Indiana's Overrated Roadside Tourist Trap Is As Exciting As Watching Paint Dry

Part of the fun of traveling, especially on an epic road trip across America, is visiting wacky places that serve little purpose other than being a spot for tourists to tick off their bucket list or share on Instagram. However, not all tourist attractions are made equal. For example, if you're heading over to Indiana, you can learn about gray wolves, foxes, and bison at Wolf Park in North Battle Ground or head over to Metamora for the world's largest collection of cookie jars. On the other hand, there are some more laid-back activities that are so slow-paced you might find yourself watching literal paint dry.

In a list of the most overrated travel attractions in every state, Far & Wide named the World's Largest Ball of Paint in Alexandria the most boring and skip-worthy attraction in Indiana (via WKFR 103.3, a radio station in neighboring Michigan). According to the list, this tourist trap is perfect for "anyone who barely values their existence." And, to be fair, it is kind of a bizarre attraction to take time out of your day to view.

What started as a baseball in 1997 is now an 11,600-pound ball of paint covered in over 30,000 coats of different colors. Indiana resident Michael Carmichael began this project with his son in remembrance of a similar experiment he conducted in his teenage years in the late 1960s. After accidentally knocking a baseball into a can of paint at home, he took it out and watched the paint dry. He dipped the ball in the paint a few more times and watched it slowly grow, counting the layers as he went, until it reached 1,000. 

However, the record-setting 30,000-layer ball that visitors see today got its first layer when Carmichael's son dipped a baseball in baby blue house paint and the colorful coats have piled on since. And though the attraction may seem unassuming, it has been visited by travelers from over 100 countries and has even been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live and the Guinness Book of World Records.

Now, travelers can add their own contribution to the Carmichaels' work. They can pick whatever color they like (pink is the most popular) and paint the ball themselves. When they're done, they can sign the surrounding walls and take home a certificate stating they officially painted the World's Largest Ball of Paint. It's definitely a unique thing to brag about. Travelers can schedule a visit by calling or emailing the Carmichael family via their website. But as cool as it may be to contribute to a record-breaking work of art, one could argue there are better, more exciting attractions exciting attractions that are actually worth visiting in America.