First up is Star Wars Path near Atlanta, Georgia. There’s a road sign too, but it isn’t really legible on Street View. What I don’t know however, is how it got its name?

In the original Star Wars movie the spaceport of Mos Eisley was on the planet Tatooine, but in fact it was filmed here at Matmata in Tunisia. Some interior scenes were even filmed in the underground homes of the people who live here, who these days make good money from charging tourists to take pictures.

Last week on Twitter we just happened to see these rather unconvincing-looking portraits of some Star Wars characters, that form part of an otherwise impressive piece of French graffiti.

Does anyone know of other Star Wars themed sights that we can visit today?

Thanks to Keir Clarke and Virtual Globe Trotting.

Locations: France, Georgia, Tunisia / Categories: Deserts, Movie Locations, Street Views

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Over here in Ireland and the UK, we have been known to celebrate with vast quantities of Guinness. Over in the US however, they like large scale annual celebrations involving crazy things like temporarily dying the Chicago River green (which sadly hasn’t yet been captured on Google Earth²).

But in today’s post we’ll be looking at some of the places that St. Patrick has found a permanent home in the USA.

This is St Patrick’s park in Indiana, where they have created a 400 metre long homage to their namesake, entirely in the medium of trees. Which is apt, given how much of the colour green gets bandied around on the 17th of March.

We’ve visited the original Dublin already on Google Sightseeing, but there are at least nine cities called Dublin in the USA alone!

See for yourself: Dublin, California; Dublin, Georgia; Dublin, Indiana; Dublin, New Hampshire; Dublin, North Carolina; Dublin, Ohio; Dublin, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Texas; and Dublin, Virginia.

In New York City we find St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a spectacular Neo-Gothic cathedral in midtown Manhattan that has become ingrained in Hollywood movie history, after being featured in several movies including 2002’s Spider-Man.

So, where else has St. Patrick and the influence of Ireland made a lasting impression around the world?

Happy Paddy’s day!

Thanks to Chris R.

Locations: California, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia / Categories: Buildings, Large Type, Movie Locations

View in Google Earth

For each of these sights, I picture a confused driver arriving in town, rolling down the car window and asking a passer-by  “Can you tell me where I am?”

10. Smile, KY

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Smile!

Driver: <grinning widely> I said, can you tell me where I am?

9.  Okay, OK

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

Driver:  I said, can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

… repeat ad nauseam.

8. Uncertain, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Uncertain.

Driver: Oh, you’re lost as well?

7. Goodnight, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Goodnight.

Driver: Huh? It’s 11 o’ clock in the morning.

6. Stop, GA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Stop.

Driver: But I am stopped …

5. Nameless, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Nameless.

Driver: No wonder I can’t find where I am on this map.

4. Panic, PA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Panic.

Driver: Aaaagh. Won’t you just tell me where I am, I’m totally lost and I can’t take it any more…

3. Halfway, Yorkshire and Halfway, OR¹

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Halfway.

Driver: Halfway to where?

Passer-by: No, you’re all the way to Halfway.

Driver: I’m confused….

2. Yell, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Yell.

Driver: CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE I AM?

1. Why, AZ

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Why.

Driver: Well, I’m lost. Where am I?

Passer-by: Why.

… repeat ad nauseam.

Locations: Arizona, England, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas / Categories: Weirdness

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On closer inspection we can see that this guy is on the phone – so perhaps he’s calling the fire department? Although if he is, then he doesn’t look overly concerned.

The fire isn’t that big however, so why aren’t they trying to put it out? And what is it that’s burning up there anyway?

Thanks to Syl.

Locations: Georgia / Categories: Street Views

View in Google Earth

Nunney Castle in Somerset may be historic, but is barely larger than many houses in the village that surrounds it.

Broadway Tower in Worcestershire may be tall, but it’s only large enough for one room on each of its three floors.

Burg Rabenstein is one of Germany’s smallest castles, again barely larger than nearby houses.

While an Englishman’s home may be his castle – that’s literally true for the residents of this home in Georgia, which is slightly less venerable than the castles mentioned above.

Constructed from local granite and marble, at around 140 square metres the castle is actually a fairly modest size compared to most suburban residences constructed these days.

The Street View car passed by under gloomy skies, giving the castle a brooding air as would befit a rather more historic castle in the old world.

