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If you don't have plans for a big trip this summer, there are still plenty of hidden treasures to discover on a staycation. That's the idea behind 

It's an online catalog of odd and interesting places around the world, including dozens of sites in Minnesota: A 


Saturday is Obscura Day, when a few of these sites in 39 states and 25 countries open up for special events. 


The studio of artist Allen Christian has been an underground Minneapolis icon for decades. Christian keeps the door open when he's there and welcomes visitors to wander through the space: "Rooms packed with touchable, lovingly-crafted art give way to successive recesses of reanimated plumbing parts, false teeth, pistons, headstones, typewriter guts, pianos and, of course, the eponymous bowling balls."

 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and meet Christian.


The historical and haunted caves under Wabasha Street will be 

 Saturday from noon to 12:45 p.m. You can learn more about its gangster past and former uses as mine and disco dance space. Tickets are $6.


The home, located on the corner of E. 3rd St. and Gotzian St., is the 


Along the St. Croix River, look for the Old Man of the Dalles up in the rock formations 


Walk through a graveyard of fiberglass creations in Wisconsin. 

"FAST (Fiberglass Animals, Shapes and Trademarks) Corporation has been creating kitschy roadside statues, jolly company mascots, and rain-spraying water park attractions since 1983," 

. "When no longer needed, the molds used to make these colorful sculptures end up in a yard behind the company building. Rows of figures -- elephants; giant ice cream cones; scruffy pirates; frog-shaped water slides -- litter the field, their unpainted, weathered forms looking like the remains of an odd ancient culture."

The list also includes some too-obvious locations: 

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Saturday is Obscura Day, celebrating the world of weird, odd and unique spots worldwide.

Saturday is Obscura Day, a celebration organized by Atlas Obscura at strange sites in 39 states and 25 countries. Two Minnesota locations will be hosting events. GUESTS: Artist Allen Christian of House of Balls and David Plotz of Atlas Obscura

Obscura Day: 5 oddities to visit this weekend

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