The road is the great American metaphor. To run the asphalt ribbon and righteously stomp the terra is to truly live and breathe what makes liberty so sweet -- and freedom so incredibly bizarre.
So it is only natural that one experience the weirdness and freaks this mighty nation is so blessed with.
Like mini-golfing in a funeral home. Or screaming nonsense at helpless young goats until they faint.
This great land has Paul Bunyan statues and Stonehenge replicas at every turn -- although they must be sought out. 
The RoadsideAmerica.com Web site, a guide to offbeat attractions, provides all the information and inspiration to begin a quest as noble and entertaining as the crusade for the Grail.
Started by Doug Kirby, Ken Smith and Mike Wilkins in 1996, RoadsideAmerica is a hearty jaunt through out-of-the-way museums, oddities and little-known freak shows state by state.
Those who seek to avoid old standby cliches and tourist traps need look no further for wacky and sometimes scary vacation adventures.
Morbid curiosities like the San Diego Museum of Death, the American Funeral Museum and the Mummies of the Insane! exhibit embalmed humans and animals across the country. Visitors linger in the shadows of giant fish and "muffler men" -- behemoth fiberglass salesmen created by a Calif. company in the sixties to sell auto parts. 
State police and capital punishment museums are hot spots and showcase electric chairs, death masks of infamous bad guys and even body parts.
Mystery spots abound, where the rules of physics and time are suspended leaving tourists in awe of balls rolling uphill and black holes where gravity is sucked into the void.
Sections of the site are divided into:
- Latest tips -- updates and notes from visitors with what's new and what people are seeing.
- Sight of the Week -- Authors attraction pick updated weekly.
- Tourism News -- news regarding sites that may affect travel plans.
- Electric Maps -- a state-by-state guide to attractions, very nicely done.
- Hypertours -- authors notes from their many trips.
- Vortex -- sites organized by category -- death, animals, celebrities etc.
- The Souvenir Hut -- plenty of T-shirts, Roadside America books and many other volumes on kooky roadside attractions.
Links and navigation are easily cross-referenced and the individual state listings are a bonus. The site is an utter blast to surf, with modern looking graphics and fonts that are kitschy, but don't draw attention from the actual content.
Readers are strongly encouraged to write in with their own sites and tales and many on the site are hilarious and helpful if you're planning your own trip.
Gentle Readers: We are starting a new ratings system for the Web site of the week. You, the viewer, will judge the sites for overall looks, navigation ease and usefulness. If you have any suggestions for future featured pages send an e-mail. Stay tuned.