10 Strange Town Festivals In the US

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Ever wondered what makes a town truly unique? Picture yourself in the heart of America’s quirkiest festivals, from the hilariously chaotic Testicle Festival to the high-stakes North American Wife Carrying Championships. As we narrate these tales of eccentricity, we also weave in personal stories, such as Josh's emotional farewell to his loyal Ford Edge after a whopping 273,000 miles and his new adventure-ready Subaru Crosstrex, perfect for Minnesota's unforgiving winters.

Get ready to be part of our geocaching escapades as we traverse the land of winter wonders and upcoming events that promise thrill and camaraderie. Discover the world's largest ice maze in Minnesota, set to make its dazzling appearance in our next YouTube video, and join us in anticipation for BamaRama in Alabama and the legendary Texas Challenge. And don't miss out on Geowoodstock’s "giga" status celebration, where we’ll reconnect with geocaching enthusiasts and live stream the pulse-pounding excitement of finding hidden treasures.

Ever tossed a mullet fish or flaunted your worn-out sneakers for a prize? These bizarre contests across America spotlight the joy found in the unconventional. Our hometown boasts and quirky tales will have you laughing as we explore everything from the dawn of the hamburger to slides of ketchup. Don’t forget to support our quirky pursuits on Patreon, where you can indulge in extra giggles and exclusive content. Buckle up and join our zany journey through the unexpected gems and colorful festivals that make America wonderfully peculiar.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is coming from a guy who loves Vegemite.
This is true.
Take that all in.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Take that all in Americans.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Do you love to travel ?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Do you love road trips?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all
over the USA?
Hi, I'm Joshua and I'm Craig.
Welcome to.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Treasures of Our Town .
It's a podcast that exploresunique and charming towns
scattered over the USA.
Hi, I'm Joshua and I'm Craig.
Welcome to Treasures of OurTown.
It's a podcast that exploresunique and charming towns
scattered throughout the UnitedStates.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Guided by our love for location-based games like
geocaching, join us as weventure to some of the country's
most intriguing destinations,uncovering hidden gems and local
secrets along the way.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
On today's episode, we're going to keep with the
weird, the quirky, the themes,like we did last episode as well
.
But this time we're going tokeep with the weird, the quirky,
the themes, like we did lastepisode as well.
But this time we're changing itup, josh.
We're going more the town'sfestivals.
And I'm telling you, josh, Ilooked at my five and then I
looked at yours.
These are weird, quirky andstrange.
So, yeah, yeah, we've got fiveeach, just like we did last
episode as well.

(00:59):
Mate, mate, what did you thinkabout this?
Even your research for this.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh, um, yes, mate, mate, what did you think about
this when you're research forthis?
Oh, I enjoyed it.
You know we really love tocelebrate in the united states
so much, in fact, that we makeup the weirdest stuff to
celebrate and you know, everytown wants to be known for
something.
So I think this is one of theirways to be known for their
different thing by the kind offestival that they put on.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Exactly, exactly you got anyone in particular of
festival that they put on,exactly, exactly.
You got anyone in particular ofyours that what number that
you'd like to sort of enhancemore than the others before we
start, or?

Speaker 1 (01:34):
No, let's just go along.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Let's just go with the flow, let's go with the flow
.
Number two for me.
Again, there were no particularorder, but number two for me is
is is quite quite particularorder, but number two for me is
uh, is is quite, quite humorous.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I dare say yeah, but aren't we going to go to our
delays and upgrades before we go?
Of course of?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
course I'm just letting people know ahead of
time oh, you're yeah yeah, I'mteasing, yeah, yeah I thought
you were jumping right into thecontent.
No, no, no, no, no.
And when I get to number two,teasing number two, get it.
Yeah, exactly there you go.
You see what number two is.
You'll get my little joke whenI get to my number twos, anyway
I can't wait.

(02:09):
Josh, I saw speaking of what'sbeen happening in your life.
I saw a recent photo on uh onyour instagram.
I think it might have been isthat what's going on there?

Speaker 1 (02:20):
let us know, let us know, one of my delays is my car
died.
No, I've had this car for along time.
My Ford Edge 2007 Ford Edge Getthis, craig had 273,000 miles.
Wow, wow, that's insane.
I drove it into the ground.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
You got your money's worth out of it, yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
So this week, this week, it was making really
horrible nor noises in the frontend and I knew it was finally
time to not drive it anymore.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
When it started smoking no, and and not like the
cigarettes or cigars, andactually at the back end it was
about to start on fire, Ibelieve.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
So, wow, so I knew I, you know, I probably should not
be driving this anymore.
And you know, when the carstarts smoking and it makes
weird noises and it has 273 000miles, you're like I don't think
, I don't think it's worthfixing this thing anymore.
So I guess this is one of myupgrades I got a brand new car.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, not brand new I got a new used car.
New to you?
New to you car it looked.
It looked quite new.
What, what year?
Model?
New used car?
New to you?
New to you car?
It looked quite new.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
What year model is it ?
It's a Subaru, I take it.
Yeah, it's a Subaru 2017Crosstrex oh, yes, I know the
ones.
So it's like a little.
It's basically like a littleOutback yes, kind of a sportier
outback.
But I love the Subaru because,especially up here in the north,
they're all four-wheel drive.
No matter how big they are,they're four-wheel drive, which

(03:51):
really comes in very handy herein Minnesota in our snowy
weather.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, it's snow and ice and sleet and the things you
go through, Exactly, exactly.
So what did you do with the oldone, Josh?
What did you give it away?
No, we're going to junk it,we're going to junk it, you're
going to junk it, you're goingto junk it.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Some guy's coming over on Thursday and going to
take it to its grave.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
I don't know what they do.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
I don't know what they do.
It's probably scrap metal.
They probably pull parts off ofit.
The sad thing is you know howit goes is you always put nice
tires on them before your cardies?
So that's a bummer.
There's good tires on them, butwhat?

Speaker 2 (04:30):
can you do?
What can you do, mate?
What can you do, what can youdo?

Speaker 1 (04:32):
So that's actually my delay.
Yeah, that's your delay, ohdelay.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
I've got a new car.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
That's a delay.
Well, yeah, it was a delay,though, because you know, yeah,
a new used car you have to stillput down some cash.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yes, exactly how about you?

Speaker 1 (04:49):
what's been your delay?

Speaker 2 (04:51):
uh, my delay, I'm still, you know, like it's got.
It's obviously van related aswell.
Um, you know, like last lastweek as well, I had the the
issue with my, my vent, my roofvent thing, and you know, now
that's all fixed, it's all good,um, but I'm, I'm, I'm juggling
the electrical in this van.
And when I say juggling,juggling the electrical, um, the

(05:12):
batteries in it themselves,they are only agm batteries,
they're not uh, they're not thedeep cycle, but so they can only
go down to 50 and overnight,you see, it draws a fair bit
going through, because I've gotmy fridge on, I've got, you know
, maybe, some lights on.
Sometimes I even have a CPAP aswell that I use too.
So it does draw it down quite abit.

