The Strangest and Most Expensive Things Found in the USA

Found in: San Francisco, California
Est. Cost: $75*

San Francisco’s Mission District is home to one of the world’s fine dining restaurants tailored exclusively to dogs, Dogue. Owned and operated by husband and wife team Rahmi and Alejandra Massarweh, this luxury doggie diner serves its canine customers meals made up of only the freshest and best ingredients.  

A Fine-dining Restaurant for Dogs, With $75 Three-course Meal @Lisa Lee/LinkedIn

While most dog parents are satisfied feeding their four-legged family members whichever pet food, they find at Walmart, others settle for nothing but the best. In Dogue’s case, that means a $75 3-course meal containing an organic beef chuck steak and a $5 ‘dogguccino’ with dessert.

Found in: Nationwide
Est. Cost: Thousands in Damages

The day after Thanksgiving every year is known nationwide as “Black Friday.” It’s the day retailers dread more than any other, except for maybe Boxing Day. Customers line up — sometimes for days — to get ahold of the tremendous savings seen once a year. While Black Friday sales happen all over the world, the sales n America have given the day its horrid reputation.

Extreme Black Friday Sales @lana.lino/Instagram

Panicked shoppers have been known to bust down doors, trample staff, and physically harm other shoppers to get what they want. When all is said and done, tens of thousands of dollars worth of damages are caused to personal property and store merchandise every Black Friday.

Found in: Detroit, Michigan
Est. Cost: $7,799*

A burger that was the brainchild of Steven Mallie is officially the largest burger commercially available, as judged by the fine folks at Guinness World Records. It’s 5 feet wide, 3 feet high, and has a pre-grilled weigh-in of 2,000 pounds of raw meat. It’s so large that to cook it Mallie had a custom grill made in a shipping container.

The Biggest Burger in the World @readersdigest/Pinterest

More than 225 pounds gets cooked down off the original weight, but that is quickly added back on in the form of 300 pounds of condiments and a 250-pound burger bun. When all is said and done, that’s approximately 2,325 pounds of food or 9,300 times the weight of a McDonald’s quarter-pounder.

Found in: eBay
Est. Cost: $168 Million*

The $168 million yacht former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovitch bought measures 405 feet from bow to stern. In perspective, that’s the distance from home plate to the centerfield wall in most baseball stadiums. Superyachts are usually full of incredible amenities that would put the finest hotels to shame, and this Gigayacht is no different.

The $168m Gigayacht @billionbo/Pinterest

It has 10 multi-level VIP suites with panoramic views, 8 additional guest rooms, an in-house movie theater, a helicopter pad, a retractable glass elevator, and a massive 3,000-square-foot main deck master bedroom. It’s hard to believe Abramovitch actually bought this palace of the seas on eBay.

Found in: Weeki Wachee State Park, Florida
Est. Cost: $13*

In Florida’s Weeki Wachee state park are America’s last known mermaids, the mermaids of Weeki Wachee. Hiding behind the guise of human performers, the mermaids entertain hundreds with nightly performances that bring childhood fantasy to life in a fun way for attendees of all ages. 

Mermaids of Weeki Wachee @meganrohland/Pinterest

The mermaids’ main attraction is their nightly undersea adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but there are plenty of other activities to enjoy throughout the day as well. Like boat rides through the park that gives close-up looks at the never-before-seen natural habitat of one of the world’s beloved mythical creatures.

Found in: Echo Park, California
Est. Cost: Various

Time Travel Mart was founded in 2008 as the go-to place for time travelers to stock up on the things they need before, during, or after time-traveling excursions. As its window display so elegantly shows, everything from the times of the cavemen to the futuristic world awaiting us down the line is available to purchase for the right price. 

Time Travel Mart @dailymail/Pinterest

A packet of ‘robot emotions’ found exclusively in the express aisle at the local Time Travel Mart would be right up the alley for customers looking to help their house robot learn to emote realistically.

Found in: Detroit, Michigan
Est. Cost: $10,000*

There have been countless ideas for cars over the years. Some good, some bad, and the rest were simply impractical. In the late-1960s, Mike and Larry Alexander created a prototype for $10,000 of a car some people believed would be the future blueprint for all Dodge models. The Dodge Deora.

The Dodge Deora @OCROADKILL/Pinterest

The vehicle has a front hatch for the driver and passenger to enter but no other doors. As if to sew confusion, from a distance, it truly is tough to tell if the STLA was coming or going. The Deora didn’t make it to mass production, but it has gained popularity amongst collectors. As recent as 2009, the prototype sold at auction for $324,500.

Found in: Cottonwood, Idaho
Est. Cost: $158/night*

Hotels and motels paint the roadsides of American highways like graffiti on the underside of a bridge. With so many establishments competing for occupants, each one must either find a winning gimmick or be left on the wayside. The Dog Bark Park Inn on Idaho’s Highway 95 used humanity’s love of dogs to its advantage. But not how you think. 

