My Family Travels | Latest Articles
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One Ohio Diner Has Been Serving Homemade Pies Since 1938, With a Retro Sign That Still Points Hungry Travelers Inside

Peanut butter pie, coconut cream pie, and black raspberry cream pie all share the same humble counter here. That alone might be enough to plan a road trip around.

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A Throwback Fish and Chips Chain Fans Drive From Florida For Still Survives in Ohio

I drove past a plain little fish shop in Ohio three times before my stomach finally made me turn around. Inside, the smell of hot batter and malt vinegar hit me like a memory I...

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The Name Changed, But The Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls Still Steal The Show At This Missouri Bakery

A bakery sign changed, but the cinnamon rolls behind the counter stayed exactly the same. Same spot, same recipe, same soft swirls of dough.

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Mofongo, Pernil And Heaping Plates Make This Oklahoma Puerto Rican Kitchen Worth The Drive

I pulled in expecting a quick lunch from a small window and left planning my next trip back before I even reached my car. The smell of slow-cooked pork drifted across the lot,...

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A Sick Chef Sent an Ohio Woman Into the Kitchen, and Her Sauce Became a Family Legend That Lasted Generations

When a restaurant cook fell ill in the 1920s, the owner's wife stepped into the kitchen and made a sauce that would become a family legend. Decades later, her recipe found its...

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10 Underrated Minnesota Restaurants That Aren’t in Minneapolis or St. Paul

A Cajun spot serving oysters Rockefeller and smoked duck sits in a small college town in central Minnesota. I did not see that coming, and I love it.

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13 New Jersey Towns That Are Worth Visiting Just For The Fall Colors

New Jersey's highest point sits 1,803 feet above sea level, and on a clear fall day the view stretches across three states. That is a lot of orange for one glance.

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Lightning Struck This Historic Ohio Food Hall in the Middle of the Night, and the Boom Shook the Neighborhood

A bolt of lightning picked an old trolley barn as its target in the dark, and the crack rattled the whole block. Neighbors heard it.

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An Ohio Oddities Shop Displays Dragon Skeletons, a Two-Headed Calf and a Mermaid

A dragon skeleton sits inside a small Ohio shop, and nobody seems to think that's strange. Neighbors on the shelves include a two-headed calf and a mermaid, which makes the dragon...

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This 200-Year-Old Virginia Landmark Transforms Into A Spectacular Light Show After Dark Every Halloween

Dancing skeletons, a haunted house, and purple skulls get projected across a building designed by a Founding Father. Yes, really. Every...

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This Virginia Christmas Theme Park Opened Just 15 Years After Disneyland And Still Brings Holiday Magic To Families

More than ten million lights cover one theme park in Virginia every holiday season. That number sounds made up, but it's real, and it puts this place among the largest light displays...

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Friday’s $15 Finds Become $1 Thursday Bargains at This Ohio Store Where Shoppers Dig Through Retail Returns

Every item in the bins costs the same on Friday. By Thursday, whatever is left drops to the lowest price of the week, and then the whole thing starts over.

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The Prices At This Missouri Bin Store Make You Wonder If Someone Forgot A Decimal Point

Prices here drop every single day of the week, and on certain days, they can fall all the way to zero. Yes, zero. I had to read...

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Sneaker Hunters Keep Coming Back to This Pennsylvania Nike Outlet for Discounted Shoes and Apparel

Neat stacks of open-box Nike sneakers, sorted by size, sit waiting for anyone patient enough to dig through them. That alone makes me want to clear my afternoon.

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The Minnesota Bakery Treat That Could Become The Best Part Of Your Morning

The croissants at this bakery are made with sourdough, and some are described as twice the size of an average croissant. That's a lot of buttery layers before most people finish...

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Over 12 Animals Wait For Hand-Fed Snacks At These 12 Oklahoma Spots

I only stopped to stretch my legs, but a goat with a cracker habit had other plans for my afternoon. That is the funny thing about Oklahoma: some of the best memories hide behind...

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She Started Making Ice Cream With Fruit From Her Backyard, and Her Ohio Business Grew Into a National Chain

Back in 1945, a woman named Alice Handel picked fruit from her own backyard and turned it into ice cream. She sold it from a little stand beside her husband's gas station.

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This Secluded Indiana Wetland Trail Hides Quirky Artistic Sculptures Right Along the Water

A pack of friendly dogs made entirely of junk guards a quiet marsh trail. Nearby, robots and rockets share the woods with bicycle-part art.

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This Beloved West Virginia Drive-In Has Lit Up Summers For Decades And Now Shows Movies In Theater-Quality Picture

A small valley drive-in once faced closing, and a local community board reportedly stepped in to save it. Then it got a digital projector sharp enough to rival an indoor theater.

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Indiana Is Home to One of the Midwest’s Largest Megachurches, and It’s Spreading Fast

A church sits on land that used to be a junkyard. Now it holds what's called the largest indoor playscape east of the Mississippi River.

