Beth, Today we continue our cryptid trip with locations of the Lizard Man, the von meter visitor and more. Welcome to pop culture passport, your ultimate guide to quirky and cool destinations across the US. I'm your host. Beth Schillaci, aka the Roman Yeti, here to help you dive into the world of theme parks, uncover film and TV locations, and explore quirky museums, roadside attractions and legendary venues that capture the heart and soul of this unique country. So grab your pop culture passport, and let's discover destinations that resonate with your interest, not just with what's trending on social media. Are you ready? Let's Roam. So today, we're finishing up our trip across the US exploring five more legends and the places they've made famous, from the swamps of South Carolina to the forest of North Northern California. Cryptids are everywhere, if you know where to look. But before we do, you might be wondering, what was the first cryptid? Well, cryptids have been part of human history for a century, long before the term cryptid was even coined, some of the earliest stories of mysterious creatures come from ancient mythology and folklore with creatures like dragons, sea serpents and even unicorns. But when it comes to what we now think of as cryptids, one of the first and most famous was the Loch Ness monster. The Legend of Nessie, as the creature is affectionately called, goes back to sixth century Scotland, where a monk reported seeing a water beast in the river Ness. The modern day fascination with Nessie began in the 1930s with reports of large serpentine creatures in Loch Ness started making headlines. Since then, the Loch Ness Monster has been a cornerstone of cryptid culture, sparking countless expeditions, photographs and documentaries, but cryptid sightings weren't just confined to Scotland. Stories of mysterious creatures have been reported worldwide, from the Yeti and Himalayas to Bigfoot in North America, and these stories have woven themselves into our history and continue to captivate our imaginations today. Now let's get started on today's adventure by heading south to discover the Lizard Man of scape oar swamp in Bishopville, South Carolina. So the legend of the Lizard Man began on June 29 1988 when a local man named Christopher Davis was driving home late at night as he passed the swamp, his car got a flat tire, and while changing that tire, he heard a noise and saw a large reptilian creature running toward him, the creature which is described as seven feet tall with green scaly skin, long claws and glowing red eyes, it reportedly attacked his car before running back into the swamp. Over the next four years, few years, there were more sightings, including one where the Lizard Man was said to have damaged a car by biting and scratching it. The sightings eventually died down, but the legend remains a staple of South Carolina folklore. Sounds like some good reasons for car insurance, but I will carry on escape. One escape or swamp is near Bishopville, South Carolina, which is about two and a half hours northwest of Charleston, South Carolina and Bishopville was founded in 1786 and is known for its rich agricultural heritage. It's a small, close knit community surrounded by farmland and forest, and this town has embraced the Lizard Man legend, hosting festivals and cryptid theme events. So when you're there, you can visit the scape or swamp where Lizard Man was first sighted. And it's a dense, marshy area. You know, definitely something to check out. You can look for three foot statues of the Lizard Man throughout Bishopville, and you can attend the Lizard Man stomp, which takes place in June and celebrates the local legend with live music, food vendors and Lizard Man themed activities. So next up, we are gonna head a bit west to check out the folk maybe Falk Falk monster, aka Boggy Creek monster, in Falk Arkansas. So the Falk monster is a Sasquatch like creature that was first reported near Falk Arkansas in the early early 20th century. The most famous encounter occurred in 1970 71 when the Ford family claimed their home was attacked by this creature, they described it as a large, hairy, bipedal creature standing seven feet tall with glowing red eyes. The incident actually inspired the cult classic film The Legend of Boggy Creek, which was released in 1972 and dramatized the monster's attacks. The Falk monster has become an enduring part of local folklore, with numerous sightings reported over the years. Now, Falk, Arkansas was founded in 1890 as a small railroad town, and is in southern Arkansas, and it's a quiet rural community surrounded by dense forest and swamp, making it the perfect setting for the cryptid legend. So things to do there visit the monster Mart. This gas station and convenience store is the unofficial home of the Falk monster. It features a mini museum with artifacts related to the legend, a mural and a giant carving of the monster on the roof. There's also the Miller County Historical Museum, and this museum houses a collection of artifacts and information related to the monster as well as the area's local history. And then you can definitely take a drive or hike along Boggy Creek, which is the location of the original sightings. And you never know, you might catch a glimpse of the elusive creature. So next up from Arkansas, we head north to check out the von meter visitor in von meter, Iowa, and the von meter visitor is a mysterious bat like creature with glowing with a glowing horn on its head that was first reported in 1903 in the small town of von meter. Over the course of several nights, multiple townspeople reported seeing the creature flying through the sky and emerging from an abandoned coal mine. So witnesses claim the creature could emit a beam of light from its horn, and that it left strange three toed footprints. One local businessman even fired a shotgun at the creature, but apparently it was unfazed. The von meaner visitor disappeared as mysteriously as it arrived, and no further sightings have been reported since. Some believe the creature was an extraterrestrial or an unknown flying animal species. So von meiner Iowa's Iowa was founded in 1869 as a small agricultural town in Dallas County, Iowa, and it remains a quiet rural area, but the legend of the von meter visitor has put it on the map for cryptid hunters, so you can attend the von meter visitor visitor