My Family Travels | Best Family Vacation Ideas
Previous Next

LATEST ARTICLES:

Article
This Virginia Art Museum Has Thousands Of Treasures And You Can Explore Them For Free

More than 30,000 works of art and no general admission charge? That's a pretty impressive combination, especially when the collection spans thousands of years and includes pieces...

Read More    7 min read

Article
A Historic Virginia Church Was Rebuilt With A Massive 35-Foot Marble Altar Salvaged From New Jersey

A 35-foot marble altar transported from another state and given a new home inside a church? That's an extraordinary piece of architectural recycling, especially when the structure...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Massive Texas Music Store Houses Rare Vinyl Records, Cassettes and Musical Finds

There's another record shop hiding inside this record shop. Its 1,800-square-foot vinyl-only section doubles as an art gallery, with thousands of new and used albums and rotating...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Lebanese Immigrant’s Daughter Opened an Ohio Café to Carry On Her Father’s 40-Year Food Legacy

Growing up inside her father's Mediterranean grocery store gave one Lebanese-American woman an unusual education in food. Surrounded by spices, imported ingredients, and conversations...

Read More    7 min read

Article
More Than A Million Holiday Lights Take Over This Missouri Park For A Drive Through The Trees

More than a million lights cover 75 acres of one park, and you never have to leave your heated car seat. That alone feels like a holiday cheat code.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Ohio Woman Outgrew Her Home Kitchen and Opened a Bakery Filled With European-Style Desserts

Chocolate chip cookies with an unexpected layer of chocolate underneath are just one of the little surprises inside a bakery that began in a family kitchen. The woman behind it...

Read More    7 min read

Article
A Surveying Mistake In 1882 Accidentally Saved This Minnesota Forest, And Its Ancient Trees Are Still Standing

A survey crew in 1882 looked at a stand of giant pines and wrote down "lake." That surveying mistake helped protect the ancient pines from logging for nearly eight decades, until...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Ohio Mom Turned an Old Firehouse Into a European-Inspired Toy Shop After a Family Vacation Changed Her Plans

Fire trucks once occupied the building, but today its rooms are filled with wooden toys, colorful puzzles, and children discovering new ways to play. An Ohio mother transformed...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Small Private West Virginia College Gives Financial Aid To Every Student It Accepts

Every single student accepted at one small private college in West Virginia receives some form of financial aid. Not most of them. Every...

Read More    8 min read

Article
Most People Drive Right Past These 200-Year-Old Giants Standing Quietly in Northern Indiana

Some of the oak trees in this forest were already growing when the Civil War began. A few trunks stretch close to four feet across.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Forget Pork Tenderloins: Indiana’s Most Infamous Local Delicacy Is a Deep-Fried Brain Sandwich

A jumbo sandwich built around fried pork brains is still on the menu at one old Indiana tavern. Yes, brains. It comes on a bun...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Warm Scones And Finger Sandwiches Come With Parisian Loose-Leaf Tea At This Missouri Tea Room

South African peri peri chicken sandwiches share a three-tiered tray with warm scones at one little tea salon. That alone made me stop scrolling.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Pennsylvania Immigrant Started a Bakery in Her Apartment and Built a Business With 3 Locations and 28 Employees

Three locations and dozens of employees might sound like the result of a carefully planned business expansion. But this Pennsylvania bakery began in an ordinary apartment kitchen,...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Massive Maryland Thrift Warehouse Sells Everything From Kitchen Cabinets to Furniture While Helping Families Find Homes

Kitchen cabinets, light fixtures, and working appliances can turn up beside secondhand furniture at this Maryland resale warehouse. Some pieces arrive from home renovations, others...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Pennsylvania Single Mom Worked Three Jobs to Raise Her Children, Then Built a Coffee Business That Won an NBA Partnership

Few coffee shops have a name that doubles as an old-fashioned bathroom joke, but one Pennsylvania cafe embraces that unusual bit of history with a smile. Behind the playful branding...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Unassuming West Virginia Bakery Claims To Be The Birthplace Of The Pepperoni Roll

Nearly a century ago, a former coal miner reportedly stuck sticks of pepperoni inside bread dough and changed lunch in West Virginia forever. He wasn't chasing fame.

