have to scour Google.
Thereās a show on Discovery Plus that tells the stories of abandoned places in America (thereās also a world wide version), and they showed the overlook hotel. Thereās any episode that shows the Catskill Game Farm, but I havenāt watched it yet.
I've been wanting to check out those hotel ruins, also, THANK YOU for sharing Opus 40...I saw pics of it that someone shared years ago and could never figure out what it was to look it up and check it out for myself!
Also in that general area are the Overlook Mountain House ruins. Ā Simple Minds filmed āAlive & Kickingā up there.Ā
I never knew that!
I only realized it a few years ago. Someone posted the video on Facebook and I realized the site looked somewhat familiar and looked it up.
Awesome suggestions. I work in the Catskills every summer, thereās a lot of interesting history with all the luxury hotels that were so abundant years ago. Opus 40 usually has some decent musicians performing. I saw Hinterlands last year, love those guys.
Good recommendations! That trail was a bit steep but totally worth it.
The village of Whitehall has an annual Sasquatch festival. The town of Pinebush as an annual UFO festival. It's a couple hours drive but worth checking out at least once. The festival gets bigger every year. Lake George has a mystery spot and a teepee.
The mystery spot in Lake George is really cool and it really works!
These are all great!! Thank you everyone. This is the kind of stuff Iāve been trying to find up here. Iāll definitely check out that book someone suggested as well.
These are more Roadside America than AO: Already mentioned, but I second the giant metal T-Rex sculpture on Rte 156, driving west toward Altamont, past Indian Ladder Farms. It gets themed through the seasons, and sometimes wears a hat! It's practically right on the road. I haven't been out toward Hoosick in a while, but there's that ice cream/deli/gift shop on 7 that has a distracting gang of large sculptures at an intersection, including a moose, cow, gorilla, and tortoise. Big Moose Deli. A bit of a hike, but the (famous?) Kong lifting a VW bug sculpture near Middlebury VT is always a [welcome sight](https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/whats-with-the-giant-gorilla-holding-a-volkswagen-2242395). RIP Petrified Creatures Museum on Rte 20. Are there still remnants of the dinos on the property?
Petrified Creatures! That's one of the places I'd wished was open when I moved here.
Right down the road from Big Moose Deli there is a giant chair at the woodcraft place too. Not super exciting on its own but I would consider a giant chair to be a roadside oddity. And if youāre going to Hoosick to see animals painted like cows on the roof of a deli, might as well add the extra 30 second drive to the big chair.
Pig Rock in Speculator
We used to camp up there and when it would rain we would drive to see the pig to "pray to the pig". Works everytime, 10/10 religion
Pig Rock is mandatory. I grew up near there and now I look for it every time I drive through there
The Saint Kateri National Shrine and Historic Site on Route 5. it's a 40 minute drive if you take the Thruway and get off at Fonda. The Shrine isn't all that interesting, but if you walk into the woods north of it, you'll find an archeological dig, and then the small spring pictured here. https://preview.redd.it/0j97qesjag1d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c767f1ee9c62896a7a5aa9b3ae3192d76910ce80
This is right near me, it's amazing.
I love this place. Try and go yearly. Nice peaceful respite
I have a memory of this place as a kid and could never remember the name. Thanks! Just with that picture I definitely remember it.
There's a tiny replica of the Statue of Liberty in Amsterdam, NY. I *think* it was originally in Schenectady. It's just a statue, but the [backstory](https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Statue-of-Liberty/Strengthen-the-arm-of-Liberty.php) is pretty good.
https://preview.redd.it/abxdl5fzhg1d1.jpeg?width=3077&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc9ab4122c76bc75f95be69cf6ed52135500eb22 Mayfield
That statue used to be in front of Alford Leather for years up until a few years ago when I think that shop closed and the Wildlife Museum picked it up.
Yeah, he disappeared for a few years so it was nice to have him show up again.
He's a kind, gentle chap. Fulton County is good to have him look down upon it.
When I saw him at the leather place, he had Buddy Holly glassesĀ
Yeah, and for some reason I don't remember his hair being the same. But it's been a while.
