Americans Do the Darndest Things Part 2 Quiz

Answer: The Cockroach Hall of Fame

The Cockroach Hall of Fame is the creation of a professional exterminator. It is located in The Pest Shop and features scenes of cockroaches dressed as famous figures. Check out http://www.savvycenter.com/explorer/areas/infopages/roachmuseum.htm.

Answer: Polka

Six bands play in two separate ballrooms for the Southwest Polka Party, held every February.

Answer: Madam Lou Bunch Day

Madam Lou Branch was Central City's last openly operating "madame". She and her girls nursed townsfolk during an epidemic and the grateful town still holds a bawdy festival, complete with bed races down Main Street, every year. The other worthy women listed as options are also connected with Florida, as it happens: Marie Curie used pitchblende mined near the town for her radium studies in Paris; Baby Doe Tabor once lived there; and Florence Sabin, one of the first ever female doctors in the west, lived at the mining camp at Glory Hole, near Central City.

Answer: Liberace

Founded in 1979 by the man himself, the museum features a replica of Liberace's bedroom and separate buildings for his collections, which include cars, clothing, jewellery and eighteen of his thirty-nine pianos, including the rhinestone-covered Baldwin.

The gift shop sells everything from beer glasses and golf balls to thimbles. Never having been to Vegas, I had to content myself with the website, http://www.liberace.com/liberace/museum.cfm, but judging from the pictures, I would think this is a must-see. Opulence at its most extravagant! Unfortunately, due to the economic downturn of the Global Financial Crisis, the museum shut in 2010.

Answer: Lizards

The largest competitor to date was apparently an 18-inch iguana. The week leading up to The World's Greatest Lizard Races is called Lizard Week. Check out http://visitus.leaco.net/lizard.htm for more.

Answer: Orlando

Started by Owen and Pearl Godwin in the '30s, Gatorland is now, apparently, 'The Alligator Capital of the World' and 'Orlando's Best Half Day Attraction'. Browse the gator ponds, watch the wrestling or shop in the giftshop for such treasures as shot glasses, wallets and real gator heads. The Gatorland website, as one would expect, is at www.gatorland.com.

Answer: Roswell, New Mexico

The Museum was named New Mexico's "Top Tourist Destination" in 1996. Visit the gift shop, where you can buy clothes, toys, videos, jewellery and, yes, shot glasses. Visit http://www.iufomrc.com/ for more info, or go to http://www.iufomrc.com/sightings.shtml to report your own sighting. Remember to make a note of unusual sounds experienced and the weather conditions at the time of sighting. For those who are really interested, there is the J. Allen Hynek Center for U.F.O. Studies in Chicago. Check out http://www.cufos.org/

Answer: Frying eggs on the road

The time limit for frying one's egg is fifteen minutes, although I could find no information regarding criteria: should the yolk be hard, or is runny OK? All the website says is 'the most edible-looking egg'. Extra help such as home-made solar devices, magnifying glasses and aluminium foil are allowed. Go to http://www.oatmangoldroad.com/events.htm.

Answer: They're all nude

This event, which is held in Roselawn, Indiana, is called the Nudes-A-Poppin Show. The Ponderosa Sun is, of course, a nudists' club.

Answer: The Elvis is Alive Musem

Proprietor Bill Beeny is a believer. He has collected photographs and documents, including DNA test results and pathology reports, over the years which he says prove the King survived. Maybe someone should tell him what K told J in 'Men in Black': 'Elvis isn't dead. He just went home.' Go to http://www.missourilife.com/muse010.shtml for further info.

Answer: True

This is absolutely true. The festival also includes a non-racing contest in the sphere of shovel art. The process was invented in the '60s by ski-lift operators who wanted a quick ride down the mountain and has now become a competitive sport.

Answer: Menstruation

The Museum of Menstruation closed because people were not too keen on visiting such an exhibit in someone's home. The Museum is still very active online, including a gift shop which sells t-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, mouse-pads and thongs. Go to http://www.mum.org/. For other strange and unusual medical exhibits, one could visit the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (yes, there really is one) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Answer: A hula hoop

Eighteen year-old Tony Duncan is a shoe-in for such a competition: he can spin 18 to 30 hoops at a time.

Answer: O. Henry

This event, begun over twenty-five years ago, asks all comers: 'Give us your two bits; we'll show you no quarter' and has borne witness to such groaners as 'Did you hear they are minting a new 1 cent piece with the image of Jesus Christ on it? It's called the J.C. Penney' (Francis McGrath, 1997). See the O.

Henry in Austin site for more: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ahc/ohpunoff.htm, or just go to www.PunPunPun.com.

Answer: Lizzie Borden

The Lizzie Borden Bed abd Breakfast and Museum website address is www.lizzie-borden.com. Apart from boasting the accolade that 'Boston's Phantom Gourmet has given us the highest rating for our breakfast', the B&B also features a gift shop selling sweatshirts, crystal pears and CDs of the Borden trial transcripts. And shot glasses, obviously.