This New Jersey Farm Has More Than 35 Fall Activities In One Place
Apparently pumpkins alone weren't enough. This farm looked at fall and decided to cram practically the entire season into one day out.
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This Stunning Maryland State Forest Has A Haunted Reputation That Gets Creepier After Dark
Most state forests are known for their trails, their trees, and their quiet. This one has a different reputation. It is stunning...
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One Sandwich From This New Jersey Italian Deli Could Ruin Ordinary Lunches For You
There are sandwiches, and then there are sandwiches that make tomorrow's sad desk lunch feel like a personal insult. This old-school...
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This Missouri Butcher Shop Makes Nearly Everything In-House, From Sausage To Pastrami
You can tell pretty quickly this is not a grab-a-pack-and-go kind of butcher shop. This Missouri spot does much of the work right in-house, from cutting whole animals to making...
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The Wright Brothers’ Only Airplane Preserved as They Built It Is Sitting in Ohio
Ohio aviation history hits differently when the machine in front of you is not a replica or a clever reconstruction. I walked into this place thinking I already understood the...
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This Hidden Minnesota Speakeasy Serves Upscale Italian Cuisine in a Prohibition-Era Underground Lounge
Finding the entrance here takes a little detective work, nothing obvious marking what's actually waiting just below street level.
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This Free West Virginia Arboretum Hides Miles Of Wildflower Trails Most Locals Have Never Walked
Some of the best walks in West Virginia start somewhere you would never think to look, like the edge of a busy college road. I went expecting a quick stroll and a few trees with...
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This Old-Time New Jersey Flea Market Still Feels Like A Country Treasure Hunt
Rusty signs, old furniture, boxes of forgotten odds and ends, and something completely inexplicable sitting three tables away. Now this is treasure hunting.
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Seven West Virginia Historic Places Where The Buildings Look Just Like They Did A Century Ago
Every so often in West Virginia, you round a corner and time seems to hold its breath. The brick storefronts, the tall porches, the quiet streets all still look the way they did...
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A California Ghost Town Has a House Built From More Than 50,000 Glass Bottles That Refused to Disappear
California does abandoned places particularly well, but this desert stop has one survivor that looks almost too playful for a ghost town. Ruined walls and empty foundations stretch...
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This Iconic Alabama Theme Park Just Reopened Its Legendary Wooden Coaster After Years In The Dark
A roller coaster can disappear long enough to become family folklore. “I rode it once.” “You rode it?” “My dad rode it.” Then one day, the trains start moving again....
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11 Oregon Stops That Deserve Their Own Travel Story
Some stops along a route barely register beyond a quick photo. Others clearly deserve more attention than a passing glance ever gives them.
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9 Virginia Pottery Studios Where Beginners Can Try Something Completely New
Getting your hands in clay is one of those experiences that sounds intimidating until you actually try it. Virginia has pottery studios that welcome beginners, places where you...
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This New Virginia Rail Is Transforming A 49-Mile Abandoned Railroad Into A Scenic Path
Old railroad beds have a way of becoming something new. Across Virginia, abandoned lines are being converted into trails, and the latest project is one of the most ambitious yet.
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Meat Lovers Could Spend A While Choosing Their Next Dinner At This New Jersey Butcher Shop
Choosing dinner sounds easy until you are standing in front of a butcher case packed with enough possibilities to derail the whole plan.
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10 Restaurants Across Rural Maryland Locals Say You Need To Try This Fall
Fall is the season for a good drive and a good meal. The leaves are changing, the air is cool, and there is no better time to explore the quieter corners of the state.
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8 Ohio Places Where the Real History Is Creepy Enough Before the Ghost Stories Even Begin
Ohio has plenty of places where the past refuses to stay completely quiet. Old mansions, theaters, hotels, and lonely stretches near the water carry stories that can feel unsettling...
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This Small-Town Oklahoma Bakery Turns Out Fruit And Sausage Kolaches That People Order By The Dozen
Some of the best food in Oklahoma hides behind a lit menu board and a row of numbered parking stalls. I drove past this one for years, figuring it was just another burger stand,...
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Wagon Ruts From Three Legendary Trails Still Cut Through This Missouri Cemetery
You can still see where wagon wheels once pressed into the ground here. This Missouri cemetery preserves old trail ruts tied to the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California routes, and...
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This Oklahoma County Was Once The Rowdiest Corner Of The Frontier And Its Main Street Still Shows It
I stopped in northern Oklahoma for nothing fancier than a cold drink and a chance to stretch my legs, and I ended up staying half a day. The brick street under my boots was uneven...
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Hundreds of Freedom Seekers Passed Through This Ohio Mansion Before It Became One of the State’s Most Talked-About Historic Homes
Ohio has no shortage of old houses with complicated histories, but this one carries stories far heavier than its brick walls suggest. I came expecting a grand nineteenth-century...
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The Huge Minnesota Farmers Market That Has Locals Buzzing Week After Week
Saturday mornings pull the same crowd back here week after week, enthusiasm somehow never fading no matter how many times they've already visited.
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This New Jersey Museum Sits Where Dinosaurs Roamed 66 Million Years Ago
Well, this certainly beats staring at fossils through a glass case and calling it a day. Here, the prehistoric story begins beneath your feet.
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This North Carolina Steakhouse Serves More Than 20,000 Steaks a Month Inside a Giant Red Barn
North Carolina knows how to do dinner with personality, but this place takes the idea of a steakhouse and supersizes nearly everything. I expected a busy dining room and a serious...
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One North Carolina Man Spent Decades Moving More Than 100 Historic Log Buildings Onto His Own Land
North Carolina backroads have introduced me to plenty of old buildings, but usually one farmhouse or weathered cabin is enough to make me stop. Here, the woods seem to swallow...
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10 Virginia Aquariums Where You Can Get Surprisingly Close To Ocean Life
Seeing ocean life up close is not something you get to do every day. But Virginia has aquariums where the distance between you and the animals shrinks in surprising ways.
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10 Historic Virginia Hotels Where The Past Still Feels Remarkably Close
History has a way of fading when you stay at a modern hotel. The rooms are new, the furniture is new, and the past is just a footnote in the brochure.
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South Carolina Took Apart This 1875 Lighthouse and Moved It 1.3 Miles to Keep the Ocean From Reaching It
South Carolina knows how to make history compete with the scenery. One minute you are watching palms move in the coastal breeze, and the next you are staring up at a tower with...
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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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