Author: Ms. R.

Nestled in a quiet neighborhood in West Toronto, Lucy Maud Montgomery Park is an ideal spot to rest and reflect on the life of one of Canada‘s most famous authors. Formerly situated on this site was the home of Montgomery, which she called “Journey’s End,” where she lived for 10 years before she passed in 1942. Montgomery was born and raised on Prince Edward Island in 1874 and relocated to Ontario around 1911 after her marriage to Reverend Ewan Macdonald…….

Read More

What do the songs Moon River, Hooray for Hollywood, Days of Wine and Roses, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and Capitol Records all have in common? They’re all the brainchild of Savannah’s eternal flame, the stellar Johnny Mercer. In his life, Mercer wrote over 1,500 songs spread across film, radio, and theater. Alongside the aforementioned hits, Mercer also wrote classics such as I Remember You and In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening. Through his continuous dedication to the art of……

Read More

Tombstone is best remembered for a Wild West culture comprised of notorious gamblers, gunslingers, and outlaw cowboys, but the majority of residents were actually respectable, law-abiding citizens. Founded in 1877 after silver was discovered in the area, Tombstone had up to 10,000 residents at the height of its mining boom in the 1880s. Some historians indicate this number only reflects white males registered to vote and speculate that the population may have been as high as 20,000 if women,……

Read More

Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit an amusement park in Singapore that is home to the Ten Courts of Hell, a series of dioramas that depict the horrible fates awaiting those who commit bad behavior here on Earth. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site,……

Read More

The Big Cane Toad sits in the middle of a median strip separating Australia’s Bruce Highway in the east coast town of Sarina. It’s crouched as if poised to jump and its mouth hangs ajar. This, combined with its protruding black eyes, warty back, and the fact that it’s big enough to gobble up an entire human being give it an unsettling air. Sarina residents, however, are fond of the toad, nicknamed “Buffy,” who is a nod to the……

Read More

Tired from a day of tour guiding and tending to his bamboo plantation, Pussang Punyo returns home for a pint of rice beer with tapyo (pronounced tup-yo). A homemade salt, tapyo adds a tartness to the drink, balancing out the sweetness. “My aunt made it at home,” says Punyo of tapyo. “It took her about a week. She made it especially for my friends who are visiting over the weekend as we plan to make pike pila” (a dish……

Read More

In most towns and cities you can find monuments, statues, and commemorative plaques to various people and events. However, most of these are constructed by or with help of the local government. This monument to Michael Jackson is not like that at all, and is built by locals around an existing statue. When Jackson died in 2009, it came as quite a blow to a lot of people. Many wakes and memorials were held and small makeshift shrines were……

Read More

In 1938, approximately 98 acres of this forest were dispossessed from the adjacent community by Nazi Germany to erect a secret chemical plant. All the buildings were scattered across the site to hide them from adversarial air reconnaissance. Most of the construction was done by forced labor.  Besides the unnumbered machine houses, there were also two air raid shelters, several pump houses, a water tower, a pumping system, and a sewage treatment plant to clear the chemicals.  Some of……

Read More

Throughout the streets of New Orleans, you’re likely to stumble upon hand-painted signs made by the prolific local artist known as Dr. Bob. In the Bywater district, known today as one of the most colorful, creative neighborhoods in the city, it all comes together in a technicolor gallery space. Since the 1990s, Dr. Bob has been making art out of his Bywater studio as a response to the changing neighborhood, often returning to his famous mantra of “Be Nice or……

Read More

When you walk up to this newly-opened space, a large neon sign welcomes you to the Mermaid Star Motel. But don’t let the name fool you—this is no ordinary roadside inn. The 15,000-square-foot space in the Warehouse Arts District of St. Pete isn’t a motel at all, but rather a massive interactive art exhibit. The fictional Mermaid Star Motel is at the heart of Fairgrounds St. Pete’s inaugural exhibition. Located inside a former factory, the space is split into……

Read More