(05:34):
And let alone the times when wedo these podcasts, et cetera my
live podcast on a Wednesdaynight with Scott Burks, and
stuff too on the GCPC.
I need my Starlink up and theStarlink draws the battery as
well.
So it's like ah, so I'm just,I'm, it's not really a delay,
it's just a.
It's a bit of a headache howI'm just juggling the battery
life of of the van and, uh, Ineed to upgrade the batteries.

(05:57):
I think I do.
I need to upgrade them to the,the, the heavier duty batteries,
um, where they can literally goall the way down to zero
percent, you know, rather,rather than 50%, before they
have any issues.
So that would be my delay, josh.
What about your upgrade?

Speaker 1 (06:10):
What about your upgrade, apart from your new car
?
Yeah, yeah, question aboutbatteries.
I'm curious Does it charge whenyou drive it?
Is that how it charges?

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Okay, it's both.
So I've got two big solarpanels on the roof, um, so it
charges via solar and directsunlight, um, and it also
charges as I drive as well.
Uh, I can, I got a big actual,like a separate battery pack,
itself a jackery battery, umthat I charge the jackery
battery only when I drive, butagain it's got to charge through

(06:37):
the battery system.
That's that's you know in thereat the moment.
So that's the way it works, um,either when I drive or via the
two big solar panels on the roofas well.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
So I say yeah, yeah, okay, cool.
Yeah, it sounds like you needyou do a lot of stuff where you
need a lot of power, so I do.
I think it's time for anupgrade for sure exactly
speaking of upgrades, my upgrade, and I'll just be honest, it's
tough to find an upgrade whenI'm I'm just cold.
It's just cold up here.

(07:06):
You're down in florida and I'mjust cold, um, but you know, us
minnesotans, we have to embracethe cold.
So yes, last weekend I visitedthe world's largest ice maze I
did see this.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
I did see it might have been.
What was it on?
What was on your be real, josh.
You had it on your be real aswell.
I love that hat that you wearwhen you go outside in.
Minnesota, you have to wear awarm hat the one, the one with
the fur, and it goes down overyour ears and down your neck.
It's, it's, it's the same.
What's his name?
The uh, the uncle from, uh,that movie that wore that hat as

(07:45):
well.
Oh, there's Goliath.
No, it wasn't Goliath.
It wasn't Goliath.
It's okay, we'll keep going.
Yeah, what was his name?
The uncle in that movie.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Uncle Buck, yes, uncle.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Buck, it's an Uncle Buck hat.
Yeah, yes.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Oh, you got to stay warm.
My uncle, uncle Buck hat, yeah.
But I visited the world'slargest ice mage and it was
official.
Guinness book of world recordscame and they gave this ice maze
and award is actually on thefield of where the Minnesota
Vikings actually practice and sothey have this big ice festival

(08:18):
and it was a huge maze.
It was really fun because I'dsay mazes is kind of geocaching
adjacent, so you you walk inthere and you're trying to
navigate through and you'rehaving to find, like these
different objects and if youfind all the objects and you get
a prize.
So it was like a little bit oflike a scavenger hunt inside the
maze.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's not just getting out.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
No, and then also through the whole maze, there
were ice sculptures.
So there was like Olaf and likethere was like a bear and there
was like eagles and like so itwas.
They had like actual icesculptures inside the ice maze
and we're talking these werehuge chunks.
I mean, there were giant wallsthat they had created.
Anyway you will see it, becausenext weekend the video will

(09:01):
come out on my YouTube channel.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
There it is.
I'm not just sharing.
I'm not just sharing because ofthat but that actually was.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
That was a highlight for me.
Uh, upgrade, uh, as I embracethe cold weather.
How about you?
What is your?

Speaker 2 (09:14):
upgrade.
Well, my upgrade, josh, is I'lljust say this a bamarama baby
this.
So, bamarama, I'm going to bethere this time.
So, bamarama, remember you andI went last year, and with Tim
as well, and we were there forlike four days and that was four
days filled full of events andfull of fun and full of
geocaching and friends.

(09:34):
This time, josh, they're doingevents 10-day or nine days out
from the main event.
I'm going to be there for thefirst one, so I'm going to be in
for the first one.
So I'm going to be in theBamarama area, in Foley and the
Gulf Shores for like 10 daysstraight.
So, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
You're going to get to know them well, because I
kind of wish we had a little bitmore time, because how cool was
that giant fire pit at the twoLaura's house out in the country
?
Yes, like it looks like a tonof fun.
I bet you they have multipleevents out there.
They do.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
They do, and the two Laura's.
They have multiple bonfireevents as well, so there's more
than one, just the one.
The main one, though, is on, Ithink it's the night before Bama
Ramma on the Saturday night,and, josh, I'm going to be late
to that.
Why?
Because I've got to drive toPensacola to pick up Scott Burks
from the airport.
He's flying in late Saturdaynight.

(10:33):
He's going to be at Bama Ramafor Sunday.
He's going to stay with me.
I've got an Airbnb for us aswell, so he's going to stay with
me at the Airbnb, and then,after Bamaama, I drive him
straight back to Pensacola againso he can fly home.
He's there for 24 hours.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Wow, and he's really only going to be there 22 hours
because you have to drive himthere and back.
This is true, this is true,exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
So yeah, that'll be Scott Burks.
I'll be picking him up in thattoo, but no, that's going to be
absolutely my upgrade.
I'm looking forward to it.
I'm looking forward to spendingsome time with some other
geocaching mates as well.
And yeah, just sometimes nottraveling, sometimes too much is
a good thing, you know.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
So having a little bit of a home base, I'm so
jealous because you know we werethere for, I think, four days.
So the fact that you get moretime there, you can take your
time.
You're not rushed, we have tomax out every single day exactly
.
So I am excited for you and I'magain very jealous.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
But but next month, next month, craig, we will be
reunited and it feels so goodright you've always got to get a
song in josh oh, that's right,we're gonna be in floralsville,
that's right.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's right.
That's the texas challenge,which is the the middle weekend
of march.
We're gonna be there for likefour, four days enjoying the
texas challenge, a geocachingevent I have never been to.
I've never been it's the ogit's like the original
geocaching event.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's the original mega.
Like it wasn't, it is thenumber one mega ever.
I think happened.
No, it wasn't.
No, I don't think it was thefirst mega geo.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Geowoodstock, I believe, was the first mega, but
I think, oh, the first eventever.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Event ever, yes, that's what it is that's what it
is the first event ever.
Yeah, yeah, it was in a.
It was in a bar or something.
I remember that now too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, wow, okay.
So it's literally the OG of allgeocaching events, full stop.
Yes, yes, so that's really cool, and there is big news this
week.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
And that is big, big news Geowoodstock, which is
another event that we will bereunited and it feels so good.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
I'll have another sip of my beer while you sing.
Yeah, go ahead while I sing.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
It has officially gone giga and if you don't know
what that means, that means thatthere will be over 5,000 people
there.
This is only the second timeever in the United States that a
geocaching event has gottenthat big and, craig, it went
giga, I think, sooner than thelast time it was giga, so I'm
guessing this might be thelargest geocaching event ever in

