Apple Valley Hillbilly Gardens & Toyland

On Saturday afternoon before heading into Paducah, we stopped at the Hillbilly Gardens & Toyland. When we pulled in, we were greeted by a young guy who announced himself as our tour guide. He took us into the old diner first where he pointed out different items his grandfather had collected over the years from being an extra in a bunch of movies like Waterworld and Jurassic Park. I didn't catch everything because the guy was talking a mile a minute trying to get out all the information he had. It was kind of hard to keep up and understand him. He then led us around the property pointing out the different sections like Hillbilly Springs and the Rattlesnake cage. After that was the Toyland where I could have spent at least an hour looking at all the toys. It was insane. Pictures don't do it justice. There were over 3,000 toys to see and according to the guide, there is still over 10,000 in a trailer that his father is waiting to put up. The tour ended with the animals. Overall it was entertaining. The guide said they have only been open for about a year. When they inherited the land from his grandfather his dad decided to start putting up the lawn art. Neighbors began to complain and tried very hard to get them shut down. Eventually the neighbors began to get accustomed to the hillbilly art form and began donating items to them. I didn't get any pictures of the Hillbilly forest where random items are hanging in trees but there is an old, dirty mattress hanging in one tree and apparently one neighbor thinks it's haunted so she prays for the demons in it every night. WEIRD!

The remnants of the old Gulf station...My personal favorite piece!

Tree man #1

A mound they turned into a grave...He said no one is buried here but they did scatter his grandma's ashes on it. He said he didn't think she would mind.

A giraffe having some water.

Another giraffe

Aminals!!

Hillbilly Heaven...an outhouse.

Spongebob!

Death of Society.

The random bike tree.

Re"tire"ment Home

Hillbilly Springs...this one made me laugh hysterically for some reason.

Hillbilly Spaceship

Rattlesnakes...this also made me laugh pretty hard.

Hillbilly Cemetary

I don't know what he called this one but he did say when they first opened, the cops tried to shut them down for attempting to bury trash.

Hillbilly Apartment...Frankenstein and his bride are in the van.

Tree man #2