Weird America
If you’re road trippin’ through the States, there’s always the possibility of discovering something weird and wonderful along the route! As much as I love natural landscapes and wild life, it’s kinda fun to embrace America’s weirder side. Foamhenge is a perfect example of weird America.
Foamhenge
Foamhenge; it’s a little foamy
On a road trip through Virginia, we took a break at Foamhenge, a full-size replica of Stonehenge; Foamhenge of course isn’t made of stone, instead it is, as you have probably guessed, made of Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene).
Mark Cline of Enchanted Castle Studios created the display which appeared on April 1st 2004 in Natural Bridge, Rockbridge County, Virginia. The structure took six weeks to create and four road trips by tractor from Winchester, Virginia to bring the approximately 420 pound blocks of foam to the site. According to Cline, it then took “4-5 Mexicans and one crazy white man to construct.” Cline states the purpose of Foamhenge is “to educate and entertain”.
I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…
Foamhenge just got weirder…
Oh my!
Our visit did get weirder – anything is possible on the road! We bumped into a group of scavenger hunters there who were all dressed as though they were en route to see the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, driving cars worthy of a place in the Wacky Races. It was a very confusing time…some might say surreal. It was also a lot of fun! I love the Wizard of Oz and after having seen the Ruby Slippers at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in DC, it was quite something to be surrounded by so many sparkly red replicas – it was something else to be surrounded by so many “Dorothys” with excessive facial hair though!
Not the wizard you’re looking for…
Not the wizard Dorothy was looking for…
We did discover a wizard at Foamhenge who didn’t appear very welcoming and clearly wasn’t the great and powerful Oz; it was Merlin, another much more powerful mythical wizard.
Foamhenge is certainly a spectacle worth seeing if you’re in the area; a great place to stop on the road, to take in some air and stretch your legs. It’s free to access and open year-round although I imagine it’s much nicer to visit when both the weather and the ground, are dry. Weirdness aside, it’s a fun piece of art that pays homage to Stonehenge. You never know who else you might bump into when you visit either!
There’s a “storm on the horizon”…
Key facts: Foamhenge
Location: off Route 11, Natural Bridge, Virginia, USA
Opening times: always open
Cost: free
Find out more: Foamhenge website
Other things to do in Natural Bridge
Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post and received no payment for it.