BY DENISE WILLIAMS
Staff Writer

GATLINBURG — It generally takes about an hour to meander through most museums. If you happen to visit the Guinness World of Records Museum in Gatlinburg, I highly recommend you plan to spend several hours. Otherwise, I guarantee you’ll miss something interesting.

On my recent visit I visited every nook and cranny, but there were so many things crammed into them, I’m sure I’ll fail if there’s a test later.

The Guinness Book of World Records is one of the best-selling books of all time—second only to the Bible, according to museum director Charlie Moore. The Guinness Book surely is the handbook for just how strange humans are and how fascinated we are with the biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest, or any other “-est” word you can think of.

The museum takes the best of the best (or worst of the worst) from the book and brings it to life through static displays, interactive games, television and movie footage and life-size models.

That doesn’t make the museum any less interesting, in fact, it was probably one of the most interesting I’ve ever visited. Even better, I actually learned a few things despite my best efforts to just have a little fun.

The visit to the museum begins with a stop at the world’s fastest production car (a Lamborghini), a cross section of one of the world’s largest trees and a holographic image of the world’s largest cut diamond.

From there, it really gets weird.

The museum is divided into 12 galleries with names like Undersea Records, Universe & Space, Sports, Noah’s Ark, Awesome Achievements, Circus World and more.

Your visit begins when you step through a life-sized model of the skeleton of the world’s largest animal (blue whale) and past a model of the world’s largest fish (plankton-eating whale shark).
For trivia buffs, a trip to this museum will keep you in esoteric facts for a long time.

Here are some of the highlights of what I learned in my too brief visit:
The lowest point on Earth is 36,204 feet deep (the bottom of the Marianas Trench). The tallest point is 29,078 feet high (the top of Mt. Everest). The difference, 12.28 miles, is equal to the distance between Sevierville and Gatlinburg;
The greatest weight loss on record was set by John Minnoch, who lost a whooping 920 pounds over a 16 month-period in 1978 (Atkins folks eat your hearts out!);
The world’s heaviest man, Robert Earl Hughes, weighed a 1,069 pounds—the equivalent of 38.98 bars of gold;
  The oldest man who ever lived was Shigechiyo Izuma, who died Feb. 21, 1982 at 122 years and 237 days;
  The world’s worst driver was a 75-year-old man who received 10 traffic tickets, drove on the wrong side of the road four times, had four hit and run offences and six accidents, all within a 20-minute time frame on Oct. 15, 1966 in McKinney, Texas.

One of the world’s tallest men, Robert Wadlow from Illinois, was a record 8-feet, 11.1-inches tall. I’ve seen film of him on various television shows over the years. Nothing prepared me for seeing a life-sized model of him.

The knowledge of someone who is that tall and the reality of standing beside someone that tall is almost enough to take your breath away.

There are a few interesting tidbits tucked in the museum’s 18,000-square-foot facility.

For instance, one exhibit features real dinosaur eggs from China. In the area dedicated to sports records and memorabilia, one of the longest long jumps of all time is marked by an arrow on the carpet—all 28 feet, 10 inches of it.

On the sign accompanying the display, I learned the record 29-foot, 4.5-inch record was set Aug. 30, 1991 in Japan by Mike Powell.

The “gloved one” is even represented in the museum.
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time, selling 47 million copies since 1982.

The one thing you come away with after a visit to this museum is marveling at just how far people will go to get their names in a book.

The most bizarre of all the bizarre facts I learned—even more bizarre than the guy who ate a shopping cart and 10 bicycles—was the record set by Graham Barker of Australia. He has the distinction of having the world’s largest collection of navel fluff—a whopping .54 ounces.

According to the sign, he working to collect enough to stuff a pillow.

Which begs one question—why? Or more importantly, why would Guinness want the world record on this?

Maybe I’m just a trivia junkie and a fan of the weird, but I loved this place. I think on my next trip, I’ll plan to spend more time and take better notes.

The best thing about this place is that no matter how strange your family always believed you were, you’re bound to find someone a whole lot stranger, with the record to prove it.

GETTING THERE: The Guinness World of Records Museum is located at 631 Parkway in Gatlinburg. Take Interstate 40 west to Exit 407. Follow to Gatlinburg. The museum is one-half block past traffic light #6.

WHEN TO GO: The museum is closed Christmas Day.

ADMISSION: Adults: $9.95; children (6-12): $5.95; senior citizens: $7.95 and children under 6 are free.

HOURS: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

INFORMATION: Phone: (865) 436-9100

On the Net: Guinness World of Records Museum