Around this time in 2011, two people in Oklahoma gave themselves and their part of the state a very off-the-beaten-path anniversary gift: something now known as the Winganon Space Capsule.
The story behind the capsule actually starts back in 1959.
A cement mixer moving through northeastern Oklahoma crashed and tipped over while full of cement.
By the time a tow truck came to the scene, all the cement inside the mixer had dried and hardened.
The truck towed away everything except the mixer, and while they were supposed to come back and get that too, they never did.
So the mixer became this weird item on the side of the road between Talala and Winganon.
It’s been covered with random graffiti a lot of the time, but occasionally people would try something more ambitious.
Barry and Heather Thomas were two of those people.
They wanted to do something big and fun for their fifth wedding anniversary.
So in the fall of 2011, they sent out an invite to their friends to repaint the old cement mixer with shiny silver paint and make it look like a space capsule had landed by the roadside.
The group added NASA logos, nozzles, hoses and other accessories for extra realism.
The modern fifth anniversary gift is silverware, and this is at least silver.
They also double-checked with the people who lived nearby to make sure they weren’t causing any problems.
The Thomases said the residents started laughing when they heard about their idea, because they had both worked for NASA.
The Winganon Space Capsule is now one of those offbeat roadside attractions that people love visit, even though it hasn’t actually been to space (and isn’t likely to get there on account of all that dried cement).
Still, you could say the capsule definitely had a successful launch.
You may have heard someone refer to a run-down cafe or bar as a “hole in the wall”?
There’s a coffee shop in the Philippines that serves drinks to its patrons through an actual hole in the wall.
It’s a pretty good sized hole, so you can still order an extra large coffee if you want.
The Winganon Space Capsule: Oklahoma, We Have A Problem (MAKE)
filipino café serves beverages straight through a hole in a concrete wall (designboom)
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