Breakfast All Day And Homestyle Comfort Food Keep This Missouri Main Street Cafe Going From Morning To Night
Sometimes breakfast sounds right long after breakfast is over. This Missouri cafe keeps the griddle going all day, with eggs, pancakes, biscuits, burgers, sandwiches, and other...
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A Hollywood Actor Built a 2,538-Acre California Ranch as His Own Version of Old California
California is full of places where Hollywood history comes polished and carefully staged, but this one feels wonderfully different. I arrived expecting an old ranch and ended up...
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The Best Cheeseburger In Alabama Is Served Inside This Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurant
The fries never showed up. They were never invited. That is one of the first things that makes this Alabama burger joint different....
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12 Minnesota Restaurants To Try When You’re Tired Of Chain Restaurants
Chain menus start blending together after a while, same predictable dishes just wearing different logos depending on which parking lot you pulled into.
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At This Duncan Steakhouse, The Chicken-Fried Steak Gives Way To A Fork And The Peach Cobbler Arrives Unordered
Some of the best meals in Oklahoma hide behind plain brick walls and a parking lot full of pickup trucks. I pulled in expecting an ordinary small-town supper and walked out already...
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Ancient Ohio Builders Moved Earth One Basket at a Time to Create North America’s Largest Hilltop Enclosure
Ohio keeps plenty of its oldest stories in plain sight, although they do not always look dramatic at first. Sometimes history is simply a rise in the ground, a curve through the...
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This Tiny Indiana River Town Hides A Free-Flowing Natural Spring That Locals Claim Has The Best Water In The State
There is a very specific sound people are willing to drive miles to hear. Water hitting a jug. That is basically the entire...
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Prohibition Bootleggers Once Ran Barrels Through The Tunnels Beneath This West Virginia Town
Some places in West Virginia hold secrets right under your feet, and you would never guess it walking down a quiet Main Street. Long ago, folks moved goods through hidden brick...
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11 Hole-In-The-Wall Bakeries In Indiana With Surprisingly Big Reputations
The donut has about six minutes to live. That is roughly how long it takes for a warm batch to disappear when the right bakery puts one on the counter.
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This Massive Indiana Plant Center Is A Hidden Goldmine For Cheap Pots And Garden Finds
The plant costs $4. The pot costs $18. The decorative object costs $27. Somehow, this is still considered a bargain.
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This Historic Virginia Mill Restaurant Serves Trout With A Creekside View
Water runs beside this historic Virginia mill restaurant, and the sound of it follows you to the table. The building itself has been standing for generations, its old bones preserved...
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A Balkan Cafe Is Hiding Inside This Missouri Nursery That Has Been Growing Since 1959
Plants downstairs, Bosnian coffee upstairs. That is already a pretty good reason to stop. This Missouri nursery has been growing...
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Presidents and Old Hollywood Stars Ate at This California Cafe That Has Been Feeding Travelers Since the 1800s
California roadside history does not always come with velvet ropes or polished exhibits. Sometimes it arrives with a mug of coffee, a stack of pancakes, and a booth that might...
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Folks Cross The State For The Fried Catfish Platters At This Texas No-Frills Kitchen
A no-frills kitchen with a big reputation. That is what you find at this Texas spot. People cross the state for the fried catfish,...
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Oklahoma’s Oldest Tavern Has Fried Chicken For Over A Century And Still Fills Every Table
Some of the best meals in Oklahoma come from buildings that look like they would rather not be noticed. I drove past wheat fields and grain elevators expecting a quick stop, and...
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Pizza Was Still a Novelty in Ohio When This Family Restaurant Says It Served Columbus Its First Pie in 1934
Ohio has plenty of restaurants where dinner comes with a side of nostalgia, but this one serves a story almost as old as the family recipes. I walked in thinking about pizza and...
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Locals Still Fill Jugs At This West Virginia Cider Mill That’s Pressed Apples For Generations
Tucked into the rolling green hills of West Virginia sits a little family operation that has been turning local fruit into something special for years. Folks pass by the mountains...
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Watch Truffles Get Hand-Dipped And Caramel Stirred From Scratch At This Missouri Chocolate Shop
Chocolate is a lot more fun when you can watch it being made a few feet away. This Missouri shop keeps the process right out in the open, with truffles getting hand-dipped and...
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Oregon Has a Place Where You Can Watch Wildflowers Spread Across a Hillside Above The Columbia River
Hillsides don't usually turn into a spectacle worth planning a trip around, yet wildflowers here manage exactly that once the right season arrives.
