One big goal of mine for this trip was to make it to Hollywood Boulevard, and when I looked at the places along that street that we could visit, somewhere that jumped out at me was the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium. A place I have heard of since I was a kid but had never visited. Until now, that is. The tickets were only fifteen bucks each, so why not? Here are just a few of the things I saw when we stepped inside.

Here’s a picture of me standing next to the World’s Tallest Man, which is one of the first things you see in the Odditorium. As someone who is six feet, I’m a pretty tall guy myself, so my girlfriend immediately saw the humor in me standing next to him, which is why she captured this moment. A rare moment of me bending my neck backwards to look at someone’s face.

This two-headed peacock only scratches the surface. There was a whole section of figurines based on real-life mutant animals in this building that I am not showing you, including a cow with calf legs sprouting on the side of her head! I’m sparing you that horrific image but I have always been fascinated by the naturally strange so I loved it. Why else would I be in this building?

Have you ever seen the skeleton of a bat before?

Saw some old friends.

I always get a kick out of seeing actual autographs from celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in person.

This is a Superman costume that was actually worn by the most famous Superman actor Christopher Reeve!

Absolutely mesmerized by this matchstick model of Minas Tirth, the capital city of Gondor from the Lord of the Rings movies. Took over 3,000 man hours and almost three years for some maniac to build this thing but it was an impressive and certainly museum-worthy job.

One of the most mind-blowing things I saw was this torch that was held by one of the island natives from the original 1933 version of King Kong. I always appreciate the preservation of old Hollywood props (or as I call it, Hollywood history).

You know that dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore when she sang “Happy Birthday” to JFK? This is definitely not that dress (Kim Kardashian may have borrowed it but that doesn’t mean it’s in full reach of everyone!) but it was on display behind glass in a Marilyn-themed room featuring some pretty far-out things, such as a picture of the starlet painted entirely with nail polish, a faux dollar bill featuring Marilyn’s image, and of course a subway grate straight out of The Seven-Year Itch that blows actual wind.

My girlfriend was wearing a witch dress so she had to do it.

There are a ton of things in this place I did not show you, such as the musical steps and the wacky funhouse mirrors and various other oddities, but I’ll leave those for you to discover in case you ever decide to go yourself. In my next article, I will show you more places on Hollywood Boulevard beyond Ripley’s.