(13:15):
the United States.
We're going to be there, we'regoing to be on stage, we're
going to do this podcast onstage at 12.15 pm.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Be there, it's going to be awesome.
I can't wait.
And not just that, if you arethere as well, josh, we're going
to organize you and me aregoing to organize a
one-hour-long Adventure Lab atthat location.
That's it one hour long.
So if you're not there, you'regoing to miss out on five finds.
If you're there and listen tous, you're there and listen to
us, you're going to get the fivefinds as well.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
So that's really cool , we're going to turn it on when
the podcast starts and we'regoing to turn it off when the
podcast ends.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
And Josh.
We always say as well thispodcast itself is we love travel
and our travel is guided by alove of location-based games
like geocaching.
And let's be honest as well,the reason why I come over to
the US in 2018 in 2018 was forthe first american giga in

(14:11):
cincinnati.
You remember, if thatcincinnati didn't go giga, I
wouldn't have come over, uh, anddriven across, I wouldn't have
met you face to face, I wouldn'thave josh, I probably wouldn't
be here, right now, just youwould probably be in australia
yeah, exactly, exactly so how?
how the table turn tables, howto say like a giga event has
changed your life and it doesthis next one might change your

(14:34):
life as well.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
Who knows, maybe, who knows who?

Speaker 2 (14:36):
knows what's going on , josh, who knows what's going
on?
So, no, it's really really cool.
And congratulations as well toall the uh, all the ambassadors
or the, the hosting uh crew, thewhole lot, uh, for their hard
work that they all put in to tryand get the the word out that
you know this is going to be abig event and everyone should
attend.
So you're going to be there,I'm going to be there, we're

(14:56):
going to um, spend some timewith tim minnesota boy as well,
and our good friend rob coach vis going to be there as well.
So the four of us are sharing adwelling, an Airbnb, with some
beers in a hot tub, I dare say.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Oh, it's going to be fun, and you know what I mean.
Everybody's going to be there,like the who's who of geocaching
is going to be there.
So, if you're thinking about it, if you're thinking about gosh,
I would love to go to ageocaching event this year to
celebrate.
I mean, this is a big year, 25years of geocaching.
It seems appropriate that wehave a gig event for 25 years of

(15:35):
geocaching.
Get to this event.
Get to this event.
If you only have one choice,that's right, because it's going
to be special.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
It really is.
It really is.
And Josh moving in now speakingof West Virginia, guess what?
West Virginia is my very firstplace for my weird and wonderful
festival quirky things.
What a segue.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
I have another, segue , I have another segue, you
segue as well.
This was a planned one, becausethis is coming out.
This episode's coming out onFebruary 3rd, correct.
Well, yesterday was GroundhogDay, that's right.
That's right, and I can't thinkof a more iconic, quirky

(16:24):
festival than Groundhog Day inPunxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
This poor groundhog, literally reefing him out from
his nice little warm hidey hole,just for the sole purpose of
holding him up in front of acrowd of people just to see if
he looks at his shadow or not.
That's insane, it's quirky.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
It is quirky and someday I would love to
celebrate groundhog day inpensatoni, pennsylvania, but I
wouldn't mind celebrating inwoodstock, illinois, which was
the shooting location forgroundhog day, the movie which
is just as just as iconic.
So, yes, there's a.
And this year gosh, this yearwas the year to go, because

(17:03):
groundhog day lands on a sunday.
Yes, it's, it was yesterday asthis, as this is being posted.
Yeah, exactly.
So anyway, we know, in americawe love to celebrate weird
things.
It's a big celebration.
Towns have these festivals anda lot of these towns.
They have the festivals to putthemselves on the map.
Yes, because they're smallertowns that that want to be known

(17:26):
for something and they're townsthat that want to be known for
something and they're like whatdo we want to be known for?
It will be this.
So, craig and I, we're going totalk about 10 of them, and now,
now now now I can go.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
Now I can go Number one.
And again, as we said lastepisode, josh, these are in no
particular order whatsoever,it's just random order itself,
and the links to all these arein the description, as you're
listening to it as well, so youcan click through and have a
look at the websites that wefound in relation to it.
Okay, josh, as I said before,my number one is in West

(17:59):
Virginia and it's in Marlinton,west Virginia, and it's called
ready for this, the RoadkillCook-Off.
The Roadkill Cook-Off.
I saw this straight away.
I went oh, that's got to be inmine, that's got to be in mine.
So it features dishes that areactually made from animals
commonly found as roadkill.

(18:21):
Not necessarily they don't haveto be on the road, you don't
have to pick it up, but theyhave to be the roadkill type.
So, like squirrels, you callthem opossums, raccoons, that
sort of thing, the things youfind on the side of the road
normally.
But you can actually cull theseyourself and make delicious
dishes out of them too.
So, josh, they're chefsthemselves.

(18:43):
They compete to create thetastiest roadkill-inspired meals
, and the festival embraces aquirky, like survivalist type
approach to the whole diningexperience.
Now, would you try anythingfrom the roadkill festival?

Speaker 1 (18:59):
No, n-o-no, it's just , you get so.
It's so disgusting and actuallyyet one time get this, get this
Craig.
One time when I was likefreshman year in college, there
was this like maintenance man.
I went down to school in Texasand there was a maintenance man

(19:21):
of the building and we walk intolike the common area and he
lived in where, in the where welived right.
We walk into the common area,there's a stove and we're like
why does it smell so nasty inhere?

Speaker 2 (19:33):
and we open up the oven and he is cooking a
squirrel no that he found on theroad.
No, yes, that's true story ohno true story.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
It was so disgusting.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
That's one of those college high school myths where
the janitor who lives in thebasement is cooking up squirrel.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
It happened.
It was so gross.
And the guy if you saw this guy, you met this maintenance guy
you would be like, yep, thattracks.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
Well, I have seen in my travels, I do.
I do see a plethora ofdifferent types of people.
So, yes, it's.
I just suppose there would bepeople like that in especially
good old us of a but yes, yes,yes, no, look, I'll be honest,
josh, I would try these dishes.
Um, they are chef in, likeactually chef.
So you know, they're not.
They're not going to look like,as I said before, they're not

(20:25):
actual roadkill.
They don't pick them up fromdays old from the side of the
road.
They actually, you know, um,butcher them themselves for the
sole purpose of this event.
So they're healthy meat.
Um, I'm I'm guessing thatthey're not going to look like
what they used to, that you'renot going to pick off a little,
you know, bones of us out of asquirrel's leg, for instance.
You know, and suck a bone outof a squirrel's leg like you do

(20:47):
a turkey leg at another festival.
It's not going to look likethat, and so I would try
anything and everything thatthey have on sale.
I would, and you still wouldn'tThinking about it.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
No, no, it did.
The squirrel that I saw cookedin that moment.
It did look, the meat lookedlike chicken.
It looked like the legs thelegs looked like chicken.
Yeah, but it did not smell likechicken.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
It smelled nasty, cooked right.
Everything tastes like chicken.
Just saying All right, josh,there we go.
We started off with a nicelittle flavor taste in the back
of everyone's throat.
Let's go to your number one.
And what do you have for yournumber one?
Let's?
Let's wash out their throatwith what?

