More Than A Dozen Scratch-Made Pie Flavors Fill The Case At This Oklahoma Bakery
A glass case glows with the promise of something sweet. Towering meringue pies stand next to fruit-filled classics. A glossy...
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This Missouri Restaurant Is Built Into A Massive Rock Cliff With The Stone Wall Exposed Inside
The road curved, the trees opened up, and there it was: a low building tucked right under a giant rock ledge, with train tracks running out front and a creek slipping past just...
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This New Jersey Arts Center Was A Family Farm That Became A Creative Oasis For All Ages
You would never guess it from the outside. A 176-acre farm that once raised chickens turned into a creative oasis for thousands of people.
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A Victorian Georgia Mansion Escaped Demolition and Came Back With a Restaurant Beneath It
Creamy yellow brick and a pointed slate roof rose above a Georgia street like the mansion owned the whole block, and I slowed down to stare the first time I spotted it.
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The Ultimate Indiana Roadside Pit Stop: A 1950s Chrome Diner with Car-Themed Mini-Golf and Free Coffee
The scorecard says 3. The person holding it says 12. Nobody is willing to discuss the discrepancy. That is one way an ordinary...
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This Hidden Indiana Chapel Looks Exactly Like a Postcard From the European Countryside
A postcard from Europe would probably look less convincing. There is the stone chapel. The wooded hill. The tiny rise in the...
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This Quiet Virginia Overlook Opens Onto An Endless Sea Of Blue Ridge Mountains
You park the car, walk a few steps, and then the ground drops away. The view opens up into an endless sea of Blue Ridge Mountains, ridge after ridge fading into the distance.
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This Small Town Virginia Ice Cream Shop Has The Strangest Fall Flavors You’ll Ever Try
You expect pumpkin spice in the fall. Maybe apple cider. But maple bacon? Sweet corn and blackberry?
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This Texas Greenhouse Café Turns Brunch Into A Garden Escape Led By An Acclaimed Chef
Brunch among the plants. That is the appeal of this Texas greenhouse café. Sunlight pours in through the glass ceiling, the...
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This Georgia Restaurant Started With No Stove, So Hot Meals Had to Arrive by Taxi
Fried chicken and a taxi story, that is what I came for and what I left with from that Georgia spot. Back in 1947, two brothers opened a tiny 30-seat restaurant with no stove and...
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A Georgia Hotel Room Has Been Tied to One Ghost Story for Decades, and Guests Can Still Book It
Wide old planks creaked like they were trying to tell me something the first time I walked into that Savannah hotel, and I had come for the squares and the Spanish moss.
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This Oregon Trail Leads To Gorgeous Fall Foliage And Late September Is The Perfect Time To Go
Fall foliage usually means driving hours toward somewhere crowded and photographed to death. This Oregon trail offers something better, color without the chaos most leaf peeping...
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A South Carolina Town Was Burned and Abandoned in 1781, but Its Star-Shaped Fort Still Survives
More than a thousand acres of quiet green fields in South Carolina hold one of the strangest survivors of the Revolutionary War, and I pulled off the highway expecting a small...
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This Small Indiana Town Is Widely Considered the Ultimate Capital of Autumn Colors
The leaves are not helping with navigation. Every road looks good. Every ridge looks better. Every bend reveals another wall...
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11 Beloved West Virginia Farmers Markets Where $35 Buys More Than You’d Ever Expect
There's a certain thrill in pulling up to a modest little market in West Virginia and walking out with your arms so full you can barely find your keys. A single crumpled bill can...
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10 Middle-of-Nowhere Alabama Barbecue Joints Worth Every Drop of Gas
The gas gauge is getting nervous. The passengers are getting nervous. The driver keeps saying, “It has to be up here somewhere.”...
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This Cozy Alabama European-Style Patisserie Bakes Croissants So Flaky You’d Swear You Were in Paris
The croissant leaves evidence. A few flakes on the plate. A few on your shirt. At least one somehow ends up in the keyboard...
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This Quiet Virginia Coastal Town Has The Best Early Fall Oysters
Fall in Virginia brings cooler weather, changing leaves, and something else worth celebrating. Oysters. The waters along the...
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A 1920s Ohio Freighter Became a House Perched Above Lake Erie Instead of Ending Up as Scrap
A white block of steel and portholes sat perched on a cliff above Lake Erie in Ohio, and from the deck of a ferry, my brain took a second to catch up.
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Enjoy Lakeside Dining With Unforgettable Views At This Beautiful Maryland Hideaway You’ll Want to Keep Secret
There is something wonderfully unfair about a restaurant where the scenery makes it difficult to pay proper attention to the food. This Maryland lakeside hideaway combines dinner...
