If you happen to find yourself on I-78 near Shartlesville, Pennsylvania (exit 8, 'bout an hour west of Allentown, and an hour east of Harrisburg & York), be sure to stop in at Roadside America, "The world's greatest miniature village".
Upon entering, you are confronted by a gift shop which sells all manner of Roadside America souvenirs, such as Praying Hands napkin holders and salt and pepper shakers inexplicably shaped like owls, all stamped with the Roadside America insignia. Below the huge photo of Laurence Gieringer, who built it, is the ticket booth, and the door to The Village.
After paying your entrance fee (around $10 I think), you are greeted by this enormous warehouse-sized room filled with an O-scale train set. It's not just any train set, though, because it has rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, houses, a circus, churches, cars, and all manner of people and animals. It is truly an amazing sight. Check out the churches with hand painted stained glass windows, which, according to the guide book, each took hundreds of hours of meticulous painting by members of the Gieringer family. There is a burned down house, and the brochure offers possible explanations for this: "Possibly some careless children or sparks from a passing locomotive". There are all sorts of things you can operate by pressing a button, such as the circus parade, coal cars, and my favorite, a pen full of donkeys whose heads move around (I always wished I had the nerver to steal the sign that says "Press button to operate donkeys"). Please heed the dozens of signs about throwing pennies into the rivers and lakes, because it kills the huge, bloated goldfish. There's beautiful landscape scenes on the walls, and an unexplainable Statue of Liberty with lights at the ends of the spikes on her crown.
Be sure to stay for the Nighttime Pageant, where they simulate nightfall, and lights go on in all the houses. Then they shine a spotlight on an American flag on the wall (with a fan making it wave) and they play "God Bless America" while they project slides of patriotic scenes and images of Jesus on the walls (I couldn't make up stuff this weird). In all, the tour takes about an hour, but it's well worth it.
Unfortunately the Lady of Lourdes chapel that was in the basement isn't there anymore, but you can still buy a postcard that shows the grotto, complete with plastic rocks and fake flowers, and a huge garish Mary. This was where the Rev. Aloysius J. Schmid held mass every Sunday.
Stop at the nearby "Gift Haus" if you like the other gift shop because all the stuff they sell is identical to the stuff in Roadside America, just more of it, and there's a snack bar where you can relax from the excitement next door. Be sure to buy lots of postcards, and send me one.