Dog Bark Park Inn @ellehongkong/Instagram

Dennis Sullivan & Frances Conklin built the giant beagle-shaped inn in 2003, quickly becoming a popular north central Idahoan landmark and tourist attraction. A night in one of “Sweet Willy’s” suites won’t have the allure of the Hilton, but homemade breakfast is included.

Found in: Yosemite National Park, California
Est. Cost: Priceless

Mother Nature can impress anyone with mind-blowing light shows and spectacular performances. Fortunately, a lot of nature remains in America, and it continuously contributes jaw-dropping sights only thought to be real in dreams and motion pictures. Yosemite National Park is responsible for several of these, including Horsetail Fall’s Firefall.

A Fiery Waterfall ©Fractal7/Shutterstock.com

The Firefall is only visible for a short time at the end of February when the colors left behind by the sun after its setting reflect through the cascading waters of Horsetail Fall to create the illusion that fire is flooding over the eastern edge of El Capitan.

Found in: Arnaud’s Restaurant, New Orleans
Est. Cost: $1.4 Million*

Strawberries are arguably the most romantic fruit one can find. They are lusciously red, juicy, and delicious and are a perfect finish to the perfect night. Arnaud’s restaurant in the French Quarter of The Big Easy serves a dish of strawberries that puts every other perfect night to shame but costs $1.4 million.

$1.4 Million Diamond and Strawberry Desert @GERAS SKONIS/Facebook

Arnaud’s understands that $1.4 million is too much to pay for a fruit bowl. To balance out the cost of the dessert, they add a 4.7-carat pink diamond ring and a live jazz band to every order. In other words, this would be the perfect dessert for a celebrity or top-floor employee at BRK to order when proposing to a loved one.

Found in: Mitchell, South Dakota
Est. Cost: Free Entry

Anyone who dares to counter the claim that something is interesting to see no matter where in the United States one finds themselves has never heard of South Dakota’s Corn Palace. Or, as it is commonly referred to by the site’s half-a-million annual visitors, “The World’s Only Corn Palace.” 

The Corn Palace @southdakota/Twitter

Groundbreaking for the Corn Palace was in 1891, but it wasn’t completed until 1921. Nearly 300,000 ears of corn went into the decorations of Mitchell, South Dakota’s Corn Palace, which was initially intended as a complex to promote the product its namesake crop. As is tradition, a new corn mural is composed yearly — save for drought years. The cost of each redecoration? Approximately $175,000.

Found in: Columbus, Indiana
Est. Cost: $6-$10*

The “World’s Largest Toilet” isn’t quite what it sounds like. It is a giant toilet, but it doesn’t operate as one. It’s part of an interactive children’s museum exhibit at Kids Commons. The exhibit is called ExploraHouse, and its purpose is to give kids a closer look at how house pipes work. 

The World's Largest Toilet @megaro_polis | @erin0905/Pinterest

The adventure begins by climbing into the giant toilet bowl inside an oversized house. The toilet bowl leads to a slide that traverses the same path water pipes take through a house, then work their way to the other side through tunnel-size pipes. Only in Columbus, Indiana, will you find an interactive plumbing experience.

Found in: Marlinton, West Virginia 
Est. Cost: $1,200 grand prize*

In Marlinton, West Virginia, there is an annual Roadkill Cookoff that attempts to turn dead animals on the side of the road into gourmet meals. This yeehaw competition features the likes of “Snapping Turtle Stew,” “Fried Venison Wontons,” “Squirrel Gravy Over Biscuits,” “Teriyaki-Marinated Bear,” and other interesting dishes.

West Virginia's Roadkill Cookoff @onlyinyourstate/Pinterest

To be fair, it is not required that the animals be actual roadkill, but they need to be animals that are often killed on the side of the road (turkey, squirrel, crow, rabbit, deer, groundhog, possum, etc.). Contests have to pre-clean and pre-skin their proteins before cooking them, and their dishes are judged by judges with “cast-iron stomachs” and “no vegetarian tendencies.” 

Found in: Clark, South Dakota
Est. Cost: Free

Every city has something special it commemorates annually. Something that means more to the community than anything else. Otherwise, why would it have a day dedicated to it? In Clark, South Dakota, that something special spuds. Potato Day is a day like no other in Clark. It’s the day the annual mashed potato wrestling competition takes place. 

Yearly Mashed Potato Wrestling Competition @bigpicture_pins/Pinterest

The first Potato Day events took place in 1972 to honor the town’s favorite starch. Over the years, it has grown to much more than a day for potatoes. It became a day for the townsfolk to let loose and have some fun.