Read More    7 min read

Article
An Oregon Mountain Gondola Climbs 3,700 Feet To Views That Look Straight Out Of The Swiss Alps

A Swiss-made gondola here climbs 3,700 vertical feet in just under 15 minutes. It holds the title of the steepest vertical lift for a four-passenger gondola in North America. That's...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Massive Weekend Flea Market In West Virginia Is Where Bargain Hunters Have Been Shopping For Years

Homemade hot sauce, rooster kitchen decor, and toys from your childhood can all share one shopping trip here. That mix alone tells you what kind of place this is.

Read More    6 min read

Article
A Retired Texas Army Colonel Dreamed of Building a Medieval Castle on a Hill, but Only Its Stone Tower Survived

A four-story stone tower with castle-style battlements rises above the trees, but there is no castle surrounding it. The structure stands fenced off in a Texas park, with narrow...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Tiny West Virginia Bakery Makes Italian Bread So Good Folks Drive 90 Minutes For A Five-Minute Stop

One devoted fan says they drive an hour and a half each way just to shop for five minutes. Then they turn around and head home. That's...

Read More    9 min read

Article
These West Virginia Welcome Signs Mean You’re Finally Home, And Every Native Knows The Feeling

A chamber of commerce in West Virginia works out of a building made from 65 tons of coal. The walls are real coal, cut into blocks and stacked like stone.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Maryland Waterfront Restaurant Is Hosting a Thanksgiving Buffet With Holiday Favorites

Oysters on the half shell are sharing a Thanksgiving buffet with roast turkey and slow-roasted New York strip. That's an unexpected holiday spread, especially at a Maryland restaurant...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Historic West Virginia Movie Palace Sat Dark For Decades, Now It’s Back And Better Than Ever

A real Wurlitzer pipe organ still fills a downtown movie house in southern West Virginia with sound. That detail alone made me want to buy a ticket.

Read More    8 min read

Article
This Texas Restaurant Serves a Giant Mexican Tamal That Takes All Night to Cook and Can Weigh Dozens of Pounds

A single tamal can weigh 50 pounds, and a Texas restaurant makes its own version overnight. Called zacahuil, the enormous specialty comes from Mexico’s La Huasteca region, where...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Three Generations Built This Missouri Italian Market Where The Freezers Hold More Than 60 Varieties Of Stuffed Pasta

More than 60 kinds of stuffed pasta sit in one family's freezers, and every single one comes from their own kitchen. Ravioli, tortellini, cannelloni, pansotti, mezzaluna.

Read More    7 min read

Article
You Can Shop For A Lathe And Learn To Turn Wood At The Same Oklahoma Tool Store

A tool store in Oklahoma will sell you a lathe and then teach you how to spin a bowl on one. That combo feels almost unfair to your weekend plans.

Read More    7 min read

Article
A New Jersey Museum Has A Rare Collection Of Antique Household Treasures Including An Early Electric Washing Machine

One of the first electric washing machines ever made sits in a small museum here. Its twin lives at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Old-School Friday Night Auction In West Virginia Is Where Locals Score Bargains And Livestock

Friesians, Tennessee Walkers, and a pile of used saddles can all cross the same sale floor in one evening. That alone made me sit up.

Read More    10 min read

Article
Forget Ordinary Ice Cream Cones Because This New Jersey Dessert Shop Wraps Soft Serve In Freshly Baked Pastry

The cone here spins on a rotisserie before it ever meets ice cream. Fresh dough gets grilled until golden, then rolled in cinnamon sugar like a pastry that wandered in from Prague.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Why Paranormal Investigators Are Terrified Of This Secluded Indiana Graveyard

Deep in the dense woodlands of south-central Indiana, a small graveyard sits quietly off a narrow forest road, drawing curious visitors and seasoned paranormal investigators alike....

