11 Oregon Places To Try Local Foods You Won’t Find On Every Restaurant Menu
A corn dog cousin called the Pronto Pup was invented in a rainy Oregon beach town in 1939. The reason? Soggy buns were hurting business, so somebody fried the whole thing on a...
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The Pasta Keeps Coming At This Missouri Italian Restaurant Inside A Former Railroad Freight House
Servers carry pans of fresh pasta to your table and keep refilling your plate. That happens inside a brick freight house built in 1887 to handle cargo from trains.
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If You Want The Full Christmas Store Experience, This New Jersey Wonderland Delivers
Every year, a garden center's greenhouses turn into a 40,000-square-foot Christmas store. Yep, the same space that sells hydrangeas...
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A New Hampshire Donut Shop Opened In 1967, And The Founder’s Son Is Still Keeping The Family Recipes Alive
Donut recipes from 1967 are still being used by the founder's son. Now that's the kind of family tradition I love hearing about, especially when it involves fresh pastries rather...
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Gothic Spires and Beautiful Stained Glass Make This Maryland Cathedral Worth the Drive
Sunlight sends blue and pink streaks across the towering stone walls of this Maryland cathedral. The stained-glass windows sit high above rows of wooden pews, and the long center...
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These 9 Oregon Amish-Style Food Stops Are Worth The Drive
Oregon is full of surprises, and some of the best ones are tucked along quiet highways and small-town roads far from the usual tourist trail. I started exploring these Amish and...
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While Shopping Malls Across America Struggle, This New Hampshire Giant Still Has Over 1 Million Square Feet To Explore
Over one million square feet of shopping space under one roof? That's a serious amount of ground to cover, especially when so many American malls have struggled to keep their doors...
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This New Hampshire Working Farm And Museum Has A Blacksmith Shop, Historic Barns, And 50 Acres To Explore
An old-fashioned blacksmith shop, historic barns, and 50 acres of working farmland are all part of the same museum. That's quite a change from the usual glass cases and exhibits...
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Twirling Signature Spaghetti And Meatballs At This Fairmont Italian Kitchen Feels Like Sunday At Grandma’s
The meatballs here carry the word signature, and the kitchen takes that label seriously. They come piled on spaghetti in red sauce, and the portions are known for being generous.
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Forget Basic Gyros, This New Jersey Greek Spot Has A Whole Lot More On The Menu
Charcoal-grilled octopus from a takeout counter with zero dining tables. Yeah, I'm definitely looking twice at that. The gyro...
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Japanese Convenience Store Snacks and a Dog-Inspired Name Set This California Burger Shop Apart
A burger shop with Japanese convenience store snacks on its shelves? That combo got my attention fast. Add a cute dog mascot,...
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This Oregon Cooking School Is Hidden Inside a Converted Cow Barn on a 17-Acre Farm
A former cattle barn now holds a full culinary studio, and the neighbors still moo. Cows, goats, and chickens wander the same farm where people learn to cook.
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This Tiny New Jersey Fish Market Is Packed With Fresh Seafood From Near And Far
The owners of this little fish market head to a major seafood hub in the middle of the night, several times a week. They do it to hand-pick the fish and shellfish themselves.
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This Maryland Restaurant Has a Sunday Brunch Buffet That Locals Look Forward To
Someone will make your omelet exactly how you want it while fresh waffles cook a few steps away. There's even a carving station, which makes this Maryland Sunday buffet feel more...
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This New Jersey Restaurant Occupies A Stone Building That Dates Back Hundreds Of Years
A 2015 fire burned this restaurant down to its stone walls. Less than a year later, it was serving dinner again by New Year's. The...
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This Missouri Antique Market Packs More Than 75 Vendors Into A 16,000-Square-Foot Brick Warehouse
More than 75 vendors share one renovated brick warehouse, and the whole place stretches across 16,000 square feet. That's a lot of treasure under one roof.
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South Carolina’s Legendary Swamp Creature Has Its Own Burger at This Small-Town Restaurant
A burger named after a seven-foot lizard creature sits on a real menu in a small Southern town. It honors a scaly legend that supposedly lurks in a nearby swamp.
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This Minnesota Bakery Spends 36 Hours Making Its Naturally Leavened Bread
Every loaf at this bakery spends 36 hours getting ready before it ever sees the oven door open. That's a day and a half of patience for one crusty piece of bread.
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Green Bank Is The Quietest Town In America Because Cell Phones Are Banned Near Its Giant Telescope
Your cell phone can turn into a pocket-sized brick once you get within ten miles of one spot in West Virginia. That isn't a glitch, and it's actually backed by state law.
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You’d Never Guess The Comfort Food At This New Jersey Kitchen Is Completely Gluten-Free
Every single thing on this menu is gluten-free, including the meatball hero. That sounds like a magic trick, but it's simply how this little kitchen works.
