Operators of a forthcoming flip-flop-themed gift shop in the village of San Jon, New Mexico, are planning something big — namely, a 40-foot-long flip-flop designed to draw visitors off Interstate 40 and adjacent Route 66.
It’s the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of Jumah Culhane and Caryn Grzegorek, who plan to open the Fun-Key Junk Emporium (now operating at Etsy) at the site of a long-defunct gas station along 66 by Nov. 1.
Here are photos from the day the unfinished flip-flop was installed:
You can more of the story from my day job at the Quay County Sun. The gist:
- The couple, who previously hailed from South Carolina, fell in love with San Jon on a Route 66 trip a few years ago and began looking for property there to relocate their shop.
- They hope to have the big flip-flop finished by spring. Culhane plans to use a huge tow rope for the toe loop and tire treads for the sole.
- Grzegorek plans to file the paperwork in an effort to get the structure into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Route 66 contains a number of literally big attractions, including the Big Cross in Groom, Texas; the Red Rocker in Fanning, Missouri; the World’s Largest Totem Pole in Foyil, Oklahoma; the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, Illinois; and the 66-foot-tall soda bottle made of LEDs in Arcadia, Oklahoma.
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