History Main / TrashyTouristTrap

Roadside attractions can be anything from little mom-and-pop museums of unusual oddities, to outdoor art museums with unusual public art, even {{Greasy Spoon}}s with a fun little gimmick that helps them stand apart from all the other diners that somehow survived the innovation of drive-thru restaurants.

** The Mystery Shack is the primary location of the series, acting as a ''[[Franchise/RipleysBelieveItOrNot Ripley's]]''-style museum of "oddities", which are all just fake displays and an overpriced gift shop. Ironically, one of the ways [[Characters/GravityFallsGrunkleStan Grunkle Stan]] showcases himself [[EveryoneHasStandards to have standards]] is by swindling people with makeshift monsters only and absolutely refusing to touch (let alone display) the real monsters of Gravity Falls, because Stan knows [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow that they are way too dangerous]]. Dipper discovers this the hard way in "Boss Mabel", when he exploits the fact Stan left for a while to capture a monster for display and the thing puts two tourists in the hospital. [[spoiler:It was originally [[Characters/GravityFallsTheAuthor Stanford "Ford" Pines']] house/laboratory for his research into the genuinely weird things that happen in town. After he winds up lost in the Multiverse through his portal under the building, his brother Stanley took on his identity and has been working decades to bring his brother back, turning it into the Mystery Shack in order to keep the lights on.]]

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The merchandise includes a "Visit Sacred Miracle Cave" bumper sticker which Francine Pefko, Dwayne's secretary and mistress, adorns her GTO with in a gesture of loyalty to her boss. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black "slaves" hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns had never been inhabited or even entered until being discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black "slaves" hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns had never been inhabited or even entered until being discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black "slaves" hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns had never been inhabited until being discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns had never been inhabited until being discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns were first discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns were first discovered by Dwayne after his family acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state. Dwayne Hoover owns it in partnership with two other men. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns were first discovered by Dwayne after he acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state and partly owned by Dwayne Hoover. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick''; ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver; and a line of plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns were first discovered by Dwayne after he acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'' has Sacred Miracle Cave, a tourist trap to the south of Shepherdstown, which is advertised on billboards and signposts planted throughout the state and partly owned by Dwayne Hoover. The cave's main chamber, known as the ''Cathedral of Whispers'', is wired for music and colored lights and has served as the venue for thousands of weddings, including those of all three of its owners. Other attractions include a boulder painted to resemble ''Literature/MobyDick'', ''Jesse James'', a skeleton acquired from a local doctor holding bits of a revolver, and plaster statues of black men hacking at their chains. The only relation Sacred Miracle Cave ever had to actual slaves is that its land once belonged to a freed slave named Josephus Hoobler whose descendants owned it until UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression happened and the bank foreclosed. The caverns were first discovered by Dwayne after he acquired the farm in a legal settlement. Unfortunately for tourism, the underground river that flows through the caverns are filling up with bad chemicals, discoloring the fake artifacts and emitting a horrible stench.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "[[Music/UHFOriginalMotionPictureSoundtrackAndOtherStuff The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota]]" doesn't so much make fun of the tourist attraction (which sounds to be [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin nothing more or less than its name implies]]) but rather the kind of person, as represented by the narrator himself, who finds it unironically amazing, thought-provoking, and worth a long road trip just to stand in front of.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': "D.W. Goes to Washington" has a flashback to the time D.W. talked the family into visiting "Santa's Igloo" ("Share a sundae with Santa and his friendly reindeer!"). In spite of what the [[VeryFalseAdvertising place's commercial and billboard showed]], the "igloo" turns out to be an ordinary house with a cheap igloo facade attached to the front and "Santa" is a surly, disheveled man dressed in half of a Santa suit who growls at the Reeds for not bringing a sundae to share.

* In ''Film/RatRace'' Randy Pear is on a race across the US to try and win 2 million dollars. His family doesn't know he's a contestant in this so he's had to drag them along from the casino where the race started. Midway there his daughter, Jillian, spots a roadside sign for a "Barbie Museum" and begs to go. Randy refuses until his wife Bev forces the issue... and to the entire family's horror they [[HistoricalCharacterConfusion find out]] it's not about [[Franchise/{{Barbie}} the beloved doll]], but real life member of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie SS Klaus "The Butcher of Lyon" Barbie]] and the museum is run for and by Neo Nazis.