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How Overtourism Is Threatening Indiana’s Most Beautiful Sandstone Canyon

Native Americans may have sheltered under one curved sandstone overhang here about 10,000 years ago. Today, that same rock still stands at the head of a box canyon in southern...

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This Missouri Sandwich Shop Stuffs Pulled Pork, Gouda, And Mac And Cheese Into One Grilled Cheese

Mac and cheese, sweet BBQ pulled pork, and Gouda all share one grilled cheese sandwich here. Yes, all three. On sourdough, no...

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Monkey Paws, an Alligator Man and a House Full of Oddities Await Inside This Pennsylvania Shop

A monkey paw sits on display in a small Pennsylvania shop, and nobody seems eager to make a wish on it. Then you learn there's an alligator man in the collection too, which changes...

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This Spooky Texas Restaurant Plays Old VHS Movies And Serves Vietnamese Pho That Takes 15 Hours To Make

Fifteen hours go into the pho at this Texas restaurant, while old horror movies flicker on a television fed by VHS tapes. That's a strange pairing, especially in a room filled...

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This Oklahoma Military Museum Lets Kids Take The Controls Of A Flight Simulator Instead Of Just Looking

I almost drove right past it, a plain little building on an ordinary Oklahoma street that did not look like it held anything special. Then I stepped inside and found a retired...

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Two Ohio Brothers Spent Three Years Trying to Open a Coffee Trailer, Then Turned a House Into a Business for Their Mom

Two brothers spent three years trying to open a coffee trailer, and the trailer never rolled anywhere. So they turned a house into a coffee shop instead and named the whole thing...

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Folks Drive Out To This West Virginia Farm Store For Grass-Fed Beef Raised Right Out Back

The grass-fed beef at this farm comes from cattle grazing on the same land where you pick it up. No long truck ride. No mystery...

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10 Oregon Restaurants For People Who Prefer A Memorable Meal Over A Fancy Dining Room

One of my favorite fish and chips counters in Oregon is a boat. It sits parked on a city street, and it serves its food through a little walk-up window.

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This Ohio Soul Food Spot Serves Fried Chicken With A Side Of Serious Comfort

I almost drove right past it, which would have been the biggest mistake of my eating life. This little Ohio soul food kitchen looks like nothing special from the curb, just a modest...

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This Oklahoma Renaissance Festival Fills Vinita With Viking Campfires, Costumed Pirates And Merchants

Some of the best weekends in Oklahoma start with a quick detour you almost skipped. You pull off a highway expecting a small-town fair, and suddenly a king is waving, a falcon...

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This Ordinary-Looking West Virginia Covered Bridge Has Carried Travelers Across The Greenbrier Valley Since 1870

Cars still rumble through a wooden covered bridge in West Virginia that dates to the horse-and-buggy days. No velvet rope, no ticket booth, no gift shop, just old timbers doing...

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A Texas Bookstore Closed After Its Famous Owner Passed Away, Then Reopened With Hundreds of Thousands of Books He Personally Collected

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist got married inside this bookstore, surrounded by books he spent decades collecting. He even directed that his ashes be kept there.

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This Ohio Country Store Is Packed With Bulk Foods, Fresh Produce, And Bargain Deli Meats

I went out for a quiet country drive and came home with a trunk full of flour, cheese, and one very sticky cinnamon roll wrapper. Ohio has plenty of Amish bulk food stores, but...

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Oklahoma’s Pop Culture History Fills The OKPOP Museum In Tulsa’s Arts District

Some of the best stories in Oklahoma are hiding in plain sight, tucked into the songs, shows, and comic books we grew up loving without ever knowing they had roots right here....

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This Oklahoma Highway Pie Shop Fills Its Shelves With Fried Pies, Cheeses And Locally Canned Goods

I only pulled off the interstate to stretch my legs, and I left holding a warm paper sack and a jar of pickled beets. Somewhere in northern Oklahoma, a plain little roadside building...

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8 Oklahoma Stops Between Tulsa And Bartlesville Worth Pulling Off The Highway For

Most of us treat the drive north out of Tulsa like a hallway, something to get through on the way to somewhere else. But this short stretch of Oklahoma highway hides farm stands,...

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8 Texas Food Spots Where One Family Recipe Became the Reason People Drive for Hours

One barbecue joint in this lineup opens for just a few hours on Saturday mornings, starting at 8 AM. Brisket for breakfast, if you can beat the line.

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This Oklahoma Western Store Has Enough Boots And Saddles To Make Your Barn Budget Nervous

I only stopped because I needed one pair of work boots, and I figured I would be in and out in ten minutes. An hour later I was still wandering past rows of leather, bright stitching,...

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This Texas Shop Is A Nostalgia Lover’s Dream With Antiques, Collectibles, And Forgotten Finds

An antique shop that serves 13 flavors of homemade cheesecake once a month? That's not a typo. On First Fridays, shoppers at...

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Workers Sealed Radioactive Waste Beneath This Missouri Mound, Then Built Stairs So Visitors Could Climb To The Top

About 1.5 million cubic yards of radioactive and chemical waste sit sealed inside a giant rock-covered mound. And yes, there's a staircase to the top.

