Fun Stuff - Big Things

Visitors to the Potato Expo in Blackfoot, Idaho, can learn about the history of spuds and view the world's largest styrofoam potato - as well as the world's largest potato chip.

Nibbles Woodaway, the big blue termite on the roof of New England Pest Control, weighs 4,000 pounds and is 920 times actual termite size. Named in a local radio contest, the Providence, R.I., landmark appeared in the film "Dumb and Dumber".

Lucy the Elephant was built in 1881 by real-estate speculator James V. Lafferty as a way to attract developers to South Atlantic City, N.J. Standing six stories tall and weighing 90 tons, Lucy has been painstakingly restored and is now enjoyed by thousands of tourists each year.

The Longaberger Basket Building, in Newark, Ohio, is a nearly exact replica of the company's medium market basket - only 160 times bigger. Seven stories high and comprising 180,000 square feet, the building features two basket handles that weigh approximately 150 tons.

Built in 1981 by the Gaffney, S.C. Board of Public Works, the "Peachoid" is an elevated water storage tank. Locals chose its unique shape because they wanted to set the record straight that South Carolina - not Georgia - is the biggest peach producer in the South.

The "Spoonbridge and Cherry" fountain-sculpture serves as the centerpiece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, the giant spoon is aluminum and stainless steel and stretches nearly 52 feet across a small pond.

The world's largest pair of cowboy boots is planted in the parking lot of the North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas. The concrete boots measure 40 feet tall, and 20 feet long and are adorned with lights during the holidays.

A leaping muskie is the centerpiece of the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, located in Hayward, Wisconsin. Constructed of concrete, steel and fiberglass, the muskie's innards house a museum, while the open jaw serves as an observation deck.

Hoping to entice Californians to stop in the town of Baker on their way to Las Vegas, local businessman Will Herron constructed a 134-foot-tall thermometer. The structure commemorates Death Valley's record high temperature of 134 degrees.

The world's largest ball of twine was started in 1953 by Frank Stoeber, a local farmer who rolled spare bits of twine into a small ball for storage. By 1961, when he donated the ball to Cawker City, Kansas, the sphere stood over eight feet tall. Townspeople even hold an annual "Twine-A-Thon" to ensure that their ball remains "the largest" in the world.

a) If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one. b) It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115 ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water. c) The Guinness Book of Records named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world. d) But if you fancy splashing out on one of your own - and you have the space to accommodate it - then beware: This one took five years to build, cost nearly $1 billion and the annual maintenance bill will be $2 million. e) The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile's southern coast, since it opened last month. f) Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end. g) It dwarfs the world's second biggest pool, the Orthlieb -- nicknamed the Big Splash -- in Morocco, which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympic size pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards. h) Chile 's monster pool uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other. i) The sun warms the water to 26c, nine degrees warmer than the adjoining sea. j) Chilean biochemist Fernando Fischmann, whose Crystal Lagoons Corporation designed the pool, said advanced engineering meant his company could build 'an impressive artifici al paradise' even in inhospitable areas. 'As long as we have access to unlimited seawater, we can make it work, and it causes no damage to the ocean.'

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