No self-respecting castle would be complete without a moat, and here it even opens up into a swimming pool behind the house, visible on Live Maps. There’s even something resembling a gate house (which I assume is actually a pool house), and the whole property is also bordered by a suitably impressive fence.

There are tiny castles all over the world – let us know of any in your area!

Thanks to Alex Makarishev and Dennis.

Locations: England, Georgia, Germany / Categories: Buildings, Street Views, Structures, Weirdness

View in Google Earth

Despite their name, Carolina Bays can also be found in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and northcentral Florida. They vary in size from one to several thousand acres, and are often gathered in groups. Many are filled with water and named as lakes, but most contain vegetated wetland.

Most striking however, is that every single one is invariably aligned in almost exactly same direction – which has led some people to claim that they might be the result of a meteor impact. It would have to have been a pretty serious impact, as there are estimated to be over 500,000 of them. This is Lake Waccamaw, north Carolina, which is widely considered the largest Carolina bay.

George Howard (a bit of a Carolina Bay fanatic), has created an exhaustive KML file that marks the location of many thousands of the bays in North Carolina. This image was taken in Google Earth, and shows the white outlines that have been used to mark the locations.

So, who here can solve the mystery of the Carolina Bays?

You can read more about Carolina Bays at Wikipedia. Thanks to Keith Wright, david and Ogle Earth.

Locations: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

View in Google Earth

The name pretty much gives what it is away – Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world (a mountain made of stone, haha). Formed over 300 million years ago by emerging magma from the earth’s crust, Stone Mountain is composed mainly of granite which is visible from miles around.

Apart from the geology aspect of it, Stone Mountain also boasts a bas-relief on the side depicting three figures of the short lived Confederate States of America – carved in 1909. Nowadays, a park exists encircling the mountain and the top of the mountain can be accessed by a 1.3 mile (about 2.1 km) hiking trail, or by taking a ride on the Skyride, an aerial tramway. Either way, the top provides a great view of the Atlanta skyline and surrounding suburbs. Last but not least, every week they hold the “world’s largest” 40 minute laser show near the carving.

An interesting note is that if you look at it in Google Maps, you can zoom out quite a bit and still notice the huge rock as a small whitish speck.

Find out a lot more about this huge piece of granite at Wikipedia or visit the official site.

Locations: Georgia / Categories: Natural Landmarks

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Of course, I’m not talking about the original White House, in today’s world a man born in Iran would probably get shot for going near the White House, let alone pitching a tent. I’m instead talking about Fred Milani’s home in Atlanta.

Mr Milani, an Iran-born American citizen, built his mini White House in 2001. It boats 36 rooms and in terms of area is about 30% that of the original White House, although the layout is completely different.

Only six of the 36 rooms are bedrooms while the other rooms in the house include the “Monkey Room”, decorated with monkeys and leopard print, the “Queen Room”, with lots of pink pillows, and the “Oval office”. Oval here is used loosely as the room isn’t oval-shaped, but it does feature a replica of Abraham Lincoln’s old desk.

Other replica White House homes around the US include this one in Fairfax County, Virginia.

A smaller replica in San Antonio, Texas.

And lastly in Dallas, Texas there’s a “Red House” – A White House replica purportedly made out of red bricks.

You might say these replicas are all a bit tacky, but even the President’s White House is a rip-off. The original designs were based on Leinister House in Dublin, Ireland.

Thanks IBreakCellPhones, craigclarke and Bird’s Eye Tourist

Locations: Georgia, Ireland, Texas, Virginia /

View in Google Earth

He was assassinated in 1968 and his remains are now held at the King Center, located just beside his childhood home. The white rectangle within a circle is Dr. King’s tomb, where there is also an eternal flame.

Probably the greatest speech of all time, Dr. King’s “I have a dream” was made to 200,000 demonstrators outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Links: The Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site and Martin Luther King Jr (Wikipedia).

Thanks: Trina

Locations: Georgia / Categories: Monuments

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Actually, I take that back – having your whole house built into the shape of a guitar is truly Rock n roll, so hats off the the anonymous owner of this guitar house in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Thanks: Paul Raps & Bob Allen

Locations: Georgia, Spain / Categories: Buildings

View in Google Earth