LATEST ARTICLES:
11 Spots Across New Jersey Known For Their Foot-Long Hot Dogs
Apparently, a regular hot dog just wasn’t ambitious enough. Somewhere along the way, someone looked at that little bun and thought, “We can do much more damage than this.”
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One Man Collected Thousands of Cat Objects and Turned Them Into One of North Carolina’s Strangest Museums
Cats covered the outside walls of a brightly painted building along a mountain highway, and my eyes left the road without permission. What was meant to be a quick stop stretched...
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A Georgia Mansion Was Built With 45 Doors and Almost No Hallways Because Its Owner Was Terrified of Fire
Warm yellow paint glows in the late afternoon light, and a quiet corner in Georgia hides a house that rearranges how you think about architecture. Pretty porches and shady oaks...
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12 Virginia Ranches Where Beautiful Scenery Is Only Part Of The Adventure
Ranches are often associated with wide-open spaces and mountain views, but the ones on this list offer more than just a pretty backdrop. These twelve Virginia ranches turn beautiful...
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This Virginia Steakhouse Is in the Middle of Farmland, but Its Steaks Hold Their Own Against Any Big-City Chain
Location does not always determine quality. Sometimes the best meals are found in unexpected places, far from the city lights and the trendy districts.
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One California Ranch Once Covered 66,000 Acres, and Its Enormous Adobe Headquarters Is Still Standing
Two-story mud-brick giants sitting on grassy knolls in California do not usually appear where a small roadside marker is expected. Warm morning light, dry grass, and old redwood...
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Ten Toppings Turn One Pizza Into The Main Attraction At This Missouri Italian Joint
Some pizzas are happy with pepperoni and cheese. This Missouri Italian joint clearly likes to keep things busier. Its specialty...
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This Pennsylvania Factory Built Vehicles for 118 Years, and Now Its Old Assembly Floor Is Packed With the Machines It Helped Create
Brick factory buildings on a main street in Pennsylvania had been driven past more times than can be counted, always with the same promise to stop one day. When that day finally...
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This Minnesota Bagel Shop Boils Its Bagels From Scratch And Cures Its Own Salmon
A proper bagel starts in boiling water, not a proofer set to mimic the real thing. This shop skips every shortcut that lets most bagels pass as authentic without actually earning...
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9 Alabama Restaurants Where One Dish Put Them On The Map
Every restaurant wants a signature dish. These restaurants may have accidentally created a celebrity. One has sauce. One has...
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Free-Roaming Bison Wander Up To The Road At This Oklahoma Refuge Near Lawton
You round a bend on a quiet two-lane road in southwest Oklahoma, and suddenly a shaggy, two-thousand-pound neighbor is standing right beside your window, chewing grass like he...
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9 Ohio Places That Played Unexpected Roles in American History
Cornfields and truck stops were the expectation, but Ohio had other ideas. The first drive across the state with a full tank and no real plan turned into a series of detours where...
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This Brazilian-Style Restaurant Is Known for Having the Best Rodízio in Indiana
The little table card is judging you. Green means keep bringing the meat. Red means stop. That sounds simple until a skewer of...
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Seven Old-Fashioned West Virginia Diners Where The Coffee Refills Never Stop Coming
Some of the best mornings in West Virginia start in a building you might drive past without a second look. There is a plain sign, a bell over the door, and then the smell of bacon...
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This Sprawling Indiana Village Barn Was Just Voted The Most Mouthwatering All-You-Can-Eat Destination
A barn is not usually where people go looking for a legendary meal. This one has clearly reconsidered its career. Inside, the...
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This Indiana Spot Serves Authentic British Tea With Fresh Scones and Clotted Cream
There is a correct way to eat a scone. Apparently, nobody agrees on what it is. Cream first? Jam first?
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11 Virginia Japanese Restaurants Worth Going Out Of Your Way For
Japanese food in Virginia has come a long way from the days of simple sushi rolls and teriyaki. Today, you can find restaurants serving ramen with broth that simmers for hours,...
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This Missouri Plant Farm Has More Than 1,700 Varieties For Gardeners To Dig Through
Plant people could lose a whole afternoon here without trying very hard. This Missouri farm grows more than seventeen hundred varieties, so the selection goes far beyond the usual...
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This Ohio Museum Preserves the Road That Carried America West Before the Interstates
Three stories share a single roof in a small Ohio museum, and each one pulls you in like a kid at an aquarium. The 136-foot diorama stretches across a room, capturing every mile...
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This Massive Texas Thrift Store Has Bargains So Good It Is Worth the Early Fall Road Trip
A thrift store so big it takes hours to get through. That is what you find at this Texas spot. It is massive, packed with clothing,...