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Hidden Indiana Small-Batch Bakery Creates Farm-Fresh Pies Using Secret Family Recipes Passed Down For Generations

Some places just feel like home the moment you walk through the door. A charming cafe and bakery in Danville, Indiana is exactly that kind of place.

Read More    6 min read

Article
Daniel Boone’s Sons Built A Salt Business Here And This Missouri Trail Leads To What Remains

A cast-iron kettle sits in the woods where two brothers once boiled salt water into a frontier fortune. Their father was Daniel Boone.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Texas Investors Paid for a Skyscraper in 1919, but a Blueprint Measured Its Height in Inches Instead of Feet

A so-called skyscraper looks more like a narrow brick chimney, and the explanation involves a bizarre measurement on a blueprint. That's the famous story behind one of Texas's...

Read More    6 min read

Article
Three Layers Of Orange Cake And Cranberry Compote Make A December Return At This Oklahoma Bakery

Three layers of orange cake, a ribbon of cran-orange compote, and orange buttercream on top. The bakery lists that cake for seasonal ordering in December and January.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Whimsical Oregon Cafe Looks Like A Cartoon Fantasy Village With Hundreds Of Hand Painted Characters

Hundreds of hand-painted cartoon cutouts fill one Oregon cafe, and a sleeping dragon is part of the crowd. Every wall, shelf, and corner seems to have a goofy little face peeking...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This New Jersey Shelter Relies Entirely On Donations To Save Thousands Of Animals Every Year

You know the saying. It takes a village. This New Jersey shelter is proof of that.

Read More    6 min read

Article
We Ranked The Most Magical Christmas Towns In New Hampshire And Here’s Who Made The Cut

One holiday sleigh ride in New Hampshire ends with at least eight homemade chocolates in your lap. Another town has a Christmas theme park that switches on nearly a million twinkling...

Read More    8 min read

Article
This Maryland Water Park Is Planning a Grand Comeback in 2027 After Years of Being Closed

The slides are silent, and the pools have been closed for years, but plans for a Maryland water park are moving forward. Town officials now say they're aiming for a grand reopening...

Read More    7 min read

Article
8 Oregon Restaurants Worth Planning a 2027 Road Trip Around

A massive 26-to-30-ounce steak is one of only two main choices at a certain dinner stop on this list. The other choice is a whole roasted chicken, served to one person.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Oklahoma German Restaurant Serves Its Crispy Schnitzel Eight Different Ways

Most restaurants offer you a choice. This one offers you a challenge. A German restaurant in Oklahoma serves its crispy schnitzel...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This European-Inspired New Hampshire Christmas Market Has Wooden Chalets, Handmade Gifts And Holiday Fireworks

Twelve wooden chalets pop up in a mountain town square every holiday season, and every single gift inside is sold by the person who made it. That alone had me hooked.

Read More    7 min read

Article
11 New Hampshire Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner That Feels Like Home

One New Hampshire restaurant has about 1,000 turkey plates hanging on its walls. It also serves a Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner year-round, which honestly sounds like my kind...

Read More    9 min read

Article
These Southern West Virginia Diners Have Lines Out The Door Without Ever Running An Ad

One diner in this list never locks its doors. It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and still fills up on weekend mornings. That...

Read More    5 min read

Article
This New Jersey Diner Is Famous For Portions That Will Send You Home Stuffed

There is a fine line between a generous portion and a plate that requires a game plan. This New Jersey diner crosses that line with confidence.

