When we were planning the trip, Marc designed this really cool website for us to go to and rate what we wanted to see, etc. Well, I did my voting one night pretty late--and when a picture of this store in the shape of a duck popped up, I giggled to myself for about 10 minutes. A few weeks later, all the trip participants met to go over possible itineraries. And again, I just couldn't help giggling. It's a giant duck. I was really the only one very excited by it.
So what is the Big Duck? Well, in the 1920s or 30s, a Long Island duck farmer went to California and saw how merchants used odd-shaped buildings to attract customers. So, in 1931, he built a 20-ft. tall, 30-ft. duck to sell his ducks and duck eggs. (Interestingly, now--according to RoadsideAmercia.com--in the world of architecture, any building shaped like its product is referred to as a "duck." So see, this building is important.)
The Big Duck was closed when we got there, but we got to peek inside the door and see it's now a cute little gift shop. I'm not sure if you can still buy duck eggs.
We didn't stay long but just got photos and left.
Now, I need to go back to see it at night. After all, it's got Model T break lights for eyes that shine bright red in the dark. Evil Duck! And I should go at Christmas, so I can see it decorated for the holidays (go here and scroll down) when the town actually gathers to have the annual lighting of the big duck.
Of course, I couldn't let the opportunity to go by without taking a goofy photo.
1 comment:
I can't believe no one has commented on this. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever.
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