BywaysUSA - a journal of quirky facts and findings

Tune in to see actor Jeff Daniels as a Buckless Yooper. In addition, learn about a professional baseball team’s mascot called Mr. Celery, and the Museum of Funeral Customs that has one focus — death.

Business

Ever drink an okra martini or lather up with a luxury soap named after the lowly boll weevil? Need live crickets – fast? Click here to find out more about these and other businesses that offer unusual products and services!

Dining

Pass the napkins, please. You can get a fried double bologna burger, or try a pig sandwich, green chili slopper or coffee potato ice cream. Wash everything down with a white birch beer from the Hall of Foam.

Oddities

Time out: A Division I college football game actually had a final score of 222-0. Also, somebody had to invent Mother’s Day, and a city called Skullbone got its name from hosting bare-knuckle boxing matches.

Festivals

What’s that smell? Be sure to attend a celebration that features outhouse races, then bring a breath mint to the annual Garlic Festival. In addition, applaud the lucky and deserving winner of the Slug Queen Pageant.

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Drinking Okra Martinis

Talk o ’ Texas Brands of San Angelo, Texas, accounts for 79 percent of all okra sold in the country, thanks to its Crisp Okra Pickles product.

What a Ham

Edward Rice Sr. of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., is no doctor, but he has been associated with curing for more than 60 years.

Parrothead Dentist

Dr. Ken Robertson doesn’t serve margaritas at his dentist office in Brentwood, Tenn., but many other items associated with Jimmy Buffett are featured there.

Booming Business

The first fireworks makers were the Chinese, but they had nothing on a company based in New Castle, Pa.

Geothermal Gator Aid

Idaho is alligator country?

Great Spinnerbaits

Bright colors and wiggly stripes make Charles Spence's Strike King Lures of Collierville, Tenn. appetizing to hungry fish.

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