LATEST ARTICLES:
This Old-Fashioned Virginia Candy Shop Is The Kind Of Place Kids Never Want To Leave
Walking into this Virginia candy shop feels like stepping back in time. The shelves are lined with jars of sweets, the counters are full of chocolates, and the smell of sugar hangs...
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8 New Jersey Places That Tell The Story Of The Lenape And Native American Past
New Jersey history did not begin with colonial houses, Revolutionary War battlefields, or old industrial towns. Long before...
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This Texas Train Turns a 4-Hour Ride into a Fine Dining Journey Through the Piney Woods
Dinner and a show is nice. Dinner on a moving train through the Piney Woods is something else entirely. This Texas experience...
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11 Missouri Restaurants So Far Off The Usual Route, The Drive Becomes Part Of Dinner
Half the fun starts before you ever see the menu. These Missouri restaurants sit beyond the usual busy streets, down quiet highways, around lake roads, and in small towns you might...
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7 Small-Town Oklahoma Yarn Shops Where Knitters Lose Whole Afternoons Squeezing Skeins
Some of the best afternoons in Oklahoma start with a plain little storefront you almost drove right past. You step inside for a quick look, and suddenly your arms are full of soft...
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A Georgia Cottage Became Roosevelt’s Escape From Washington, and His Unfinished Portrait Is Still Inside
Georgia pine and six small rooms are all this cottage offers, yet it holds the chair where a president collapsed and a portrait an artist never finished. The drive through the...
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This Minnesota Amish Market Bakes Hand Pies So Good Folks Call Them The Best In America
Claiming the title of best in America usually invites plenty of skepticism. One bite from this Minnesota market's hand pies apparently ends that skepticism fast.
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New Jersey Has A Beach Where You Can Hunt For “Diamonds” Beside A Century-Old Shipwreck
Most beachcombing ends with a pretty shell or a suspiciously smooth rock. This shoreline raises the stakes. Along one unusual...
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America’s First Native American Newspaper Was Printed in Two Languages at This Georgia Settlement in 1828
Shady paths and grassy fields in northwest Georgia look quiet now, but this spot was once the bustling capital of the Cherokee Nation. What was expected was maybe an hour of walking.
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9 Ohio Things That Ended Up in Places They Absolutely Don’t Belong
Gates from the White House rising beside a quiet Ohio estate road are the first surprise on this trip, and pieces of the Berlin Wall turn up farther along in two very different...
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9 Discount Stores in Indiana Where $10 Still Gets You a Surprisingly Big Haul
The ten-dollar bill used to buy lunch. Now it might buy half a wardrobe. Or a grocery haul. Or something nobody can explain but...
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10 Blue-Collar Virginia Restaurants That Serve Huge Portions For Cheap
Value is easy to talk about and harder to find. Plenty of restaurants claim to serve big portions at low prices, and plenty of them fall short.
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A Texas Restaurant Makes The Kind Of Comfort Food That Calls For An Extra Hungry Appetite
Some meals require a nap afterward. This is one of them. This Texas restaurant serves comfort food that is hearty, filling,...
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An Ohio Writer Woke to Footsteps on the Stairs Before a Ghostly Figure Walked Straight Through His Bedroom Wall
Footsteps pacing around a dining room table, then racing up the stairs toward a young writer, are the story that made this Ohio house famous. James Thurber heard them one November...
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This Missouri Artist Refused To Let His Hometown Disappear, So He Rebuilt It On His Farm
Most people would probably accept that their old hometown was gone. This Missouri artist had a different idea. After returning...
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People Have Gathered at This Georgia Site for More Than 12,000 Years, Long Before the Giant Earthworks Appeared
Grassy hills under a wide blue sky feel quiet at this Georgia site, but the history beneath them is anything but. People have been gathering on this patch of land for more than...
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This Minnesota Salvage Shop Is Packed With Architectural Antiques And Vintage Treasures
Doorknobs and stained glass don't usually pile up quite this deep outside a warehouse built specifically for hoarding salvaged history.
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This Hidden Rural Indiana Store Stocks Groceries You Won’t Find At Most Supermarkets
The refrigerator is full. That is not the same thing as having anything to eat. There is cheese, technically. A jar of something...
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Why Families Keep Wandering Tulsa’s Stone Temple In The Wichita Mountains Every Fall
I almost skipped the turnoff, figuring a few old stone buildings in the hills of southwest Oklahoma would make for a ten-minute stretch break at best. Two hours later, my shoes...
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A California Ranch Grew From a 1790s Adobe Into a 28,000-Acre Cattle Empire Before the City Surrounded It
Fig trees and chickens make more noise than Long Beach humming just beyond the hill, and a parking pass from a quiet neighborhood gate led to a ranch I had somehow never heard...