Speaker 1 (21:28):
with some water.
Oh really nice transition.
So we're going down to whereyou are currently well you're
not far, this far south but itis the lower keys, florida and
what is it low in the lowerFlorida is the Underwater Music
Festival.

(21:49):
Underwater Music Festival.
It combines music and marineconservation and fun.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
I did see some photos of this as well.
But yeah, you keep going.
What else have we got for us so?

Speaker 1 (22:04):
the musicians actually are divers and they,
they dive down and they actuallyplay music underwater.
That's, that's.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
I didn't even know you could play music underwater
well, you think about it though,josh like how do whales sing to
each other from miles away?
Water does carry audio quitewell wow, it does it, can't it?

Speaker 1 (22:26):
It's got to sound weird.
So I wonder, if the musiciansare down there, they're playing
or whatever, then other diversare down there to listen to it.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
Yeah, Must be, must be.
I want to see the go-go danceswith the bubbles going up from
their mouths.
But if you have a look on thepost itself, josh, some people
are pretending you don't havethe good old air guitar.
They don't have the air guitar.
They've got water guitars, butthey're in the shape of a big
starfish and they're pretendingbecause there's obviously no

(22:55):
strings on them as well.
But they're pretending, sothey're doing air guitar
underwater with a big starfish,so it looks really cool.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, it looks like they have puns for musical
instruments like a Trom bonefishor a flukalele A flukalele, I
like it, a flukalele.
And they play ocean theme music.

(23:23):
I guess they play like theBeatles Yellow Submarine.
Yeah, they actually have like aspecial underwater speakers to
make this happen.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah yeah, because obviously you can't have
electricity going underwater,but there's actual speakers that
can go underwater.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
So this has been going for over 35 years Wow.
It's a big deal.
It looks like, it's like, alsolike a fundraiser, fundraiser
for a coral reef conservation.
Oh yes, yeah, that makes sense.
You know, you know all aboutcoral reefs because you're from
australia, right?

Speaker 2 (23:56):
yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly yeah.
The great barry reef inaustralia, um, and it does need
conservation as well.
The coral reefs, because theyare slowly dying off with the
different temperatures anddifferent things happening
underwater, and plastics and allthat sort of stuff too in the
ocean.
So it it is, it's, it's good toactually promote, um, you know,
because when you think aboutjust, we don't normally see that

(24:17):
as humans, we're never hardlyunderwater, and the ones that
are minimal percentage, so youdon't see what, uh, what's
actually happening underneaththe ocean.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
So, yeah, it's good to consider these sort of things
too and according to thegovernment, that's where all the
aliens are living.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
So this is true.
This is so we got to help wegot to help the aliens.
We can't ruin their, their lifeno, exactly, we've got to help
them out too as well.
So so that's maybe that's thereason why they come in and
flying over New Jersey.
But anyway, all right, I'mgoing to get on to my number two
, josh.
Now we're ready for this.
We teased this before.

(24:52):
I know, I know, and it's okayit's okay to say this because I
can still make it sort of PG-ishand that is it's in Montana,
it's in Deer Lodge, montana.
It was formerly held in Clintonin Montana as well, but it's
called the Testicle Festival, orI shortened it myself and call

(25:15):
it Testy Festy.
But anyway, it has a nice ringto it.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
It just rolls off your tongue.
The Testicle Festival.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
The Testicle Festival off your tongue the testicle
festival.
The testicle festival, thetesty festy, um.
And it is exactly what itsounds like, and that is.
It focuses on eating deep friedbull testicles, also known as
rocky mountain oysters.
It's known for a very rowdyatmosphere, obviously, with wild
contests and adult themes.
Entertainment, obviously, bullriding, lots of alcohol involved

(25:43):
.
You know these single thingslike too.
So some events, though, havebeen shut down due to excessive
partying and of alcohol involved.
You know these single thingslike too.
So some events, though, havebeen shut down due to excessive
partying.
And now josh, after 35 years ofevents due to lawsuits, etc.
America can't have anything fun.
By the sounds of it, it is nowclosed for good as of this year,
so I know, I know, bring backthe testy-festy.

(26:05):
That's what I say.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
I imagine, though, just the marketing of the
testicle festival.
I'm sure it brings in a specialcrowd.
Well, I'd be there for sure, my15-year-old self will be there
100% with shoes on, all right,so get this Craig.
Yeah, shoes on Alright, so getthis Craig.

(26:29):
I said I wouldn't eat roadkill,but I have had deep fried bull
testicles.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
So you've had Rocky Mountain oysters.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
I have and get this.
I had them with Scott Burks.
We had them together.
Oh, how romantic that was yeah,we had them together at the
Geocoinest in Nebraska there'san old Periscope that he has
somewhere where we did it.
Live on Periscope and we did itfor a path tag.

(26:58):
If you eat it, you got a pathtag, okay.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
If that's the case, did you actually enjoy it?
What was it flavored like?
If you can recall for you, I'mgonna say now you didn't like
the texture you know, friedanything is good yes, pretty
much so I don't know.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
It's just like kind of just tastes like pork that
was deep fried.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
Deep fried pork, yeah , but the the, the texture of it
is quite.
It's different compared to anormal meat because it's a, it's
an organ rather than the meat.
It's like when you have a deepfried liver, for instance.
It's an organ flavor, so, andit should be more of a gamey
flavor too, rather than theactual meat themselves.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
So it wasn't bad.
It wasn't bad but it wasn'tgood.
No, you know it was worth, butit was worth the path tag.
I have got the path tagsomewhere.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
You still got the path tag, so that I eat bull
testicles or bull balls.
Bull balls, yeah, exactly, andone day, one of your
grandchildren.
You're going to pay one of yourgrandchildren $10 to actually
log all your path tags.
I've heard too.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yes, that's my plan.
All right, josh.
Moving on to your number twonow as well, what is your right
number two?
We're heading up up north, upto the northeast of a newery
maine, oh, craig, newery maine.
I want to visit maine for manyreasons and now craig.
I have another reason to wantto visit maine, because maine is

(28:24):
the home of get, get this.
I love this.
The North American, that meansthere's other.
This is in other places.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
No, it's also open to Canada.
That's what it means.
It's open to Canada as well.
Cause in Maine.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
That's for the North American wife carrying
championships.
It's a competition of wifecarrying carrying your wife
around, yeah, so I've actuallyseen this.
It's like on ESPN eight.
I've seen this on ESPN eight.
It's a sport, but it is aFinnish tradition where you know

(29:00):
, back in the days, the originsof the Vikings.
You know they would have awedding and then they would the
the men folk would steal thewife would have a wedding, oh
yeah, and then they would thethe men folk would steal the
wife, yes, of the way, and stealher away or whatever yeah and
they would carry her away, andso that's.
I believe that's where it got itstarted.
Started, um, but get this, it's, it's.
It's exactly what it soundslike.
There's an obstacle coursewhere you carry a woman around a

(29:24):
278-yard course with hurdles,sand traps and a water hazard
called the Widowmaker.
It's just like a pit.
It's a pit of water that youcarry your wife through, or
partner actually, Because, getthis Craig, anybody can be a

(29:44):
wife.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
It doesn't have to be a wife.
I was going to say so.
Tammy doesn't need to go, youand I could go there instead,
and you?