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Here’s How A 1920s Boys’ Prison In Moundsville Became West Virginia’s Spookiest Tour
Inmates built much of this prison by hand, and they gave it turrets and battlements like a medieval castle. Its stone walls rise 24 feet high, and today you can buy a ticket to...
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Thanksgiving Reservations at This Pennsylvania Restaurant Have Sold Out in Just Two Hours
Thanksgiving seats at one Pennsylvania farm restaurant reportedly vanished in about two hours. That's faster than most of us can thaw a turkey.
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This Tiny Oregon Town Has a Food Scene That Rivals Cities Ten Times Its Size
Milk-glass bulbs glow over a cozy dining room, and every table gets its own little lamp. The whole room takes its cue from the 1920s speakeasy era. That's not what most people...
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This 180-Acre Virginia Safari Park Lets You See Massive Bison Roaming Along A 3-Mile Wildlife Drive
Massive bison can wander surprisingly close to your vehicle during a three-mile safari drive. That's certainly different from watching wildlife through a fence, especially when...
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This Virginia Restaurant Has An Indoor Tropical Forest, Cloud-Shaped Lights And A Dining Room That Feels Like Another World
Cloud-shaped lights hanging above an indoor tropical forest? That's a pretty unexpected sight when you're heading out for dinner. Add...
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A New Jersey Family Has Been Serving Seafood Beside The Highlands Bridge For More Than A Century
The main dining room of this seafood spot is built around an old beached houseboat. The family bought it in 1917, and they still run the place today.
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This Maryland Craft Supply Store Makes Browsing for Creative Materials a Budget-Friendly Adventure
Two floors of paints, papers, brushes, and unexpected little gifts await inside this Maryland art store. That's a lot of temptation for anyone who came in needing one pencil.
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After a Retail Chain Collapsed, Ohio Vendors Found a Second Chance in a New Boutique Marketplace
Hundreds of small sellers lost their shop space when a big boutique marketplace chain shut its doors. Many of them did not give up.
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These 6 Ohio drive-ins still flicker under the stars like it’s 1955
I'll admit it: I go to the drive-in mostly for the popcorn and stay for the sky. Ohio still has a handful of old outdoor movie screens that light up every warm night, and some...
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Everything At This Missouri Bakery And Café Is Gluten-Free And Vegan, Including The Cakes
Every single crumb at this bakery is gluten-free and vegan. That includes the cupcakes, the cinnamon rolls, the biscuits and gravy, and even the floral wedding cakes.
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Citizen Potawatomi Nation Shares Its Own Journey Home At This Free Shawnee Cultural Center
Some of the best stops in Oklahoma never announce themselves with billboards or bright signs. I pulled off the highway expecting a quick stretch and a look around, and I walked...
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Thanksgiving Dinner Is a Year-Round Tradition at This Pennsylvania Roadside Restaurant
A full turkey dinner sits on the menu every single day at one roadside restaurant in Pennsylvania. Stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, the works, even in the middle of July, when...
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9 Minnesota State Parks Where Fall Foliage Steals the Show
You can walk across the Mississippi River in Minnesota, right at the spot where it begins. That spot sits inside one of the state parks on this list, surrounded by towering old...
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New Jersey’s Deepest Natural Lake Plunges 110 Feet Below The Surface
Small planes glide in to land right beside a lake that drops 110 feet below its glassy surface. That's a real combo, and I can't imagine a stranger pairing for a quiet paddle.
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Pennsylvania Nuns Are Helping Build a $100 Million Stone Monastery Using Centuries-Old Techniques
A group of cloistered nuns is raising a stone monastery largely by hand, and the price tag reportedly tops $100 million. That's not a typo.
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Two Eggs Cooked Two Different Ways in 1956 Changed This Pennsylvania Restaurant Forever
In 1956, a customer's request for two eggs cooked two different ways helped change the future of a roadside restaurant. What began as a small stop for truckers eventually became...
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This Virginia Restaurant Has a Waitlist Longer Than a Concert Line
Reservations at a tiny restaurant can disappear months before anyone gets a chance to sit down for dinner. That's quite a reputation for a dining room with only a handful of tables...
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An 1873 Virginia Church Now Serves Sunday Brunch Beneath Its Original Stained-Glass Windows
Sunday brunch beneath stained-glass windows in a former church? That's a dining setting you probably won't forget anytime soon. Built...
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Since the 1930s, This California Roadside Bakery Has Been Drawing Customers With Apple Doughnuts
Cinnamon-sugar apple doughnuts are the reason so many drivers tap the brakes on one winding mountain highway in California. The stand selling them has been around since the 1930s.
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This Missouri Park Hides Natural Arches, Caves, And Bluffs Just Beyond The City
A river once changed its mind and left an entire hill stranded. That raised chunk of land stands about 60 feet tall and 200 feet wide, now circled by a floodplain.
