Stranger things in Georgia: Give your road trip some fun mystery at 'Expedition: Bigfoot!'
There are hundreds of museums all over Georgia, but few are as unique as "Expedition: Bigfoot!"
Take a drive up to the Blue Ridge area and you'll find what looks a modest roadside attraction with a large Bigfoot statue outside. But what's inside is even more intriguing. More than 4,000 square feet have been devoted to sightings and artifacts surrounding Sasquatches in Georgia including newspaper articles, sketches, footprint casts and more.
But this isn't just a day in school. This is a site for family-fun complete with movies, music, stations where you can hear Bigfoot noises, and a gift shop.
"It's not your grandfather's museum," said owner David Bakara. "We've taken great pains into making this something that's appealing to the eye but educational and entertaining. ... It's really part theme-park, part museum."
Bakara was a Bigfoot researcher in Florida for several years before moving to Georgia. He started the museum circa 2016, and initially thought it would just be a nice little museum pitstop for travelers. What came next was quite surprising.
"As soon as we got the doors open, oh my God. Not only were there way more people interested in this than we thought, there were way more sightings and reports up here," Bakara said. "Police officers, teachers, paramedics. ... People in the right place and the right time ... but they didn't have anywhere to go with their sightings. So, I went from thinking there were no sightings up here to actually one of the most active sightings in the Southeast."
Today, "Expedition: Bigfoot!" has become not only a fun tourist stop, but also a hub for open discussion to share theories and stories about these legendary creatures. Bakara intends to open an even bigger museum called "Expedition: Earth, the Fantastic Planet!" that covers a range of cryptic topics from aliens and ancient civilizations to the Loch Ness monster. They are currently looking for some property to house it in.
"Expedition: Bigfoot!" is open all week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is located at 1934 GA-515. General admission is $9, ages 5-12 get in for $6, ages 5 and under as well as active military get in for free. For more info, go to expeditionbigfoot.com.
Here's some more "Stranger things in Georgia"
In Atlanta: Doll's Head Trail offers cool yet creepy walks
In Morganton: Tank Town U.S.A. provides action-movie-level fun
In Savannah: Abe's on Lincoln offers doodles, drinks in a dive
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: 'Expedition: Bigfoot!' in Blue Ridge is a cryptic theme-park, museum