Speaker 1 (29:51):
could be my wife.
Yeah, you could carry me, or Icould carry you.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, I know who's going to be carrying who You're
not going to be carrying me.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
I'll give you the hot tip right there that's not
going to happen, yeah yeah, soit could be friends, siblings or
any, any teammate, you justhave to carry them.
And um the carrying styles.
Oh my gosh, oh the carryingstyles.
Piggyback is allowed, butthat's not.
That's not good for speed.

(30:19):
You need estonian carryingstyle where the wife hangs
upside down on the carrier'sback legs wrapped around his
shoulders.
Isn't that interesting?
Yeah, so it's for optimum speedand balance, so fair enough
fair enough, so get this, okay,they don't win.
They don't win money, they don'twin money they win.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
They win their weight in beer oh, oh, now I'm keen,
now I'm interested yeah,whatever the wife's weight in
beer and five times her weightoh, I guess they do have cash
and five times her weight incash.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
Oh, okay, so if she's , she's a hundred pounds, then
you win 500 bucks yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, this is a we got to go.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
We got to go.
I've got to find a very lightcase Exactly.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
But then see, that's the thing and I like the idea of
that too, josh and that is, ifyou've got a lighter wife, yeah,
you're more inclined to be upahead.
You're possibly going to win,but you're not going to win as
much as someone with a heavierwife who can pull out all the
stops to get over the line firstwith a heavier wife, A
200-pound wife 1,000 bucks.
Imagine that.
There you go.
There you go, exactly.

(31:27):
Now also going back to thestyles of Carrie, I did see a
photo of this too when I didclick on the link, and I see
what you mean.
Yeah, she's literally likehanging over the back of him
with her head down near the topof his butt crack, basically,
with her arms wrapped around hiswaist and her legs like like
knees over his shoulders and andlocked her her ankles around

(31:49):
his forehead.
So yeah it's really strange,but no, I like it.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
It would be really fun to watch.
Yeah, yeah, it'd be really funto watch.
So newer remain, get up.
Be really fun to watch.
Yeah, yeah, it would be reallyfun to watch.
So newer remain, get up there.
New remain To watch some wifecaring.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
Or get up there not to watch, but actually involve
yourself into some wife caringas well.
Why not?
Exactly, exactly.
All right, josh, my numberthree.
I don't know what it is, but itlooks like I'm going the food
trail.
I didn't even even know until,like, I've got to number three

(32:26):
now.
I'm still on food.
I'm still on weird food thisone.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
I'm gonna pronounce this wrong, but this is the way
it come out is homogenous or isa homon humongous?
How?

Speaker 2 (32:29):
would you say it humongous?

Speaker 1 (32:30):
it's a humongous, is it humongous?
Oh, I think, I think it'shumongous because it's it sounds
humongous, humongous fungushumongous fungus festival is
located in crystal falls inmichigan as well.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Humongous Humongous Fungus.
Humongous Fungus Festival.
It's located in Crystal Fallsin Michigan as well.
Humongous Fungus, I like it See.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
It has a nice ring to it.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
It does.
It does now.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
It's like the testicle festival.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
Testy, festy, humongous fungus.
Exactly, look at me.
Wow.
Anyway, it celebrates 37 acresunderground mushroom.
There's a 37-acre undergroundmushroom called the amyrella
fungus, one of the largestliving organisms on Earth, josh,
wow, yeah, it featuresmushroom-themed food, including

(33:14):
giant mushroom pizzas as well.
See, I need to go to this too,josh, because you know me, I'm a
fun guy, just saying.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
Oh yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
You are a fun guy, just saying, oh yeah, for sure,
you are a fun guy.
But then it also includesfungus themed parades, games and
even fungus related sciencetalks.
I don't know, you know, I don'tknow what science talk would be
a fungus they're going to talkabout, like the feet fungus, the
kind of fungus on your feet no,no, no, maybe, maybe fungus
maybe how a fungus isn't is oneof the obviously big living

(33:42):
organism in the world as well,and it's also how it relates to
the world itself, because youthink about it, josh, everywhere
in this world has something todo with everyone else and
there's a reason for it being onthis planet, and fungus is the
same.
So fungus feeds a lot oforganisms.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
Yes, Think about this though.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Craig, 37 acres, think about how big that is.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
It's one giant mushroom under the earth.
It's the world's largest livingorganism.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
That's crazy.
How many football fields are inan acre or?

Speaker 1 (34:16):
whatever, I have no idea but I know an acre is like.
When you think of acre, youthink of like a farm, right?
Yes, so you have acreage, soit's like I'm far.
I'd say.
Acre is like a farm yessomebody needs to write us.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
You know our friend da truck he will yeah the farm,
yeah dan you know?

Speaker 1 (34:35):
you know how big an acre is?

Speaker 2 (34:36):
tell us I guess we could just ask google, but we
have.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
We have dan da truck who is also a patron.
Right, he's a patron yeah, heis.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, he is, yeah, proud patron of that too.
So, yeah, the fungus fungus,humongous fungus, josh, would
you try again?
Would you try any of this?
Would you try a fungus pizza?
Would you try any of these sortof fungusy stuff?

Speaker 1 (34:55):
are you a fungus?
Are you a fungus girl?
I don't like mushrooms, josh.
They have kind of like a slimytexture.
Oh, it's a texture.
It's a texture, josh, it istexture.
They have a slimy texture andthey really don't taste like
anything.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
See, I disagree with you, josh, in this regard,
because I think they'redelicious.
I love mushrooms.
I do a sauteed mushrooms with anice little creamy jus as well.
Put that over some buttery likebuttery toast.
Oh my wordy lordy, me, that isa delicious breakfast.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
So so yes, josh, I like some mushrooms, some
buttery mushrooms, on a steak,but that's just because steak is
so good that you can putanything on steak, exactly.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
I mean, I don't mean to be disingenuous, but you know
what I'm talking about.
Like you know, I don't want toargue with you, but the fungus
is delicious and mushrooms aredelicious.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
There you go.
This is coming from a guy wholoves Vegemite.
This is true.
Let's just take that all in.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Take that all in Americans.
It's not deep fried, so it'sokay.
All right, josh.
What's your number three?
Josh?
What's your number three?
Mate, what's your number?

