When I was a kid, traveling with my parents somewhere between Tucson and El Paso, I saw sign after sign proclaiming a roadside attraction known only as The Thing.  The signs variously said: The Thing?  What is it?  Don’t Miss The Thing, Three Miles Until The Thing!  I begged my parents to pull over and see what the Thing actually was (turned out, it was a large wooden warehouse-style museum of curious items, such as Al Capone’s car, and the Thing itself was, apparently, the remains of a ten thousand year old mummy found in the American Southwest).  Not every “roadside attraction,” though, is at the side of a road, and some lie inside cities themselves, and there’s one I know about near Santa Monica, that sounds like a cross between a roadside attraction and one of the great performance art pieces of all time: The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

The different reactions of people about this museum (I remember that it once had a home in downtown Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade, and now it’s located just a few miles away in Culver City) provides an insight not to the museum but people themselves.  It’s like a Rorschach test, revealing personalities.  People respond to it with wonder and awe, especially those with an appreciation for the surreal and magical realism.  Some people are disappointed, impatient and not willing to make the leap into the mysterious and unexplained.  Even the museum’s website expands on the strangeness of the museum, which you can check out here.  The site explains that the museum is an institution of education, designed to advance the knowledge of and appreciation for the Lower Jurassic era; but this seems to be a way to put you off your guard once you enter, because the museum is something akin to the museum version of the fictional form of meta-fiction (fiction about fiction); the Museum of Jurassic Technology is a museum about the ideas of museums.

The suggested donation fee for the place is five bucks, less if you’re a student or unemployed.  Tea and cookies are also provided as you make your way through the maze of exhibits designed to delight and confuse you.  If you want to experience some mystery and awe, check yourself into one of the hotels Santa Monica provides, then check out the Museum of Jurassic Technology.  They’re at 9341 Venice Boulevard and may be reached at 310-836-6131.