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This Amazing Indiana Art Store Is Packed With Supplies You Won’t Find Everywhere
The person who invented 47 shades of blue deserves an explanation. So does whoever decided artists need twelve different kinds of paper that all look identical until they actually...
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The Oldest Oil Well In The World Still Stands In A Quiet West Virginia Town
You could drive past it on a lazy afternoon and never guess that a small patch of riverside ground changed the whole world. Out in the rolling hills of West Virginia, a humble...
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Alabama’s Longest Continually Operating Cinema Still Runs Indie Reels and Throwback Gems for $10
The streaming service has thousands of movies. The theater has one. People keep showing up for the one. That is partly because...
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This Award-Winning Alabama Bakery Puts Gluten-Free Comfort Baking Front and Center for Celiac Sweets
The ingredient label normally comes before the craving. That is the annoying part. Read the package. Check the kitchen.
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Model Railroad Fans Lose Hours Inside This Family-Run Virginia Shop Packed With Vintage Trains
Walking into this Virginia shop feels like stepping into a miniature world. The shelves are packed with vintage trains, model kits, and accessories that would make any enthusiast's...
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Fresh Halal Meat Is Cut To Order At This Missouri International Market Packed With Hard-To-Find Groceries
The butcher counter is where this place really gets interesting. This Missouri international market cuts fresh halal beef, chicken, goat, and lamb to order, so you can ask for...
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A South Carolina Man Covered Suits, Cars and Even a Hearse With Thousands Upon Thousands of Buttons
Buttons cover a suit, a guitar, a bathtub, and even a hearse, hundreds of thousands of them glued and stitched over every surface. A small roadside sign pulled the car off its...
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This Off-The-Beaten-Path Maryland Diner Has Biscuits And Gravy So Good They Are A Local Legend
Some dishes earn a reputation that spreads by word of mouth alone. This Maryland diner has biscuits and gravy that have become a local legend, and for good reason.
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These 6 Oklahoma Drive-In Theaters Still Light Up Friday Nights Under The Open Prairie Sky
Some of the best Friday nights in Oklahoma start with nothing more than a gravel lot, a full tank of gas, and a paper sack of popcorn going soft on the dashboard. You roll in expecting...
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An Entire 1788 Ohio Pioneer House Is Preserved Inside a Museum Built Around It
A 1788 house sits indoors, protected by walls and a roof built around it decades later. The building still rests on the exact ground where it was raised, back when Ohio was not...
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Mother’s Day Doesn’t Close The Doors At This West Virginia Bakery Known For Its Macarons
Most folks figure every bakery in West Virginia locks up tight on Mother's Day, so the hunt for a last-minute treat can feel hopeless. Then you stumble onto a small shop along...
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This Massive Missouri Antique Mall Is The Kind Of Place You Could Browse For Hours
This is the kind of place where “just a quick look” can turn into a whole afternoon. This Missouri antique mall is packed...
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This Spooky Oregon Restaurant Turns A Simple Meal Into A Ghost-Lover’s Night Out
Dinner rarely comes with a side of intentional chills, yet this restaurant leans fully into that atmosphere from the moment guests walk in.
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This New Jersey Bakery Proves Good Italian Bread Never Goes Out Of Style
Good bread does not need a sales pitch. That warm, crusty loaf smell usually handles the convincing before anyone reaches the counter.
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This Oklahoma Corner Store Still Wears Its Old Sign And Feels Like An After-School Stop
I almost missed it, and I was sitting at a red light right next to it. Perched on a slice of land barely bigger than a backyard patio, an old brick building in Oklahoma wears a...
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Seven West Virginia Glass Studios and Factories Where Artisans Still Shape Every Piece By Hand
You pull off a quiet West Virginia road expecting a quick look, and suddenly you are standing a few feet from a glowing furnace, watching someone turn a blob of orange fire into...
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This All-You-Can-Eat Mexican Feast In Texas Is Too Good To Miss
All-you-can-eat Mexican food is a dangerous proposition. Dangerous in the best way. This Texas spot offers a full feast, with...
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The Soup-And-Salad Bar At This Rustic Oklahoma Steakhouse Is Practically A Full Supper Before The Steak
The storefront looked older than my parents, and I figured I would grab a quick steak and head home. Instead, I spent the first half hour walking back and forth to a soup-and-salad...
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Over 150 Shops Fill This Oklahoma City Antique Mall Where A Whole Saturday Disappears
The building did not look like much from the parking lot, and I almost kept driving to find lunch instead. One step inside changed my whole afternoon, because the rooms just kept...
