Minnesotans love their lakes. But they just might love roadside attractions even more.
They're everywhere. A drive up I-35 from the Twin Cities to Duluth will take you past the world's largest walleye statue, a 25-foot tall voyageur named Big Louis and a spectacular gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
For Karen Smith, a Star Tribune reader from St. Paul, these Minnesota oddities strike a nostalgic feeling. She remembers discovering "quirky" destinations as a child on family road trips.
"Now that I'm an adult, I still enjoy seeking those things out," Smith said.
With road trip season approaching, Smith began to wonder: How many roadside attractions are there in Minnesota and where are they?
That's the latest question for Curious Minnesota, a community-driven reporting project that invites readers into the newsroom to ask questions they want answered.
But counting Minnesota's roadside attractions is complicated because there is no clear definition.
"I don't know that there's really a good answer [to] what exactly is a roadside attraction," said Eric Dregni, the author of books about Minnesota's roadside attractions and an English professor at St. Paul's Concordia University.