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From Just Five Turkeys to 800,000 Birds a Year, This Pennsylvania Family Built a Remarkable Business
A teenager once started a business with five turkeys. That flock grew into a family operation now raising around 800,000 birds a year.
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This Family-Owned Minnesota Restaurant Is a Standout for Authentic Ghanaian and Afro-Caribbean Flavors
Fufu, waakye, and spicy suya skewers are on the menu at a family-owned spot in western Minnesota. That alone made me stop scrolling.
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Inside Oklahoma City’s Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Exhibits Honor Oklahomans Who Made History
I only meant to kill an hour between lunch and the drive home, and I figured a few portraits on a wall would do the trick. Instead, I walked out knowing that an astronaut, a famous...
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Fire Destroyed Their Restaurant, but This South Carolina Family Started Over Beside a Cow Pasture
A cow pasture sits right next door to a seafood menu stacked with fried flounder, scallops, and hush puppies in upstate South Carolina. That alone made me curious.
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This Indiana Wildlife Park Lets Visitors Get Remarkably Close to Wolves Without Visiting a Zoo
Somewhere in the countryside, a group of strangers tilts their heads back at dusk and howls on purpose. Then a pack of real wolves often howls right back.
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Over 1,000 Pieces Of Marble Went Into Wheeling’s Oglebay Mansion Museum
A Pittsburgh businessman put marble mantels in this parlor back in 1856, long before the house was famous. Then a Cleveland industrialist came along and made the whole place even...
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This Indiana Town Has a Giant Concrete Egg That Weighs More Than Most Cars
A 3,000-pound egg has been sitting on a street corner for nearly 80 years, and nobody has tried to crack it. It's made of concrete, it stands about 10 feet tall, and it once needed...
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This Indiana Town Has Swiss Roots, a Towering Clock, and a Culture You Don’t Expect in Farm Country
Twelve animated figures, each taller than most grown-ups, roll out of a clock tower four times a day to tell a town's founding story. The tower stands 160 feet tall.
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Chicken Pot Pie Gets A French Makeover At This Missouri Restaurant Guy Fieri Visited
A restaurant named after pot pie didn't serve a single pot pie when it first opened. That's a bold move, and I love it. Today,...
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An Ohio Man Carved More Than 1,000 Pumpkins, and His Front Yard Hobby Became a Halloween Attraction
More than 1,000 carved pumpkins. One guy. One front yard. That math alone made me stop scrolling and start asking questions.
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This Texas Trail Feels Like a Journey Into Narnia With Giant Sandstone Formations and Hidden Passageways
Natural stone steps rise out of a boulder-filled canyon, leading to a narrow hallway between towering rock walls. They're called the Hiker's Staircase, and they're part of a Texas...
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This Oklahoma Buffet Keeps The Chicken Fried Steak, Homemade Rolls And Cobbler Coming Until You Quit
I almost drove right past it, a plain little building on a quiet Oklahoma main street with nothing fancy out front. Then I walked in, smelled yeast rolls and white gravy, and spotted...
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Just 24 Seats and Four Days a Week Keep This South Carolina Restaurant in High Demand
A beef Wellington for two arrives at the table whole before anyone slices it. That's the moment people talk about at a tiny French spot with only about two dozen seats.
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Old Mining Carts And A 1950s Diner Wait At This West Virginia Roadside Stop
A U-shaped 1950s lunch counter and a foot-long hot dog share one roadside property with steam engines, cabooses, and a few donkeys. That combination had me hooked before I read...
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10 Italian Restaurants In Oregon That Will Make You Forget You’re In The States
One Italian dining room in Oregon is lined with wood pulled from an old barn. Another serves dinners inspired by the chef's native Tuscany, on white tablecloths, no less. I love...
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Seven Old Oklahoma Movie Theaters Have Been Restored And Still Show Films Downtown
Somewhere between the courthouse square and the old bank building, a marquee lights up, and suddenly a quiet Oklahoma downtown feels like Saturday night in another decade. Tickets...
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This Texas Italian Restaurant Serves Family Style Feasts With Enough Food To Fill The Entire Table
At this Texas restaurant, finishing the platter doesn't mean the food stops coming. Parties of four or more can ask for another round of their family-style favorites, including...
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Real Egyptian Mummies Rest On A Small College Campus In Oklahoma
I pulled off the highway in Oklahoma looking for a quick lunch and a stretch of my legs, not a brush with ancient Egypt. A short detour later, I was standing face to face with...
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Planes Lift Off Right Beside The Runway While You Eat Chicken Fried Steak At This Oklahoma Diner
I pulled in expecting a quick plate of eggs and left talking about a little white plane I watched climb into the sky between bites. Some Oklahoma diners win you over with gravy,...
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