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This Oklahoma Space Museum Off I-40 Keeps 3,500 Rockets, Jets And Capsules That Actually Orbited Earth
You are cruising across western Oklahoma, the radio is fading in and out, and a highway sign promises rockets. Most folks keep driving.
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This 113-Year-Old South Carolina Estate Still Welcomes Overnight Guests
Quiet places to sleep in northern South Carolina can turn into something far more interesting, as I found when I came across a historic estate almost by accident. What I expected...
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Nobody Driving Past Would Guess This West Virginia Courthouse Square Launched A Whole New State
Some of the best stories in West Virginia hide behind plain walls and parking meters. I went looking for a quiet place to stretch my legs and maybe find a sandwich, and I walked...
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More Than 300 Dishes Rotate Through The Line At This Missouri All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
You could eat here several times and still end up with a completely different plate. This Missouri buffet rotates through...
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11 Oregon Restaurants Where the Menu Changes With the Seasons
A fixed menu barely survives a full season at these particular kitchens, rewritten instead the moment ingredients actually shift outside.
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Grab a paddle because these 6 Ohio nature centers let kids meet turtles and owls up close
Some of the best family adventures hide inside plain little buildings tucked along lake shores and forest trails. Across Ohio, a handful of nature centers turn a simple day outdoors...
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Scones And Clotted Cream Arrive On Tiered Stands Inside This Restored Oklahoma City Bank Hall
Some of the best afternoons start with a door that doesn't look like much from the sidewalk. You pull it open in downtown Oklahoma, expecting an office lobby, and instead your...
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Before Hollywood Had Glamour, This West Virginia Opera House Drew Crowds By Lamplight
Some of the best finds in West Virginia hide in plain sight, tucked along a quiet street you might drive right past on the way to lunch. I went looking for a good meal and a slow...
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Locals Pack This Beloved Texas Farmers Market Every Saturday For Sourdough, Baked Goods, And More
Saturday morning has a rhythm in this Texas town. The market opens, the vendors set up, and the locals start lining up. This...
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This Giant Blue Whale Has Smiled At Route 66 Travelers In Oklahoma Since 1972
Some of the best stops in Oklahoma are the ones nobody puts on a fancy list. You round a bend on an old two-lane highway, glance to your right, and there it is: a grinning concrete...
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This Oklahoma Dairy Farm Sells Fresh Cheese Curds And Raw Milk Straight From Its Own Shop
Some of the best food in Oklahoma never gets a sign bigger than a mailbox. Out on a gravel-shouldered country road northeast of Tulsa sits a small farm building where the milk...
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The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Traces Family Names Back Generations Inside This Shawnee, Oklahoma Heritage Center
Some Oklahoma buildings look ordinary from the parking lot and then quietly rearrange how you think about the ground you're standing on. I pulled up expecting a quick walk-through...
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Nobody Believes Us When We Say West Virginia Has A Real Castle Built By A Coal Baron
Tell a friend from out of state that a genuine stone castle sits on a ridge in West Virginia, and watch their eyebrows shoot up. I used to give that same look, right up until the...
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Locals Roared A Forgotten West Virginia Dirt Track Back To Life And Saturday Nights Came With It
Some of the best nights in West Virginia don't start at a fancy spot. They start on a hard metal bleacher, with a paper tray of something warm in your lap and the smell of clay...
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A Texas Store Packed With Fossils, Crystals, And Minerals Feels More Like A Museum Than A Shop
A store that feels like a museum. That is the kind of place that makes you stop and stare. This Texas shop is packed with fossils,...
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This Missouri Recreation Area Has The State’s Only Whitewater River And An Old Mining Past
This Missouri recreation area has a little more edge than the usual picnic-and-trail stop. The St. Francis River cuts through the landscape here, bringing fast water, rocky stretches,...
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6 Oklahoma Restaurants Serving Lumpia, Pancit Or Adobo Plates Made The Way Families Make Them
Some of the best meals in Oklahoma come from buildings you would drive past twice without blinking. Behind a few plain storefronts and strip-mall doors, somebody's family recipe...
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Mothman Really Does Have His Own Museum, And It Sits In A Small West Virginia River Town
I expected a quick stop, maybe ten minutes and a silly photo, before getting back on the road through West Virginia. Instead, I found myself leaning close to faded paperwork, reading...
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This Small Oklahoma Museum Keeps Egyptian Mummies And Shrunken Heads And Opens Its Doors For Free
Some Oklahoma road trips end with a photo of a water tower, and some end with you standing eye-level with a 2,300-year-old Egyptian woman. I went in expecting a quiet little art...