Speaker 1 (36:01):
three.
All right, I've been to thisplace, craig.
I haven't been to the festival,but I've been to this place
because we're going to thehawkeye state.
We're going to this, the stateof my birth.
We're going to near where allmy family lives.
We're going to a little towncalled mount vernon, iowa, mount
vernon, mount vernon, and youmight think what's mount vernon

(36:22):
known for?
Yeah.
Town called Mount Vernon, iowa,mount Vernon, mount Vernon, and
you might think what's MountVernon known for?
Yeah.
Well, this is an example, Ithink, where they created
something just to be known forsomething, because Mount Vernon
is the home of the grump.
What?
The home of the grump.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
You know what a grump Is it.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
You know what a grump is.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
Like just a grumpy old man.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
Yes, An old, crotchety, grumpy old man.
So they celebrate the grump,wow.
And they elect a town grump,wow.
So the town votes, votes forthe grump of the year, wow.
It's celebrating the grump ofthe year, wow, celebrating the

(37:03):
grumpiest attitude.
So locals nominate and vote forthe most delightful, cranky
person in town.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
So I guess maybe there could be a woman grump too
.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Yeah, yeah, Possibly.
I mean, this one sounds like ablast to go to just saying.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
The grumpy people.
Yeah, so there's a grump parade, of course Of course, grump
parade.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
There's always a parade.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
People dress like grumpy characters.
Yeah, you know it's cute.
They have an anti-fun festival,so it's grumpy things.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
So you know the clap and cheers that everyone's got
to be.
Everyone's got to boo the, theparade that goes past.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
It was gonna boo the parade like oh, this is horrible
, I can't stand this.
Why?
Did I even come here but it'sso funny because they celebrate
grumpiness.
But they'd all do it for alaugh.
Of course it's.
This is just.
This is americana right here,just like let's celebrate
something really weird, let'scelebrate the grumpiest guy in
our town and maybe make himhappy.

(38:07):
Basically, that's the plot ofthe Grinch who Stole Christmas.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Basically.
Basically, it is Exactly right.
But how would you feel, josh,if you lived in that town?
How would you feel?
People nominating you for theGrump of the Year?
Honored?
Really, I would feel honored.
Would you live up to the grump?
Would you need to live lifelike a grump?

Speaker 1 (38:27):
I think I would just really, because I just want to
win, I just really go for it,just be a real jerk.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
You'd be all in.
For 12 months beforehand You'dbe all in.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
Be just a real jerk for one year.
So I can be the be the grump ofthe year, and then you know,
then I wouldn't have to be grumpagain.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
Oh geez, you see it's very, it's very typical
american, a very typicalamerican.
So I'll say that.
All right, josh.
Moving on to my number four.
Now, my number four, um, thisactually came from australia
originally when I was doing someresearch.
Yeah, and it, and it's calledthe Tuna Rama Festival.
But here in the US it'sactually in Floribama, in the
Bama Rama.
That's where they do it inFloribama, and it's called the

(39:07):
Mullet Toss.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Wait, they do it in the bar.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
No, no, they do it.
No, no, no.
They close the road and whatthey do is the line between
Florida and Alabamaama, thatactual, the state line, the
borderline.
Right there is the line whichthey've got to toss from.
So they can try and toss thethe, the mullet.
They use a mullet, not a tuna.
They toss the mullet from theborder, so from in florida, as

(39:31):
far as I can, into alabama, yousee.
So that's the mullet toss, andbut, it did start in port
lincoln in south australia andI've been there as well.
Um, I didn't participatebecause I was like 12 at the
time, but now it inspired eventsand along the us coast towns,
like like for obama as well withthe mullet toss um, the main
event is the actual tuna toss orslash mullet toss, fish toss,

(39:52):
whatever you want to talk aboutit.
Uh, the competitors hurl largedead tuna fish as far as they
possibly can, using likenormally hanging onto the tail
and doing like the what do youcall?
It's like the discus sort ofstyle.
I dare say you know that sortof feel.
I do believe like they try anduse some sort of centrifuge to
try and spin that thing aroundand then fling it as far as they

(40:13):
possibly can.
Um, and it is inspired by localfishing culture.
But now is an internationaloddity and uh and other as well
as fish contests, such as likethe slippery pole climbing too
You've seen that as well aroundwhere they literally get some
like fish guts and that andslime up a pole and you've got
to try them and they put thepole on.
I think it's maybe like a 20 or30 degree angle going out into

(40:36):
the water and they put a flag onthe end of it and you've got to
run out and try and get to theflag.
But literally people just slipoff left, right and center into
the water all the time withoutgetting a flag.
But there's obviously moneyinvolved in regards to the
person who can toss the mostfish, the person who can get the
flag, that sort of thing aswell.
So yes again, josh would you?

Speaker 1 (40:55):
try this one it sounds like fun, it sounds but
it's probably more fun than thegrump festival I don't know.
Don't knock the grump festivaluntil you tried it.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Craig oh, now, now he's going for, you're going for
king grump straight away um,when you first said mullet toss,
I thought you meant like theywould throw a guy.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
They would throw a guy that was wearing a mullet.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
No, no, no, the mullet fish.
There's a fish.
There's a fish called a mulletyou know what?

Speaker 1 (41:24):
There's a trend now with yours they're all stinky
and gross.
A mullet, a tuna fish, we gotmushrooms.
We got testicles.
I got a question for you, Josh.
And we got roadkill.
Why are all yours so disgusting?
Because that's what you'reafter weird and quirky?

Speaker 2 (41:41):
No, not disgusting.
I've got a question now for allAmericans out there why do you
call it tuna fish?
Why not just tuna?

Speaker 1 (41:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Because there's lots of kinds of fish.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
Yeah, but you don't call it fish for everything else
you know you call a flounder, aflounder swordfish?

Speaker 2 (42:00):
no, but swordfish is actually called a swordfish.
It's not called a sword.
Tuna is called tuna, uh see.
So what do?

Speaker 1 (42:06):
you call tuna fish english is, english is a um is a
real tricky language for reallysmart people, I guess you don't
call it a mullet fish, youdon't call it a flounder fish.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
You don't call, you know, you know, flake fish,
shark fish.
It shark fish.
It's only tuna fish.
That's the only thing you callit.
So very strange, but again,that's the only thing that I can
think of.
In regards to America beingdifferent from the rest of the
world, you love tuna fish ratherthan just tuna.
I'm going to eat a can of tunafish.
No, you can just eat a can oftuna.
Let's be honest.
But anyway, I'm digressing as Ialways do.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Yes, all right, are you going to yours?
We're, we're, we're staying upeast.
Okay, we're going to.
I'm gonna murder this name yeah, you are.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Uh, you did last episode montpelier montpelier.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yeah, that sounds about right montpelier,
montpelier, montpelier,montpelier, montpelier.
Oh, I'll say it like thatMontpelier, montpelier,
montpelier, vermont.
Never been to Vermont, but youmight want to visit Montpelier
Vermont in mid-March, yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Because that is the time of the rotten sneaker
contest.
Oh, now he's got the smellyfestival.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
I will own it, I will own it, I will own it.
So this is funny.
This started as a gimmick.
This is a festival.
It started as a gimmick for thebrand.
Do you know the brand?
Odor Eaters.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yes, yeah, we got Odor Eaters in Australia.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Yeah, yeah, odor Eaters, the sponsor, was trying
to find the stinkiest shoes theycould find, oh, oh was trying
to find the stinkiest shoes theycould find, oh.
So they're like the bigsponsors.
So you bring the most nasty,smelliest shoes you can and it's
judged, get this.
This is a.
This would be an interestingjob.
Ready for it?