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An Ohio Quarry Once Supplied Stone for a Growing City, and Its Abandoned Kilns Still Stand in the Woods
A gravel road in Ohio led to a sandstone wall taller than a house, and I pulled in expecting a quick walk in the woods. I...
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This Quiet West Virginia Town Lets Retirees Live Comfortably On A Social Security Check Alone
Some of the best places to grow older aren't the ones splashed across glossy retirement brochures. Tucked into the mountains of West Virginia sits a small county seat where a monthly...
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This Charming French Bakery In Minnesota Serves Pastries That Taste Like Paris
Real French pastries rarely turn up outside major cities, let alone somewhere unexpected like this. Yet here they are, buttery and precise, tasting like something pulled straight...
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Families pack this Pittsburgh sandwich shop for fries piled inside the bun
Some places surprise you the moment you take your first bite, and this spot in Pennsylvania does exactly that. Picture a sandwich stuffed with meat, melted cheese, tangy coleslaw,...
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This Texas Theater Still Glows Beneath A Giant Neon Sign From The Golden Age Of Movies
Modern movie theaters are very good at reclining seats and enormous soda cups, but they rarely greet you with a towering neon sign that looks like the evening should require a...
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West Virginia Locals Line Up At This Hole-In-The-Wall Spot For What They Swear Is The Best Breakfast In The State
Some of the best meals in West Virginia hide in the places you'd drive right past without a second look. Tucked into a corner most folks don't expect, there's a little breakfast...
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A Texas Trail Winds Through A Forest Where Some Trees Are More Than 100 Feet Tall
Texas is not always the first place people picture when somebody says “towering forest,” which makes walking beneath trees higher than a ten-story building feel like a pretty...
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6 Pennsylvania creameries where you watch the cows before your cone
There's something magical about eating ice cream just steps from the animals that made it possible. All across Pennsylvania, tucked between rolling pastures and weathered barns,...
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West Virginia Locals Keep Driving Across The State For The Golden Hash Browns At This No-Frills Diner
Some cravings sneak up on you when you least expect them, and in West Virginia there's one dish that has folks planning whole road trips just to get a plate. Tucked off the interstate,...
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This Gigantic West Virginia Vintage Store Lets $45 Fill Your Whole Backseat With Treasures
Some of the best places in West Virginia hide behind small, humble storefronts that give you no clue about the wonders waiting inside. Picture a modest little shop that keeps unfolding,...
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7 Things Only True West Virginians Know That Go Way Beyond Knowing Country Roads
Everybody can hum along to that famous song about country roads, but real West Virginians carry a whole treasure chest of knowledge that outsiders never quite catch. From a lunch...
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One Of Texas’ Most Old Fashioned Butcher Shops Also Happens To Make A Seriously Fresh Burger
Buying burger meat from a butcher shop is sensible. Having the butcher skip a few steps and cook the burger for you is considerably more efficient.
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This Oklahoma Greenhouse Packs 2,100 Square Feet With Cacti And Succulents
Step through the door and the air shifts, dryer and warmer, like a sudden trip to the desert. Thousands of spiky silhouettes stretch across two thousand square feet, a living collection...
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11 New Jersey Markets Hiding Surprisingly Serious Bakery Counters
The bakery counters that sneak up on you are always the best ones. Across New Jersey, there are markets that look ordinary...
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This West Virginia Wildlife Refuge Hides Dozens of WWII TNT Bunkers Where Mothman Sightings Began
Some places in West Virginia look quiet on the surface, then quietly knock the wind out of you once you start walking. Picture a stretch of farmland and swamp where grass-covered...
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Few Hikers Talk About This Rugged New Jersey Forest Near The State Line
Most hikers stick to the well-known trails. They miss this place entirely. A 2,000-acre forest in New Jersey that is accessible...
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This Family-Owned Indiana Specialty Store Is A Massive BBQ Equipment & Grilling Supply Paradise
Someone comes in for barbecue sauce. Thirty minutes later, they are comparing smokers. Then thermometers. Then grilling tools.
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This Indiana Amish Country Discount Grocery Has Become A Go-To Spot For Thrifty Families
“Do we need that?” “No.” “Are we getting it?” Obviously. That conversation could happen several times during one shopping trip here.
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Only Three Graves Sit Inside This Tiny Oklahoma Cemetery On The Former 101 Ranch
A hilltop overlooking a river holds the final resting place of just three people. That is all that remains of a burial ground meant for hundreds.
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10 Upcoming Fall Festivals In Minnesota You’ll Want On Your Calendar
Marking a calendar early makes fall feel like it's already arrived, and a handful of festivals across Minnesota this year justify getting excited that soon.