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Down A Quiet Lake Road, This Missouri Steakhouse Has Been Serving Dinner For Fifty Years
Fifty years of serving dinner usually means a place has figured out what people want. This Missouri steakhouse keeps things...
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A Texas Smokehouse Is Part BBQ Stop, Part Country Store, And Worth Pulling Off The Highway For
Some road trips are about the destination. This one is about the stop. This Texas smokehouse is part barbecue joint, part country...
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This Missouri Farmers Market Keeps The Local Food Coming Long After Summer Ends
Summer ending does not mean the local shopping has to stop. This Missouri market-style event keeps the weekends lively well into the colder months, with local vendors, food, handmade...
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An Abandoned Carousel Still Haunts The Boardwalk At This New Jersey Beach Town
A carousel without horses feels strangely eerie. The music is gone. The painted animals have vanished. Yet the grand circular...
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Harpers Ferry Hides The Spot Where Thomas Jefferson Said The View Was Worth Crossing The Atlantic
I almost skipped it, thanks to a few stone steps, a steep hill, and a small sign I barely noticed in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Twenty minutes later, I was standing...
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This Nearly Century-Old New Jersey Restaurant Is Still Famous For Its Buffalo Wings
Wings have started arguments over less. Crispy or saucy? Mild or hot? Ranch or blue cheese?
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Owned by a Bestselling Hoosier Author, This Indiana Bookstore Is a Diverse Literary Haven
The neon sign is pink. The disco balls are real. The books are serious. That combination is exactly why this Indiana bookstore...
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This Indiana City Has a Healthcare System So Advanced It’s Ranked Among America’s Best
The roundabouts are only the beginning. There are so many of them that at some point, you start wondering whether the city is secretly testing your driving skills.
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A Full-Size DC-3 Sits On The Roof Of This Missouri Coffee Factory You Can Actually Tour
The airplane on the roof is your first clue that this is not a normal coffee stop. This Missouri factory has a full-size DC-3...
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11 Texas Markets Packed With Foods And Ingredients You Won’t Find At Regular Grocery Stores
The regular grocery store has its place. But it does not have everything. Not even close. These eleven Texas markets are packed...
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This Oregon Restaurant Serves Dungeness Crab Arancini and Lamb Dumplings Under One Roof
Crab and lamb rarely share a menu section, let alone earn equal billing the way they do at this Bend restaurant. The arancini...
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This Missouri Dutch Market Has Discount Groceries, Homemade Buns, And Deli Sandwiches Worth The Backroad Drive
This is the kind of place where lunch and grocery shopping can happen at the same time. This Missouri market has deli sandwiches, homemade buns, bulk foods, produce, and discounted...
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This New Jersey Italian Bakery Is Open 365 Days A Year For Your Pastry Fix
Christmas morning craving a cannoli? Apparently, that is not an emergency here. One family-run New Jersey bakery keeps its...
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This Old-Fashioned New Hampshire Diner Serves The Kind Of Breakfast Worth Waking Up Early For
Most people hit the snooze button when the alarm goes off. This New Hampshire diner gives you a reason not to. The doors open...
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New Jersey Turned A Historic Horse-Racing Estate Into A Gorgeous 667-Acre Park
The horses are no longer thundering around the property, but this sprawling landscape still gives visitors plenty of room to roam.
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Maryland Has a Stunning Latin Restaurant Where Dinner Comes With Panoramic Inner Harbor Views
Some dinners are about the food. Others are about the setting. This Maryland spot manages to deliver both. A stunning Latin...
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Oregon Has the Last Covered Railroad Bridge of Its Kind in the West
Railroad bridges built like this one used to be more common. Now, an entire category of ordinary engineering ends here, permanently, with this bridge as the last surviving example...
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This New Hampshire Garden Feels Like A Secret World Of Flowers Butterflies And Hummingbirds
Some gardens are tidy and formal, and some feel like they grew out of a dream. This New Hampshire garden leans toward the second kind.
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This Unassuming West Virginia Rock Is Where Union Troops Carved Their Names During The Civil War
I pulled off a quiet mountain road in West Virginia expecting a quick stretch of the legs and maybe a sandwich with a view. What I found instead was a hilltop where Civil War soldiers...
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12 New Jersey Restaurants That Still Feel Refreshingly Old-School
Not every good meal needs QR codes, neon slogans, or a dining room designed for somebody's social feed. Sometimes you just...
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An 1850s Georgia Mansion Had Hot and Cold Running Water, Central Heat and an Intercom Before Most Homes Had Plumbing
Georgia has plenty of historic homes where the furniture, portraits, and sweeping staircases do most of the showing off. This one surprised me with what was hiding behind the walls...
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