Speaker 2 (43:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Judged by professional sniffers humans or
dogs.
No, it's people.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
It's people, they're professionals.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
And they humans or dogs?
No, I'm it's people, it'speople, they're professionals
and they, they determine thestinkiest shoe wow nasty, you
know how you win.
You want to hear how you win.
Yeah, the judging's based onodor, not just odor, no, but how
worn out the shoe is as well,how nasty it looks and overall,
overall foulness.

(44:20):
Just, it's just like thenastiest, smelliest, sweatiest,
grossest shoe and, uh, sponsoredby odor eaters wow, and it's
open to kids and adults.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
It's pretty cool again being in the us that
there'd be a few people I knowwould actually be in the running
to win this and be worldchampion.
Let's be honest, you see them alot on tiktoks and stuff too.
You know that sort of thing aswell.
But wow, josh, would you haveany?
You wouldn't have any of yoursat all because you think about

(44:53):
if you were, if you were to dothis type of thing, you'd
actually have to probably wearthem for months beforehand with
no socks on.
Don't wear socks.
Yep, you gotta have your feetsweat inside them yeah, you need
a leather.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
You need a leather loafer.
Yeah, wearing no socks and youhave to like.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Every day you have to jog in this leather loafer with
no yes, exactly and go throughmud go through mud and stuff as
well, yeah, to make it look bad,make it look bad bad and make
it tattered, and then you'd even.
You need to really sweat yourfeet, need to sweat inside.
Yeah, you got to sweat.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
You got to sweat.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
And sweat for.
Oh no, I think too much aboutthis sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
But it's worth it, Craig, because you not only get
a cash prize if you win, but youget this A lifetime supply of
odor eaters.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
I'd be using my cash prize to transplant my feet
after that, just saying, becauseyou wouldn't be able to scrub
the stench off your feet either.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
You're going to get warts, you're going to get
fungus, for sure, and we're nottalking about the mushrooms.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
No, no, exactly, Exactly so again, josh, I would
prefer eating testicles.
I would prefer eating roadkill,I'd prefer in a mushroom.
Then go to this one.
This one for me is is is reallynot good out.
It's not really.
It's not my cup of tea, so tospeak aperitif so to speak.
I think maybe we should renamethis episode the grossest

(46:22):
festivals yes, we should weshould.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
That was.
That's probably the worst oneso far.
That's pretty bad.
That's, yeah, I think it's.
I think it's worse.
It's worse than all mine.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
You know mine were pretty bad, but yeah, that's
worse than all mine.
All right, josh, what?
What am I up to now am I up to?
I'm up to my last one number,last one, last last one.
Already.
This is not a good timing.
I will say All right, josh,this one here you cannot eat.
This one is more quirky.
This is a bit weird and quirky,but it's not disgusting, it's
not terrible.
It's called the Woolly WormFestival in Banner Elk, north

(46:52):
Carolina.
Woolly worms.
What do you think of, josh,when you hear the words woolly
worm?

Speaker 1 (46:58):
I think of like a caterpillar.
Yes, exactly right, like afurry little caterpillar.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Yes, it involves races between woolly bear
caterpillars.
They're called bearcaterpillars and Josh, very much
like the.
What do you call it?
Oh, we just spoke about itbefore the 2nd of February, the
Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day Very much likeGroundhog Day is that the bear
caterpillars predict theseverity of the winter as well.

(47:25):
You see, in North Carolina thewinning worm's markings are then
analyzed to forecast the snowlevels and temperatures.
That's how they do it.
So the winning worm is the wormthat's analyzed to predict the
actual snow levels andtemperatures.
Thousands of people attend andalso Josh, get this.
You can bet on the caterpillarsand then witness the folk

(47:48):
meteorology they call it too.
So you can actually put money.
See, it's very Australian nowwhen you put money on anything
at all.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
Well, a lot of these festivals that we're bringing up
involve money.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
Yes, true, why would you otherwise?
It's a draw.
It's a draw.
You got to win some money.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
carry your wife and win some money in your weight
and beer.
Exactly how big is a woollybear caterpillar?
Are they bigger than normalcaterpillars?

Speaker 2 (48:13):
No, no, no, no, they're a normal sort of size,
but they're very furry typecaterpillars as well.
Sort of size, but there arewoolly, like they're very furry
type caterpillars as well.
Um, this one, this one, to mewould be an easy one to go to,
just to the sake of being goingto it once, you know, and then
you, you celebrate the wholefestival afterwards.
You know, it's not, it's thewhole festival, isn't around
this.
It's very much like thegroundhog day sort of style,

(48:34):
whereby it happens once and it'sdone, and and then everyone you
know, then everyone goes anddrinks woolly bear caterpillar
beer at the local pub.
Let's just name that for thenamesake Exactly.
But yeah, so that's my numberfive, josh, the Woolly Woman
Festival.
I like that.
I finished nice and easy.
You went hard at the end there.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Oh well, you were talking about you still have one
more to go.
I have one more.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
I have one more.
I have one more.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
This is the tenth one oh, I've been here as well more
than once.
I've been here twice.
We're going to seymourwisconsin, home of the
cheeseland, and in the month ofaugust seymour wisconsin has get
this burger fest oh wow, likehamburgers yes, because, okay,

(49:23):
seymour wisconsin claims to bethe city where the hamburger was
invented.
Oh, I wonder how contentiousthat is.
I'm sure it's very contentiousbut I've done some research um.
The.
The festival honors a guy namedCharlie Nugreen they call him
Hamburger Charlie and back in1885, he flattened a meatball

(49:45):
and put two slices of bread tothe fair goers the local fair
and to eat, to go, and thehamburger was born there.
It was, see, and there's a big.
I have a video of this.
I have a couple videos of this.
I have a full-size YouTubevideo and I have a short.
Really, yes, I do, it'll be inthe show notes, but there's a
giant statue at the in themiddle of the town and it's it's

(50:09):
a giant statue of a hamburger,charlie, and he's holding a
giant hamburger.
And then you walk across thestreet and there's the like a
gigantic craig, a gigantic grill, huge, and this grill, when
it's not in the winter, it haslike a statue burger on it, but
they take the statue off inaugust and get this.