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8 Small Oklahoma Towns Where $1,800 A Month Still Covers Rent, Groceries And A Diner Breakfast
Some towns don't look like much from the highway, just a water tower, a grain elevator and a cafe with a hand-painted sign out front. Then you sit down for breakfast, the coffee...
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Families Pack The Bleachers For A Real Rodeo At This West Virginia Arena You’d Never Expect
Some of the best nights in West Virginia start with a gravel road and a hunch. You follow a country lane past farm fields, half wondering if you took a wrong turn, and then you...
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Seven West Virginia Hobby Shops Where ‘Just One Thing’ Turns Into A Whole Afternoon
Some of the best afternoons in West Virginia start with a tiny errand, like grabbing a tube of paint or one replacement part for a remote control truck. Then you step inside a...
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The Old-School Maryland Bakery Where People Line Up Before Dawn And The Bread Is Gone By 9 AM
There is a bakery that opens early and still cannot keep up with demand. This Maryland spot has people lining up before dawn, and by 9 AM, the shelves are mostly empty.
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Thousands Of Bargains Rotate Through This Missouri Thrift Store While Every Purchase Helps Disabled Veterans
If you have ever wandered into a thrift store just to kill a little time and walked out with something you actually love, you already understand why people get hooked on places...
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This Oklahoma Café Ladles Gravy Over Biscuits At Any Hour And The Pancakes Overhang The Plate
I almost drove right past it. A small building in the lake country of eastern Oklahoma, a name that made me laugh out loud, and a parking lot already busy at seven in the morning.
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The Largest High-Elevation Wetland In The Appalachians Hides Rare Wildlife Up In West Virginia
Some places in West Virginia sneak up on you. You drive a winding mountain road expecting a quick look and a leg stretch, and suddenly you are standing beside a wide, open wetland...
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Missouri’s First Coffee Shop West Of The Mississippi Is Still Pouring In This Historic River Town
Coffee comes with a pretty good story at this Missouri stop. The shop sits along a historic Main Street and claims the distinction of being the first coffee shop established west...
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This Oklahoma Drive-Through Safari Park Lets Camels And Zebras Reach Right Into Your Car
I pulled off the interstate in southern Oklahoma expecting nothing more than a gas station snack and a chance to stretch my legs. A little while later, a camel had its fuzzy chin...
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There’s A Restaurant Inside A Historic Texas Bank And The Interior Is Truly Unreal
A restaurant inside an old bank. That is not something you see every day. This Texas spot has taken a historic building and...
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A Former Missouri Silica Quarry Is Now A White-Sand Lake With Blufftop River Views
White sand is not exactly what you expect to find in the middle of Missouri. That is what makes this old quarry site so interesting.
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7 Small-Town Oklahoma Cafés Where The Pie Case By The Register Empties Out By Afternoon
Some of the best food in Oklahoma hides behind screen doors and hand-lettered signs on streets you'd drive past without a second thought. You walk in expecting a cup of coffee...
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This West Virginia Market Bakery Makes So Many Kinds Of Pie You’ll Never Pick Just One
Some of the best smells in West Virginia come from places you would walk right past if your nose did not stop you first. Picture yourself strolling through a busy old market building...
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This New Jersey Amish Market Is Only Open Two Days A Week, And It’s Worth Planning Around
Friday suddenly feels a lot more delicious around here. For only two days each week, this small New Jersey market fills with...
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10 Indiana Fall Destinations Worth Planning Around
The first red leaf causes a problem. Now every weekend looks booked. One drive for the leaves. Another for a covered bridge.
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This Trendy Indiana Hotspot Serves a Gourmet Masterpiece That Just Beat Every Other Cheeseburger in the State
A cheeseburger should not need a personality test. This one might. Do you want smoky? Sweet?
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Still Family-Owned After More Than 65 Years, This Missouri Italian Restaurant Keeps Feeding Generations
There is something reassuring about a restaurant that has been feeding the same community for generations. This Missouri Italian...
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A No-Frills Texas Seafood House Keeps Things Casual With Big Plates And Waterfront Views
Some restaurants want to impress you with fancy plating and complicated menus. This Texas seafood house does not. It keeps...
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This Oregon Village Makes an Ordinary Shopping Trip Feel Like a Little European Getaway
A quick errand shouldn't feel like stepping into another country entirely. Somehow this village manages exactly that anyway. Cobblestone-style...
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A Two-Mile Missouri Trail Winds Past Hoodoos, Slot Canyons, Arches, And Waterfalls
Two miles does not sound like much until the trail starts throwing hoodoos, arches, narrow canyons, and waterfalls at you. This...
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