Interesting Place Names that Really Exist to Tour to

[3macboys]

The post by Chris Bamford under the Alaska bus thread about Tuktoyaktuk made me think of other place names that sound mythical but really exist.  Near me is Punky Doodles Corners - I think that they have almost given up putting up the signs as they keep getting stolen - it is located where 3 counties meet and is on a rural 2 lane road.  Very nice area and suited to touring with antique vehicles.  What other interesting place names are out there?

[keiser31]

A friend of mine lives near here on Peckerwood Lane. They have to replace the sign almost monthly.

Edited September 9, 2022 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Punkydoodle's Corners, isn't that near Bummer's Roost? Canada has a lot of funny names from Dildo Newfoundland to Saskatoon Saskatchewan Medicine Hat Alberta to Chili Wack BC.

[oldcarfudd]

Not the sharpest picture, but I took it on the 2015 Mainely T tour. The sign reads Welcome to Cowshit Corner.

Edited September 9, 2022 by oldcarfudd
typo in date (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

An article in The Wall Street Journal several years ago

mentioned unusually named towns in England.  There

was a man named Eric Gotobed who lived in Little Snoring.

 

And here's some documentation to show that it's real:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/family-notices/in-memoriam/eric-gotobed-3506

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Terry Bond]

I know several antique car enthusiasts who live near Bumpass Va.

Terry

[Restorer32]

I just drove thru Bird.In Hand and Intercourse in Lancaster County, Pa.

[Rusty_OToole]

 Bill Bryson said that on a trip to England he made a point of visiting a town called Nookie so he could send postcards. Imagine his disappointment when he found out it was spelled New Quay.

[Marty Roth]

17 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

 Bill Bryson said that on a trip to England he made a point of visiting a town called Nookie so he could send postcards. Imagine his disappointment when he found out it was spelled New Quay.

 

58 minutes ago, Restorer32 said:

I just drove thru Bird.In Hand and Intercourse in Lancaster County, Pa.

and Blue Ball, Pennsylvania is also nearby

[a griffin]

3 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

I know several antique car enthusiasts who live near Bumpass Va.

Terry

Found out my grandfather was born in Bumpass.....I thought it was a joke.

[keiser31]

Toured through here once or twice....

[Frank DuVal]

Assawoman

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Assawoman,+VA+23302/@37.878322,-75.5727577,12.56z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b964b039705887:0xd965fa4fc937bdd8!8m2!3d37.8740359!4d-75.523573

 

It is near Wallops Island, not far from Mappsville.

 

And just so you do not get carried away, also close by is Temperanceville. And south of there is Modest Town.

 

All the above are on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

 

That's right, near where Misty is from, Chincoteague.

 

Should I mention the town south of there, about 15 miles, Onancock?

[zdillinger]

44 minutes ago, keiser31 said:

Toured through here once or twice....

You beat me to it!

[3macboys]

15 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

Punkydoodle's Corners, isn't that near Bummer's Roost? Canada has a lot of funny names from Dildo Newfoundland to Saskatoon Saskatchewan Medicine Hat Alberta to Chili Wack BC.

Those two are several hundred kms apart, though it's not too far from Chesterfield.  Come to think of it in Southwestern Ontario you can drive to London, Paris, Washington and Boston all in a leisurely day!

[SC38dls]

In KY you can drive from Paris to Versailles to London and even Baghdad and Lisbon in a day. 
dave s 

[Restorer32]

2 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

 

and Blue Ball, Pennsylvania is also nearby

As is Virginville.

[Angelfish]

Grand Teton National Park, once you look up the origins of the name.

[jdome]

3 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

I just drove thru Bird.In Hand and Intercourse in Lancaster County, Pa.

Bird-in-hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball and Paradise are all towns in Lancaster Co. PA. There is a running joke with the locals about a stranger asking directions: "How do I get to Paradise?". The directions involve those other towns but I forget how it goes and I certainly don't want to hazard a guess.

[Rusty_OToole]

1 hour ago, 3macboys said:

Those two are several hundred kms apart, though it's not too far from Chesterfield.  Come to think of it in Southwestern Ontario you can drive to London, Paris, Washington and Boston all in a leisurely day!

There used to be an annual antique car rally from London (Ontario) to Brighton (Ontario). Here is a photo from 1962 taken in front of the old Canadian Tire store on King Street in Cobourg. At the present time I live about 2 blocks from where this was taken.  Does anyone recognize the cars?

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[a griffin]

Here near Houston we have Cut and Shoot, and Kickapoo.

The latter being of Native American reference

[oldford]

1 hour ago, Rusty_OToole said:

 Does anyone recognize the cars?

 

 

My best guess is a Marmon 34 and a Model T Ford around 1914.

 

Frank

[rocketraider]

That where they make the Joy Juice?😋

 

A few miles west and east of Bumpass VA you will find Cuckoo and Beaverdam. Valentines is near the VA/NC state line.

 

In North Carolina you'll find Hornytown, Topnot and Bushy Fork. Also Eli Whitney and Colon, and Arabia, Bolivia and Kitty Fork.

[dictator27]

6 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

 Bill Bryson said that on a trip to England he made a point of visiting a town called Nookie so he could send postcards. Imagine his disappointment when he found out it was spelled New Quay.

