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But, if you can't, there are always the souvenir salt-and-pepper shakers.

"Come on up May 2 for International Loch Ness Monster Day," says Nessie Club President Gary Campbell, a 32-year-old accountant. "Does Bigfoot have his own holiday? I think not."

Canada's Lake Okanagan and North Carolina's Lake Norman are just two other bodies of water inhabited by sea monsters — or at least that's what local tourist boards are telling adventure-starved visitors.

Scape Ore Swamp in Bishopville, S.C., is even said to be populated by green, scaly Lizard Men who walk on two legs, much like the monster in the 1954 movie Creature From the Black Lagoon.

But, as least when it comes to notoriety, Nessie is still Queen of the Sea.

Mothman: This year, Mothman, the red-eyed, 7-foot flying man-bird, got what every monster wants for everlasting fame — a major motion picture.

The Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere, told the story of the car-chasing, animal-mutilating critter that menaced the Appalachian town of Point Pleasant, W.Va., between 1966 and 1967.

Several Point Pleasant residents say that when the town's Silver Bridge collapsed on Dec. 15, 1967, and 46 people died, Mothman's eerie squeal rang out.

With a movie finally released, Point Pleasant had hoped to cash in on its infamy. The town prepared with cheap souvenirs (including Mothman Christmas ornaments), improved hotel accommodations, and tours.

But the movie bombed. And even worse, Mothman may have returned.

On Jan. 25, when the movie opened, the town suffered a blackout. Within the next six days, eight people died in traffic accidents — the most in 40 years, according to Loren Coleman, author of Mothman and Other Curious Encounters (Paraview Press).

"The timing was not lost on the local town folks," Coleman says. "It was as if Mothman returned. Folks there are hesitant to talk about it."

Of course, if Mothman has returned, he might have a cousin in Alaska's Big Bird. And of course there have been dozens of other reports in recent years of monsters — even a flying Bigfoot reported on Washington state's Mount Rainier that's been dubbed "Batsquatch."