Gallagher's Travels

The Houdini Museum and Show
Scranton, PA

Continuing our visits to unusual attractions --a must see place I’ve never forgotten since my first visit, is the Houdini Museum and Show in Scranton, PA. This is not a huge fancy contemporary building but an intense collection of everything one could imagine Houdini ever touched, all in a converted historical home befitting the collection.

Harry Houdini was born in 1874 in Budapest, moving to America as a small child --- he became the most famous magician of all time. Big time Houdini Fans and Museum founders Dorothy Dietrich and John Bravo put on an entertaining family program. Recently historical and previously unseen film footage of Houdini has been restored and is shown to the museum visitors.

The museum even has Houdini's original family pictures on display among the 1000’s of artifacts. You could spend days here.

Dorothy Dietrich, is one of the best known woman magicians in the world, performing in the daily shows.

Museum Director and major force here is Magician John Bravo who ran New York’s famous Magic Towne House and was owner and publisher of Hocus Pocus Magazine, in addition to his performing. They have both been featured on many national television programs with their Houdini Museum.

A typical visitor sees the Houdini Video, gets a guided tour of all the rooms and then in the theater various other Houdini stuff, a Magic Show with ducks dogs and other performing animals, audience participation and more!

The Houdini Museum is in Scranton PA--get all the information at www.houdini.org

Minnesota and the legend of Paul Bunyan

In our search for unusual tourist attractions we’re here in Minnesota home of the legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his pet blue ox, Babe.

They say when Paul was just a baby he was so large they had to use wagon wheels as buttons on his clothes. Then on his first birthday his father gave him a pet blue ox named Babe. Their feet were so large; the tracks they made gallivantin’ around Minnesota filled up and became the 10,000 lakes this beautiful state is famous for.

Stories abound about Paul and Babe in children’s books, local taverns and other lore. You can even hike or snowmobile the 100 mile Paul Bunyan Trail out of Bemidji.

Every state in the Union has some form of a Paul Bunyan statue and in Minnesota alone there are at least five of Paul himself plus one in Hackensack of his girlfriend, then in Blackduck is Paul’s Duck, The most famous is Paul and Babe standing next to lake Bemidji. Built in 1937, legions of tourists have had their picture taken here. I even took and still have photos of my own children, like little specks standing under these giant figures.

In Brainerd there is a 26 foot tall Talking Bunyan and Kelliher has Paul Bunyan's Grave, and in Ortonville you ll find Paul Bunyan's Anchor, this 225,000 lb piece of rock is perched on a lake overlook.

It is even rumored that the Mall of America in Bloomington MN the #1 most visited attraction in the United States has a Paul Bunyan.

http://www.exploreminnesota.com/
http://paulbunyantrail.com