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This Massive New Jersey Fabric Warehouse Is A Bargain Hunter’s Dream, With Endless Fabrics To Explore

A family stitched three of its kids' names together to name a fabric store. Michael, Victor, and Alice each lent a few letters, and the result hangs over a shop packed with bolts.

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This New Jersey Cafe Looks Innocent Until You Discover The Private Karaoke Rooms In The Back

Behind the bubble tea counter and the strawberry croffles sit private karaoke rooms with LED tambourines and dynamic lighting. Yes, tambourines that light up.

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This No-Vaccine, 100% Grass-Finished Indiana Farm Is Becoming a Secret Road Trip Mecca for Clean Meat

No vaccines, no antibiotics, no hormones, and not a single bag of synthetic fertilizer on the pasture. That's the promise behind one small farm in northeast Indiana.

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We Found the Perfect Little Indiana Café For Cider and Pumpkin Treats

A former dish girl now owns the cafe where she once scrubbed plates, and she still sells scratch-made pumpkin pie. That alone had me completely sold.

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10 Blue-Collar Missouri Restaurants That Serve Huge Portions For Cheap

At one Missouri cafe, the hot rolls never arrive politely on a plate. Servers toss them across the dining room, and you're expected to catch your own.

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This Texas Restaurant Is Serving Georgian Cheese Bread and Dumplings That Most Locals Have Never Even Heard Of

A boat-shaped loaf arrives filled with melted cheese, butter, and a golden egg yolk. That's dinner, not a bakery experiment, at a Texas restaurant serving food from the country...

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An Oregon Restaurant Has Kept Its Old-School Supper Club Feel for Decades

Red booths, a horseshoe bar, and walls full of old photos have been waiting along an old highway since 1940. That alone makes me want to slide into a booth tonight.

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You Can Fill A Grocery Sack With Craft Supplies For $25 At This Missouri Thrift Store

A full paper grocery sack of craft supplies, stuffed with whatever fits, for one flat price. I keep asking myself how that deal even works.

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Alexander Hamilton Helped Create America’s First Planned Industrial City Around This New Jersey Waterfall

A 77-foot waterfall roars through the middle of a city, and a Founding Father once looked at it and saw factories. Yep, that really happened.

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A New Hampshire Family Took Over A 1740 House, And Its Historic Dining Rooms Became A Local Institution

A 36-inch chocolate fountain flows every Sunday inside a house that dates back to around 1740. That alone made me sit up straight. Brunch...

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We Ranked 10 Maryland Apple Cider Donut Spots From Good to Worth Every Mile of the Drive

A cider press that once ran on a Model T engine now helps supply the apple cider for fresh donuts. That's a lot of history packed into a cinnamon-dusted snack, especially when...

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This Oregon Rock Formation Looks Like A Ghost Ship Floating On Blue Water

A rocky island the height of a 16-story building sits in the bluest lake you've ever seen. From the rim, it looks exactly like a sailing ship drifting in place.

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This New Hampshire Woman Turned An Old Chicken Coop Into A Christmas Doll Empire

A chicken coop once served as the design room for some of the most beloved Christmas dolls in America. The chickens moved out, and felt elves, mice, and snowmen moved in.

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A New Hampshire Family Opened A Drive-In In 1960, Then Turned It Into A Restaurant That Lasted Generations

A seafood restaurant and a pizza pub share one roof here, and the same family has run both since 1960. That alone made me stop scrolling.

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This 70-Year-Old New Jersey Drive-In Reopened After Two Years Closed, Then Hit The Market For $100,000

A drive-in that sat closed for about two years finally reopened, then popped up on Facebook Marketplace just months later. Yep, an actual roadside stand, listed like a used couch.

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After a Pennsylvania Town Lost Its Only Grocery Store, One Family Brought It Back and Created 60 Jobs

A grocery store with sushi, a coffee shop, and a Korean restaurant at the same address sounds like a big-city thing. This one sits in a small, friendly Pennsylvania borough that...

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This Remote Oregon River Canyon Feels Worlds Away From The Rest Of The State

Two wild rivers meet at the bottom of a canyon so quiet your phone basically gives up. The campground sits at the end of a slow, rough gravel road, and that's part of the charm.

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This New Hampshire Haunted Attraction Is Bringing Zombies, Twisted Clowns And Pure Darkness To Halloween

Five haunted houses are packed under one roof, inside a 65,000-square-foot building. That's not a typo. It's one of the biggest...

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A Motorcycle Signed By Tim Tebow Is Sitting Inside This New Jersey Antique Village

A Florida Gators motorcycle signed by Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer is parked inside a New Jersey antique shop. It's a custom Softail built by Purple Chopper LLC.

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This Maryland Antique Store Packs 10,000 Square Feet With Forgotten Treasures and Collectibles From Another Era

Baseball cards and NASCAR memorabilia share a roof with antique crocks, vintage records, and furniture from another era. And that's only a fraction of what's packed into this Maryland...

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