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This Oklahoma Roadside Stand Hands You a Peach Fried Pie Still Too Hot to Hold
Some of the best food in Oklahoma hides behind a screen door and a gravel parking lot. I pulled off the highway expecting a quick snack from a glorified gas station counter, and...
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Seven West Virginia Comfort-Food Suppers Where A Home-Cooked Plate Still Costs Less Than Fast Food
There's a special kind of joy in pulling open a screen door in West Virginia and smelling gravy simmering on the stove. Somewhere between the red vinyl booths and the second cup...
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Wait, This Is Texas? A Hidden Attraction Feels Like It Belongs Thousands Of Miles Away
You look around and wonder if you took a wrong turn somewhere. This does not feel like Texas. The architecture, the atmosphere,...
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5 Oklahoma Ghost Towns Where Empty Storefronts Still Line The Old Main Street
Some of my favorite Oklahoma afternoons have started with a wrong turn down a county road, the kind where the pavement gives up and a row of brick buildings appears out of nowhere....
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This Oklahoma Sanctuary Lets You Meet And Feed Its Rescued Farm Animals On A Private Tour
Some of the best afternoons in Oklahoma start on a gravel road you almost drove past. I expected a quiet pasture and a few friendly goats, and instead I found a place where every...
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This Longtime Tulsa, Oklahoma Pizza Joint Serves Thin, Crispy Slices You Top However You Like
Some of the best food in Oklahoma hides behind doors you would drive past a hundred times without blinking. There is a little corner shop where the sign is small, the building...
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The Oldest Continuously Running Movie Theater In America Still Shows Films In This West Virginia Town
Some places in West Virginia hold onto their magic quietly, tucked along a small-town Main Street where you might drive right past without knowing what you missed. Imagine walking...
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Deep in the New River Gorge, This Abandoned Coal Town Still Guards Henry Ford’s Forgotten Chapter
Tucked deep in a green gorge in West Virginia, there's a place where a whole coal town once buzzed with life and now stands quiet, waiting for curious folks to wander through....
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This Texas Meat Market Serves Sausage Plates Made In-House
A butcher counter and a hot plate of sausage. That is a combination that works. This Texas meat market makes its sausages in...
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Bulk Foods, Fresh Produce, And Deli Sandwiches Have Filled This Missouri Country Market Since 1972
A good country market makes it very easy to leave with more than you planned. This Missouri shop mixes bulk foods, fresh produce, pantry staples, and deli sandwiches in one simple...
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Drivers Still Slow Down For This Narrow Iron Bridge Left Over From Oklahoma’s Route 66 Days
Some Oklahoma landmarks announce themselves with billboards. This one just sits there, rusting quietly at the edge of a lake, waiting for you to notice that the road narrows and...
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In Ronceverte, West Virginia, A Small Monthly Check Covers A Paid-Off Porch By The Greenbrier River And Neighbors Who Still Know Your Name
Some places in West Virginia don't shout for attention, yet they end up staying with you long after you leave. Picture a slow river curling past brick-paved streets, an old railroad...
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This Missouri Pie Shop Turns Out Around 100 Pies A Day And Has Been Doing It For Decades
This Missouri pie shop has been feeding sweet-toothed regulars for decades, and the ovens stay plenty busy. On a typical day,...
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Southern Fried Chicken Meets Mediterranean Flavor At This New Missouri Restaurant
Fried chicken gets a nice little shake-up here. This new Missouri restaurant keeps the crispy, comforting Southern side of the meal, then works in brighter Mediterranean flavors...
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This All-You-Can-Eat Missouri Buffet Serves Sushi, Hibachi, And Chinese Favorites Near The Lake
Come hungry, because choosing just one thing here is almost impossible. This Missouri buffet brings sushi, hibachi, and Chinese favorites together in one easygoing stop near the...
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A Small Texas Town Surrounded By Lakes And Hill Country Scenery Is Made For A Slow Weekend
Some places are made for rushing. This Texas town is made for slowing down. It sits surrounded by lakes and rolling Hill Country...
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28 Lakes And Hundreds Of Old TNT Bunkers Hide Inside This Missouri Conservation Area
You can come here to fish and end up staring at a World War II bunker instead. This Missouri conservation area mixes 28 lakes and ponds with woods, trails, wetlands, and a surprisingly...
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New Jersey Has A 45-Minute Trail Lit By More Than 6,000 Hand-Carved Pumpkins
Fall apparently decided subtlety was overrated. Once darkness settles in, thousands of glowing jack-o'-lanterns turn an ordinary autumn outing into something much brighter, stranger,...
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Way Out On A West Virginia Ridge, A Trout Farm Lets You Catch Your Dinner From The Pond
Some of the best places in West Virginia are the ones you almost miss, tucked down a winding country road with no billboards to announce them. Out near a quiet mountain ridge sits...