Festival. It's held each fall, and it celebrates decrypted with guest speakers, tours and events related to those 1903 sightings for our next cryptid. We are heading north to meet the beast of Bray Road in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. So the beast of Bray horn is a werewolf like creature that was first reported in Elkhorn, Wisconsin in the 1930s witnesses describe it as a large, bipedal creature covered in dark fur with sharp claws, a snout and glowing red eyes. Sightings of the creature continued sporadically over the decades, but they became more frequent in the late 1980s and early 1990s when locals reported seeing the beast near Bray road. Now, some witnesses claim the creature chased their card or stood menacingly by the roadside. Crypt of enthusiasts believe it could be a werewolf or a type of dogman, which skeptics attribute to the sightings to misidentified animals, like, you know, bears. But Bray road is near Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and it was founded in 1836 and it's the county seat of Walworth County. It's known for its charming, small town atmosphere, beautiful lakes, agricultural fairs, but its reputation has really taken the, you know, the spooky turn after the beast of Bray road became famous. And there are some quirky and cool things to do here. You could drive along the road, especially at night, to see if you can find the beast. If you're brave enough, locals occasionally hold cryptid tours and story sharing events where these residents recount their eerie experiences. You can visit the beast of brayer road museum. It's a small museum dedicated to the. Legend and features exhibits, artifacts and eyewitness accounts. And then there is also an annual beast of Bray road festival that takes place in the summer for you to check out. So lots to check out there for sure. Now we are heading to our last stop, and we are heading west, way west, to check out Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, in Willow Creek, California. So Bigfoot has been part of Native American legend for well centuries, and with tribes in the Pacific Northwest, describing large, hairy creatures that roam the forest. And the modern Bigfoot craze really began in 1958 when road construction workers found large human like footprints in Northern California. In 1967 Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed what is now the most famous footage of Bigfoot near Bluff Creek, and that's just outside of Willow Creek. The creature is often described as standing seven and nine foot tall, covered in dark fur, and walking upright like a human, while no definitive proof has been found, Bigfoot sightings continue to this day, making him one of the most enduring cryptives In all American folklore. So Willow Creek, it was established in 1889 and it's in the remote forest of Northern California, and long been a gateway to the remote wilderness of the Klamath mountains. It's been it's known for logging and fishing, but in recent years, it's become a famous home again to Bigfoot and the dense forest and rugged terrain surround the town. You know it. It's a perfect place for Bigfoot to to hide out for sure. So when you're in Willow Creek, you can check out the Willow Creek China flat Museum and Bigfoot collection to learn about the Bigfoot sightings, see footprint cast and check out other artifacts, facts related to cryptid hunting. You can drive along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway. This begins in Willow Creek and ends in, I'm gonna totally butcher this Rica, I don't know, y, r, e, K, A, and the full byway is 150 miles long and winds through the Klamath mountains, you can hike in the surrounding forest where many of the sightings have been reported. And if you plan your trip accordingly, you can arrive in Willow Creek to celebrate Bigfoot days in July. And it's another festival full of entertainment and everything to celebrate Bigfoot. And there you have it, five more cryptid destinations across the US that'll satisfy your curiosity about the unknown. And with last week's episode and this week, you now have 10 locations to check out. So whether you're tracking down Mothman hoping to spot the Loveland frog, or you just want to geek out at the International crypto cryptozoology Museum, these spots offer a quirky blend of travel folklore and fun, and I would love to hear from you, have you visited any of these places, or have any of your own cryptid stories. You can share your tales on social media by tagging me or dropping me a line in my contact form at the Roman yeti.com who knows? Maybe we'll even get you on here to tell tell your story in a future episode. So I hope you have enjoyed learning about these locations now this week on Yeti's pop picks, I want to just sort of talk about my excitement for a book. No, I don't talk about that kind of thing often. I read the book the house in the Cerulean sea last year, and the sequel somewhere beyond the sea, has just recently come out. Within the past month or so, I am currently in the process of rereading the first book the house in the Cerulean sea, because I want to prep myself and remember everything for the sequel. But I loved this book so much, and I just it's one of the books that were I really just fell in love with the characters. I like a character driven story. I don't need a lot of details on locations and what everything look like. But if you can give me a character driven story, I'm all in. And this book, we're. They did that. So I cannot wait to dive into the sequel somewhere beyond the sea and see if it lives, lives up to to the first one. But have you read this book? Or what are you reading these days? Like, let me know on social media. I love hearing what people are into, what they're watching, what they're reading. So always, always be sure to hit me up for sure, and with that, we add another stamp to our pop culture passport. I hope that this episode inspires you to get out and explore all that is quirky and cool, even in your own backyard. So follow, download and subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Tell a friend and leave a review. This really helps more people find the show and which is so important to to growth. So thank you for that. You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook. Just search for the roaming Yeti and as always, guys, keep roaming you.