Read More    6 min read

Article
Three Underground Cheese Caves Are the Secret Behind This Pennsylvania Farm’s Handmade Products

One Pennsylvania cheese shop offers 19 artisanal cheeses alongside fruit spreads, mustards, and honey, with guided tastings that introduce visitors to the flavors behind the farm's...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Oregon Hilltop Abbey Has A Beautiful Library Designed By A World Famous Finnish Architect

Monks sometimes work as baristas here, and the coffee sizes are named novice, junior, and senior. I find that detail completely delightful.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This New Hampshire Farm Celebrates Christmas With The Cows, German Holiday Treats And A Festive Christmas Market

Every winter, one farm throws a holiday party to welcome its cows back into their winter home. Yes, the cows are the guests of honor.

Read More    7 min read

Article
We Ranked Maryland’s 10 Best Burger Spots and the Final Cut Might Surprise You

One Maryland burger comes out of a gas station general store with a half-pound beef patty and a pile of familiar toppings. The setting is about as modest as it gets, yet the sandwich...

Read More    8 min read

Article
This New Jersey Cafe Serves Authentic Chai And Samosas In A Space That Feels Like Home

Warm chai in your hands. Crispy samosas on your plate. A space that wraps around you like a favorite sweater.

Read More    7 min read

Article
Named After a Carnivorous Plant, This South Carolina Bookshop Brings Local Creatives Together

An old nickname for the Venus flytrap now hangs over a bookshop door. That's a bold choice, and I love it. The tiny plant that...

Read More    6 min read

Article
You Can Get a Full Thanksgiving Dinner for Just $39.95 at This Legendary Minnesota Restaurant in 2026

Pumpkin bisque, oven-roasted turkey with gravy, and a slice of pecan pie, all served in a mahogany-paneled dining room overlooking a historic park. That's Thanksgiving at one of...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Free Oklahoma Museum Displays A Forty-Foot Dinosaur Whose Fossils Were Found Just Miles Away

Imagine walking into a quiet museum and coming face-to-face with a forty-foot predator. The bones were found just down the road. This...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This West Virginia Bowling Alley Still Has Prices That Feel Like Decades Ago

Twenty-four wooden lanes. A pro shop where the man in charge can drill and engrave your ball while you wait. A snack counter...

Read More    10 min read

Article
9 Surprisingly Affordable Seafood Spots In New Jersey You Need To Try

Let us talk about the ultimate win. You get fresh, briny seafood that tastes like it just leaped out of the ocean. Your wallet...

Read More    8 min read

Article
These 7 West Virginia Restaurants Stay Packed Without Spending A Dime On Advertising

One restaurant on this list seats hungry people inside retired school buses. Another has been frying fish sandwiches since 1914, back when a newspaper ad was the only way to get...

Read More    6 min read

Article
An Ohio Collectibles Store Combines Retro Candy, Rare Games and Pop-Culture Treasures Under One Roof

Japanese KitKats share shelf space with a wall of Funko Pops so big it has its own reputation. One floor holds old-fashioned candy.

Read More    7 min read

Article
A Family Built This Whimsical Oregon Theme Park From Scratch And Its Storybook Village Still Feels Like Another World

A highway draftsman bought 20 acres of woods for $4,000 and spent seven years hand-sculpting a fairy-tale world. He used concrete, fiberglass, and plaster of paris. No big studio...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Virginia Antique Gallery Is A Treasure Trove Of Vintage Jewelry, Rare Coins And Historic Finds

Old coins, vintage jewelry, and collectibles with decades of history can turn a shopping trip into an unexpected lesson about the past. Even a tiny object might carry a story that...

Read More    7 min read

Article
11 Virginia Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner That Feels Like Home

One Virginia dining room serving Thanksgiving turkey and dressing first opened its doors in 1760 as a stagecoach stop. Travelers once rested their horses there.

Read More    10 min read

Article
This New Jersey Meat Market Still Makes Sausages The Old-Fashioned German Way

The counter is an altar of sausages. Weisswurst. Bratwurst. Landjäger. A whole kingdom of spiced, smoked, and cured pork....

Read More    7 min read