In England there is Mousehole (pronounced Mawzzle).

[Marty Roth]

Just downriver from New Orleans is the community of Arabi,

and right across the Mississippi is Algiers

[dictator27]

Clo-oose, Kleena Kleene, Hydraulic, Bella Bella and Bella Coola, all in British Columbia.  The last 60 kilometers of Highway 20 into Bella Coola will earn you the right to a bumper sticker which reads "I conquered THE HILL", 9.5 kilometers of 18% downgrade on an often one lane gravel road with drop offs of as much as 3000 feet.  People have truthfully been known to refuse to drive back up the hill, preferring the ferry instead.

[keiser31]

This is around here. I would LOVE to know the story about it....

[Marty Roth]

3 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

There used to be an annual antique car rally from London (Ontario) to Brighton (Ontario). Here is a photo from 1962 taken in front of the old Canadian Tire store on King Street in Cobourg. At the present time I live about 2 blocks from where this was taken.  Does anyone recognize the cars?

 

 

 

Actually, the Ontario (Canada) Region AACA still hosts the "LONDON TO BRIGHTON" each year, but it no longer necessarily travels through either of those two cities on a yearly basis. The week-long London-to-Brighton includes either London or Brighton at least once every six years - at least that is how it was explained to us when we attended.

 

Several years back, my wife and I judged the AACA Meet at Gettysburg, showed our Corvette, drove up by way of Niagara Falls, through Toronto, and spent the week with the club, driving across Ontario from Alliston to Kincardine, heading back to New Orleans via the Blue Water Bridge to Port Huron, Michigan. We look forward to the next time health and scheduling allow us to attend and drive again.

 

We plan to drive the 2023 AACA Founders Tour, to be hosted by Ontario Region in July.

(Looking forward to Poutine, but then Cajuns and adopted Cajuns are known to eat anything that doesn't eat us first)

[Buick35]

Alot of funny names in Florida also. Yehaw junction,Okahumpka and Reddick to name a few.

[rocketraider]

Look at place names in west side of Mississippi, along the River Road. Pretty sure they're all derived from Native American names.

 

I spent a night in Jackson MS in late 1982. Their water woes are nothing new. The water had a yellow tinge to it even then.

[Rusty_OToole]

1 hour ago, keiser31 said:

This is around here. I would LOVE to know the story about it....

Wonder if it is anything like Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, Alberta?

 

https://headsmashedin.ca/

[zipdang]

One of my favorites: Knockemstiff, Ohio.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Pennsylvania has the towns of Venus and Mars.

They are perhaps 2 hours apart.

Wouldn't that be an interesting tour:

"From Venus to Mars!"

[Terry Bond]

Near where I grew up in Michigan, there was a small town called Hodunk. 

I was once stationed at the Navy base in Dam Neck Va.

Terry

[Rusty_OToole]

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Pennsylvania has the towns of Venus and Mars.

They are perhaps 2 hours apart.

Wouldn't that be an interesting tour:

"From Venus to Mars!"

If that wasn't enough you could throw in Jupiter Florida.

[John_S_in_Penna]

57 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

If that wasn't enough you could throw in Jupiter Florida.

And drive to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in your antique Mercury or Saturn!

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[PAV8427]

Minnesota has Embarrass, Climax, Nimrod and for all to the north of us you could snow bird in Little Canada. 

[jdome]

Where's Waldo ? Its in Ohio.  Ohio also has a Pee Pee Twp. named after the Pee Pee River, don't drink the water. And only Ohio would have Coolville and Hicksville in the same state. You always know outsiders by how they pronounce Cadiz, Massillon, Bolivar, Toledo, Cuyahoga and how they attempt to spell Cuyahoga and Cincinnati.  Ohio must have run out of names early because they reuse names by adding North, South, East, West, New, Old, Upper, Lower. You will also see ville or burg tagged on. We have a Miami, Miamiville and Miamisburg. 

 

Out near the middle of Lake Erie in Ohio/US waters are a group of islands: North Bass, South Bass, Middle Bass and of course the island to the west.... nope...Rattlesnake Island.  Bet you didn't know that an island that far north in the middle of a big lake that freezes over, was inhabited by rattlers. South Bass is the largest of the islands with a popular harbor named Put-In-Bay. The harbor is a quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem. It's Ohio's Riviera for the NASCAR crowd. Hard partying , or so I've been told. The town square is surrounded by bars & entertainment (music) but there are some B&B's, hotels and some very nice restaurants scattered around and some points of interest. The island has a network of paved roads and has hosted many car club tours: Model T, Model A, sports car clubs as well as regional CCCA Caravans. Too far off the mainland, cars are ferried on and off.

[jdome]

12 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

And drive to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in your antique Mercury or Saturn!

 

Or Star or Moon

[jdome]

33 minutes ago, PAV8427 said:

Minnesota has Embarrass, Climax, Nimrod and for all to the north of us you could snow bird in Little Canada. 

PA has Climax too. It is in Armstrong County.     "Not a joke"

Climax in Michigan,

Climax in NY.

Climax in VA.

Seems to be a Climax everywhere.

[Restorer32]

Always wondered about Detour, Maryland.