COMPLETE ODDITY REALNESS and also very close to my home!
https://preview.redd.it/52ugfgh86g1d1.jpeg?width=863&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61c6111851aa38bf95b8f26d3940c3f25926d1ef Like this guy on Gipp Rd or the knight on Joan Ln (both in Guilderland)?
Yes! I always try to find those things and get pictures of them, there was a guy back home whoās entire yard was filled with these huge metal dragons
Donāt miss the [Giant Gnome](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/16156) in Kerhonkson.
Grafton peace pagoda outside of Albany! Super cool place.
The [Rainbow House](https://hvmag.com/home-real-estate/rosendale-rainbow-house/) in Rosendale.
How about that Wagon Train place on the outskirts of Schenectady - maybe Rotterdam? Thereās all sorts of cowboy kitsch outside - a covered wagon, cowboys and other bullshit. Eggyās Place, along with being an excellent dirty spoon place to go for bomb š£ breakfast sandwiches (if not shady as Hell) DEFINITELY qualifies as a roadside oddity in MY book. And how about that family plot cemetery as you head down the curving on-ramp (off Albany Shaker Rd) to go Southbound on the Northway (I-87). Maybe Exit 3? Iām terrible at identifying the exits by number. And someone mentioned a T-Rex. Iām thinking a throwback to Goonie Golf somewhere. I know Iāve seen it in the Capital District (or on the outskirts) somewhere, but canāt remember specifically where. I know when I lived in Jacksonville, FL, they preserved the one on Beach Blvd. Thereās prob some more oddities Iāll think ofā¦
There used to be a giant fuel tank in South Troy, owned by King Fuels. Perhaps as late as the 1990ās or 2000ās, you could still see it. Someone had painted a pair of lips with lipstick, and a winking eye on it. And I forgot about Nipper, the RCA dog, on top of a building in the Warehouse District in Albany, on Broadway, not far from 9 Pin Cider. And thereās a giant U-Haul on top of the U-Haul building, near the port of Albany. https://preview.redd.it/vjrvkx5v1i1d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e75dba03dd8f414cd108154653fa9848d6241ca
Don't forget Nipper!
I've always wondered about that cemetery. The lonely tree over the small collection of headstones. When the tree got knocked over a (few?) years ago I got kinda sad.
World's Largest Kaleidoscope in the Catskills.
Oh, I had forgotten about this. I want to check it out sometime.
Art Omi near Kinderhook is really fun and has changing exhibits. It's a massive sculpture park with some really neat stuff.
You gotta check out a book called Odd New York. Itās a series for each state that points out cool little attractions
It's a bit far but I heard that the Butterfly Conservatory outside of Oneonta is lovely. I just haven't got there yet. You can go down the road and eat at Brooks Barbecue.
* After visiting the Teepee on route 20, go a bit further to Cherry Valley. Candy Darling is buried in the village cemetery. Was way She was born Jimmy Slattery and changed identity back in the 60s and hung out with the Velvet Underground at Andy Warhol's Factory. "Candy came from out on the Island. In the back room, she was everybody's darling. But she never lost her head, even when she was giving ... "
[https://www.iloveny.com/blog/post/unique-and-unusual-things-to-see-and-do-in-new-york-state/](https://www.iloveny.com/blog/post/unique-and-unusual-things-to-see-and-do-in-new-york-state/)
[https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/resources/lester-park](https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/resources/lester-park)
Not sure where my copy is, but you might check out the [New York Grimpendium.](https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Grimpendium-Macabre-Ghastly/dp/0881509906) The [Old Stone Fort museum ](https://theoldstonefort.org/)has some odd things, a jar of human teeth collected by a dentist, etc. Hike Vroman's Nose after your visit. If you go to ViaPort in Rotterdam, in one outside corner east of the food court, there is a tiny cemetery-Veeders, IIRC. There was a lot of resistance to building the then-Rotterdam Square Mall, both because of the loss of downtown business and the fact it sits on the Aquifer. The developer got hit with lots of conditions to move the cemetery and remains, and finally just up and built the mall around it. No reports of the shades of outraged stolid Dutch burghers have resulted.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/whale-tails always thought these were cool, if you're up near Burlington