Alexandra Charitan

Alexandra is the features editor at Roadtrippers Magazine. She likes things that are bigger or smaller than they should be: novelty architecture, miniature worlds, and anything made from fiberglass or neon. She dreams of visiting every state in the U.S. and will always stop for a Muffler Man.

Alexandra Charitan

Meet the man behind the curtain of some of the most weird and wonderful roadside attractions in the U.S.

The prehistoric past meets the 1960s at Dinosaur Land, one of Virginia’s most endearing roadside attractions

I didn’t believe in ghosts until I spent a night alone at the notoriously haunted Shanley Hotel

7,000 hand-carved pumpkins light up the Hudson Valley at the annual Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze

Bigfoot in Littleton: Meet the former NYC journalist who turned his haunted home into a Cryptozoology and Paranormal Museum

Chasing snakes and ghosts at Henry River Mill Village, the abandoned town also known as District 12 in ‘The Hunger Games’

30 years ago, Marion Duckworth Smith fell in love with the historic Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead—and she plans to stay for all eternity

The Poe Museum celebrates the life of Richmond’s favorite spooky scribe with ‘unhappy hours’ and resident black cats

Roadside America’s idealized miniature version of the U.S. is for sale—but there are conditions

Follow the yellow brick road to Land of Oz, North Carolina’s strangest, once-abandoned theme park

Bug Light has weathered storms, harbored spirits, and guided ships around Long Island’s North Fork for almost 150 years

Crazy for cryptids: The International Cryptozoology Museum blurs the line between fact and fiction

Inspired by Bob Ross, Michigan state parks are being repopulated with thousands of Happy Little Trees

Enchantment is ageless at Storybook Land, a stuck-in-time fairytale theme park by the Jersey Shore

Deer, dunes, and drag: Fire Island has been a summer safe haven for the LGBTQ community since the 1940s

Mingle with Muffler Men and and other roadside giants at Bell Plastics’ annual open house

Celebrating 25 years of ‘Shawshank Redemption’ at the once-abandoned prison where it was filmed

The ruins of Bannerman’s Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse, still stand in the middle of the Hudson River

Only you can prevent wildfires—but after 75 years, Smokey Bear still reminds us not to play with fire

Museum of the macabre: Bennington Centre Cemetery is home to intricate headstones, mournful epitaphs, and one famous poet

150 years of escapes and executions at Burlington County Prison, one of the most haunted places in New Jersey

I Love Lucy the Elephant: America’s oldest surviving roadside attraction has welcomed visitors to the Jersey Shore since 1881

Christmas in July: One man is bringing magic and holiday spirit back to the once-abandoned Santa’s Land USA

Behold Ponyhenge, a mysterious herd of rocking horses that inexplicably multiplies and rearranges