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This Former New Jersey Train Station Is A Paradise For Vinyl And Book Lovers
All aboard, but leave the suitcase at home. This old station has traded arriving trains for shelves of records, stacks of books, and the kind of browsing that can quietly eat an...
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One Of Indiana’s Oldest Family Farms Is Still Bringing Shoppers Back Season After Season
The farm has an answer for every month. That is the problem. Come in spring, and there are strawberries. Come back later, and...
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An Entire Indiana County Completely Transforms Into A Sprawling 10-Day Autumn Goldmine Every October
The map is basically a shopping list with roads on it. Bridge. Food. Antiques.
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Sushi, Hibachi, And Endless Seafood Fill This Massive Missouri All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
You know the kind of buffet where everyone comes back to the table with a completely different plate? This Missouri spot is built for that.
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A Casual Texas Seafood Restaurant Has The Kind Of Old School Charm You Can’t Manufacture
Some restaurants try to look old. They buy vintage signs, install reclaimed wood, and call it charm. This Texas seafood spot...
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Dinner Feels Extra Special At This Gorgeous Oregon Farm-To-Table Restaurant
Farm-to-table gets used loosely by plenty of restaurants chasing the phrase without living up to it. Here, the commitment actually shows on every plate.
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Six Generations Of Butchers Keep Old-World Sausage Traditions Alive At This Missouri Meat Market
Six generations is a long time to keep sharpening the same kind of skills. This Missouri meat market has done exactly that, passing down butchering, curing, and sausage-making...
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Pumpkin Season Turns This New Jersey Farm Into A Full-Blown Country Escape
There is a point every fall when buying one pumpkin from a grocery-store bin simply will not do. You want the fields. You want...
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This Magical New Hampshire Shop Is Filled With Art Treasures And Storybook Charm
Some shops sell things, and some feel like stepping into another world. This New Hampshire spot falls firmly into the second category.
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Come Hungry To This New Jersey Italian Market Where The Sandwiches Mean Business
There are sandwiches, and then there are sandwiches that require a quick reassessment of your lunch plans. Prosciutto, capicola,...
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Step Into a Little Slice of England at This Charming Maryland Tea Room
Some places feel like a vacation without the flight. This charming Maryland tea room is one of them. The moment you walk in,...
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An Oregon Restaurant That Turnes Dinner Into a French-Inspired Tasting Experience
Ordering dinner usually means picking one dish. Here, that decision gets replaced entirely by trusting the kitchen to build an entire evening instead.
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This Hidden New Hampshire Boardwalk Winds Through One Of The State’s Most Unusual Landscapes
There is a boardwalk in New Hampshire that leads into a landscape most people have never seen up close. It winds through a bog, a rare ecosystem where the ground is spongy and...
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Prohibition Bootleggers Once Ran Moonshine Through This Sleepy West Virginia Mountain Pass
Tucked into the folds of West Virginia's rolling hills sits a shady green hollow that feels a world away from the busy streets nearby. Long ago, resourceful mountain folk used...
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This Striking New Jersey Landmark Makes A Surprisingly Good Travel Detour
A wrong turn would be pretty lucky if it ended here. Behind the unusual architecture sits more than 250 years of history, with...
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A South Carolina Man Turned Throwaway Plants Into a 3-Acre World of Living Sculptures
Spirals, arches, and curling green towers rise out of an ordinary front yard in South Carolina, and the shapes start appearing before the brain can make sense of them. Nothing...
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Alabama Has A Hidden Country Farm With Exotic Zebras and Capybaras Just 30 Minutes From Huntsville
The goat wants your snacks. The zebra wants absolutely nothing to do with you. The capybara looks like it has nowhere else to...
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Oregon Has a Giant Sturgeon That’s Become a Local Celebrity
Fish rarely earn celebrity status, yet one enormous sturgeon here draws crowds specifically to see it, name and reputation included.
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This 166-Acre New Hampshire Park Still Holds Pieces Of A Legendary Animal Farm
Some parks are simply open space, and some carry a story that makes them worth exploring more slowly. This New Hampshire park falls into the second category.
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This New Jersey Mediterranean Restaurant Goes Big On Seafood, Steaks And Greek Favorites
Choosing dinner gets complicated when half the menu starts making a convincing argument. Seafood might sound like the plan....
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Maryland Has a 17,000 Square Foot Market Packed With Vintage Finds, Handmade Goods, and Unexpected Treasures
Some markets are quick stops. You run in, grab what you need, and leave. This Maryland spot is the opposite. At 17,000 square...
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