(50:30):
They cook on this real grill an8 266 pound hamburger.
No, yes, yes, it's humongous.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
That's insane.
Yes, how many cows died forthat thing?
A lot, a lot.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
It's a huge grill and it even has flipping equipment,
so they flip the burger on thisgiant grill.
It's humongous.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
You'd have to flip that with like forklifts and
stuff.
Surely I know Wow.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
This is a sight to behold.
Wow, this is a sight to behold.
This is cool.
And get this, craig.
I did a retreat.
I lead retreats, yes, and I leda high school retreat in
Seymour, wisconsin, and I didn'tknow this was a big deal, but
they were like, oh yeah, you gotto go down there and see Hammer
and Charlie.
They're like we have a hugefestival in August and then
they're telling me about theketchup slide.

(51:18):
I'm like what catch?
They're like, yeah, every yearwe do a ketchup slide and
basically it's do you know whata slip and slide is?
Yeah, yeah, they just have abig slip and slide, but instead
of water, they just fill it withketchup.
Oh and they just slide down andthey I mean they probably look
like they've been murdered.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
They just get completely red in ketchup.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Ketchup slide.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
See, because I know myself back in Australia, when
we have the slip and slides, yougo down the slip and slides.
You never stop at the end.
You always go past the end, ohyeah, and you're always
literally slicing your skin upon rocks and bits and sticks and
stuff as well.
So you do that with this, butthen the ketchup would actually
integrate into your skin.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Oh wow.
But I guess yeah they slidedown hills in a ketchup slide,
Wow, and you know every town hasa nice fun, run Well this isn't
a fun run.
This is the bun run.
Oh, of course, 5K, 5k bun run5K bun run, 5k bun run, get
those buns running.
Yeah, exactly so yeah, wow.

(52:26):
Seymour, Wisconsin.
It's, you know, they believe.
They believe that Hamburger wasinvented there.
It wasn't Mickey D's, that'sfor sure.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
You think actually think about it as well when they
say that how it was invented inregards to people wanting a
meatball to go, and so heflattened a meatball.
That makes sense.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
That actually makes sense.
It does.
It's very believable.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
It is really believable.
I mean, that's just saying thatthe meatball has been around
before hamburgers, though Isuppose it's possible as well.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
Well, yeah, I mean like Italy italy yeah exactly.
Um, well, I did look it up.
I think it is contested.
Of course it's yes, but yes,they're, uh, they're claiming it
everywhere.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
That's the thing is.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
That's the thing is these small towns.
They like to claim stuff.
Yes, so, like you know, likethis is a bonus one.
But riverside iowa, the futurebirth home of James T Kirk.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
Yeah, I was going to bring that one up Exactly.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
Yeah, that's a perfect example of you know,
they have Trek Fest.
I think down there.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Yeah, yeah, it's a great.
What a way to get someone toyour town, though.
What a way to get people toyour town, get excited.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
But I wouldn about going to the smelly shoe one,
josh, but I would go to thishamburger one just saying yeah,
and I'd go to any of my foodones awesome, although the
ketchup slide.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
That's nasty.
I mean, I don't want ketchup inall my crevices.
No, no, no, no, no.
I'd watch it though.
I'd watch it happily.
It'd be entertaining,especially because the college
kids it'd be greater.
They'd be like, oh, they'd behammering down there.
You know someone like you knowyour boys, hayden, they're
smashing themselves down.
Yeah, you remember what it waslike being that age, but you
wouldn't do it now for sure,exactly, exactly.
But anyway, josh, how was thatfor the top 10?

(54:09):
That was or not top 10, but itwas just 10 10 week.

Speaker 1 (54:12):
There are so many towns and there's so many
festivals about so many things.
Craig, we could do many.
We could probably have a wholepodcast about celebrations in
small towns across the UnitedStates.
This was fun to talk about.
We should maybe talk about itagain sometime, as we're
thinking about show ideas and,by the way, if you're listening

(54:34):
to this and you have a show idea, we would love to hear it.
But I think it's okay to repeatsome of the shows and have,
like you know, like as we'regoing to do soon, march Madness
yes, you know, roadsideAttraction.
March Madness, exactly Part twoit's coming up next month.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
Next month so.

Speaker 1 (54:53):
I think it's okay.
We might need to revisit thistopic, because this was a lot of
fun to talk about.
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Exactly, exactly.
And if you do want to reach outto us as well, to, to, if you
have a topic or idea, the bestway to do it, josh, is becoming
a patron.
That's the best way to do it.
And, and before we get into ourlittle patrons, we've got two
brand new patrons, josh.
Did you see that Two?
I know I know GeoVet 91 and I'mgoing to ruin his last name.

(55:20):
I can't.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
Meshulaney, meshulaney, meshulaney.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
Mike Meshulaney.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
Mike.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
M Mike, m Mike M and GeoVet 91.
Welcome.
Welcome to being a patron andthank you so much for your
support.
But, josh, other people, ifthey want to become patrons, how
can they do it?

Speaker 1 (55:38):
yes, if you've been joining our podcast, like geovet
91 and mike m, we would loveyour support.
I you know.
I think they joined because thelast time, craig, the last
episode, we had a little teaserwe had some bonus content we did
because we offer the goldennuggets.
Yes, you, this is treasures ofour town.

(56:00):
Yes, and we have little goldennuggets that we hide.
We hide them in Patreon.
We open up a treasure trove,but only the patrons get to hear
them.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
And before you go on, before you go on, we've got to
let people know as well what itwas, because we didn't tell
anyone what it was.
We didn't even know we weregoing to do it until after we
finish the episode.
Last last episode, and that is.
There was a contentious issuethere.
We had the peppers with dublindr pepper and the other, the
other dr pepper, in thecorporate, corporate, corporate,

(56:29):
yeah corporate in in texas, andso we then discussed josh over
the next.
you know it was only 10 minutesor whatever long.
But then we didn't discuss thedifference between dublin dr
pepper and this is where I mademistake, and that is, the
virtual cash was at Dublin DrPepper, it wasn't at the Houston
one.
So we go into that in depth.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
on the patrons as well.
The Waco one, sorry, waco one.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
Waco one, but we go into that in depth on patrons.
So there you go.
That's the reason why they needto become patrons.

Speaker 1 (56:57):
The Patreon is where we correct all our mistakes.
So if you've heard any mistakeshere, don't worry, we say the
right thing over on Patreon.
So if you'd like to join ourPatreon, we would really
appreciate your support.
You got to help us, you know,craig.
They got to help us get to GeoWoodstock.
We got to get to that stageright, exactly.

(57:18):
So join us at patreoncombackslash treasures of our town.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
You'll find our patreon there and how else, josh
, can people find us or contactus if they do have a show idea?

Speaker 1 (57:27):
yes, feel free to reach out to us at treasures of
our town podcast at gmailcom, orfollow us on facebook,
instagram, x and youtube sothat's it for our show for today
.
Please subscribe, rate andreview on your favorite
podcasting app and as always,josh, may your travels always
lead you to the most unexpectedand amazing hidden gems around
the world.
See you next time.
Celebrate good times, come on.

(57:51):
Celebrate the grump, the grump,the grump.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
And yes, Josh missed to be proud of his town again.
I'm so proud of my town.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
I'm proud that someday I will be the grump, the
grump of Mount Vernon, Iowa.
I'm proud of it.