22 Wonderfully Weird Roadside Attractions You’ll Want to Pull Over For

18. The Museum of the Weird – Austin, Texas

Everything is bigger, weirder, and wilder in Texas, and nowhere is that more evident than Austin’s Museum of the Weird. Nestled in the city’s famous 6th Street entertainment district, this museum is equal parts Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, circus sideshow, and haunted house. The museum boasts one of the only full-sized Fiji Mermaids on display—an infamous hoax from the 1800s featuring a grotesque, mummified "mermaid" that’s actually a stitched-together monkey and fish. Beyond the exhibits, the museum is rumored to be haunted, with employees reporting objects moving on their own and sudden cold spots. Live performances sometimes feature freak-show style acts, adding to the dark carnival atmosphere. Whether you love the bizarre, the unexplained, or just a good old-fashioned roadside oddity, Austin’s Museum of the Weird is a stop you won’t regret—unless something follows you home.