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This Missouri Bakery Makes A Croissant So Chocolatey They Call It The Darkness
A friend in St. Louis told me about a chocolate croissant with a name that sounded more like a movie title than a pastry, and I could not stop thinking about it. So one bright...
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This Oklahoma Barbecue Joint Has Smoked Its Meats Over Hickory Wood For More Than 40 Years
The same outdoor pit has been fired with hickory wood for decades, and the smoke that rises from it tells a story of patience and tradition. A family?run spot in Oklahoma has been...
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The First Cultivated Blueberry Was Born At This Fascinating New Jersey Farm Village
Some places grab you slowly, and this one did exactly that. Sandy roads crunch underfoot, pine trees lean in close, and wide stretches of water throw the sky right back at you.
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This Iconic New Hampshire Restaurant Is Famous For A Dish Locals Never Stop Ordering
There is a dish at this New Hampshire restaurant that locals order without even looking at the menu. They have been ordering it for years, and they have no intention of stopping.
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Summer Ends But This New Jersey Farmers Market Keeps Going All Year Long
The first cool morning of fall always makes me a little sad, mostly because I assume the good produce is about to disappear until June.
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This Maryland Restaurant Gives a Historic Railroad Station a Delicious Second Life
Old train stations have a certain charm. High ceilings, large windows, and a sense of history that is hard to replicate. This...
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An Oregon Dam Failed So Badly That Its Ruins Are Now an Attraction
Dams aren't supposed to become tourist attractions. This one did anyway, though not for reasons its builders would have wanted. Failure...
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A 15-Year-Old Started This Oklahoma Dessert Stand With Nearly 50 Shaved-Ice Flavors
Some teenagers spend their summers at the pool or behind a screen. One Oklahoma teen spent his building a shaved ice empire. At...
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This New Hampshire Restaurant Has Been Serving Family Style Comfort Food Since 1927
Some restaurants come and go, but a few manage to stick around for generations. This New Hampshire restaurant has been serving family style comfort food since 1927, and it is still...
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This Old-School West Virginia Pub Sits In A Historic House And Serves A Shepherd’s Pie Locals Rave About
Some of the best meals happen by accident, when a sudden craving leads you down a quiet street to a place you never planned to visit. Tucked inside one of the oldest homes in West...
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Ten Miles Of Wild Shoreline Make This New Jersey Barrier Island Feel Far From Everything
Listen, you know how every Jersey Shore town feels like a postcard of boardwalks, high-rises, and crowds? Well, this one does not. This...
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This Alabama Warehouse Hides Thousands Of Premium Laundry And Kitchen Machines At Dirt-Cheap Prices
Ninety-two years old, and it still smells faintly like appliance boxes and cardboard. Somewhere in Alabama, a warehouse holds refrigerators lined up by the hundreds, doors closed,...
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This Ohio Restaurant Took Over an Open-Air School Built a Century Ago for Tuberculosis Patients
Colorful lockers still built into the hallway walls and sunlight pouring through enormous windows, that is what I found when I pulled up to an old school building on a quiet stretch...
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Oregon Has a Restaurant With More Than 1,000 Feet of Model Railroad Tracks Running Through It
Waiting for food rarely comes with entertainment this elaborate. Here, model trains circle the entire restaurant while diners wait, tracks stretching over a thousand feet through...
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These 10 Unusual New Hampshire Attractions Might Change The Way You See The State
Most people think they know what New Hampshire looks like. Mountains, lakes, and charming small towns. That is all true, but...
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This Is Officially The Best Burger In Maryland, According To Reviews, Is It Worth It?
Reviews can be tricky. Sometimes they hype a place beyond what it deserves. Other times they nail it. This Maryland burger...
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This New Jersey Attraction Lets You Become A Contestant On Your Own Live Game Show
Listen, you have watched game shows on TV your whole life. You have yelled answers at the screen, rolled your eyes at bad guesses, and thought, "I could do better than that."
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South Carolina’s Oldest Restaurant Started Feeding Homesick Soldiers During World War II, and the Same Family Still Runs It
The smell of garlic and slow-simmered tomato sauce filled that old South Carolina building the moment I stepped through the door, and the history under my feet was as rich as the...
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This Minnesota Equestrian Store Is A Massive Wonderland For Riders And Horse Enthusiasts
Horse enthusiasts rarely find a store that covers literally everything they might need under one roof. This one comes close, filling aisle after aisle with gear for every level...
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You Can Sleep Inside The Restored 1902 Mansion Of An Oklahoma Territorial Supreme Court Justice
A gavel once commanded attention in this very house, but now the only sound is the creak of original wood floors beneath your feet. The year was nineteen hundred and two when a...
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