Off the Path

Given ample time and enough tequila, a person could lick a tunnel all the way to New Mexico from Hutchinson, Kansas. That’s how far the salt veins are said to extend from the 650-foot-deep Kansas Underground Salt Museum (3504 East Avenue G in Hutchinson, 620-662-1425), one of the bizarre destinations spotlighted as part of this Saturday’s International Obscura Day. Founded a few years ago by a science journalist and a globetrotting filmmaker, atlasobscura.com catalogs the strangest attractions on Earth. The mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan, the Alnwick Poison Garden, and the museum where Thomas Edison’s last breath is stored in a test tube — these places and hundreds more are all lovingly documented in the rich, user-driven online compendium. Today marks the Atlas creators’ first-ever worldwide outing, and locals can get in on the weirdo action by visiting the Salt Museum; the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas (305 Second Street, 785-525-6395); or Leila’s Hair Museum (1333 South Noland Road in Independence, 816-833-2955). Just be sure to RSVP to each attraction’s event page at obscuraday.com to ensure a spot. And if you and José Cuervo head to Hutchinson, don’t forget the lime.

Sat., March 20, 2010