Grandma’s Mason Jars Line The Shelves At These 8 West Virginia Amish And Mennonite Stores
Apple butter with extra cinnamon is sitting in a jar somewhere in West Virginia right now, and I can't stop thinking about it. One small bakery near the Virginia line even sells...
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This New Jersey Vintage Store Feels Like Someone Emptied The Best Closet From 1997
An entire online shopping category dedicated to blink-182. That's how seriously this New Jersey vintage store takes its nostalgic band tees, and I'm already sold.
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This Growing West Virginia Rail Trail Turns An Old Railroad Into Miles Of Scenic Riverside Path
A pair of runners once headed south on this trail and kept going for 50 miles. They only stopped because a wide creek had no bridge, and the water was too cold to swim.
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An Ohio General Store Once Had Permission to Sell Dynamite, and It’s Still Open 186 Years Later
A tiny country store once held permission to sell dynamite, right alongside everyday groceries. I would love to know who needed blasting supplies with their flour back then.
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This Oregon Restaurant Makes Peruvian Food The Reason To Skip Your Usual Dinner Spot
A Peruvian family's restaurant dream started decades ago in a small town in the Sacred Valley. It now lives inside a renovated house in north Portland, and I can't imagine a better...
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Vandals Shattered A Historic Virginia Statue, But Local Volunteers And Sculptors Brought It Back More Than A Decade Later
A stone Pan, the goat-legged Greek god of the wild, got knocked off his spot by vandals in December 2002. He stayed in pieces for more than ten long years.
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Wealthy Buyers Are Replacing Old Family Cabins With Million-Dollar Homes Along This Virginia Lake, And Its Shoreline Is Changing Fast
Five hundred miles of shoreline sounds like plenty to go around. Yet the old cabins along this lake keep giving way to sleek custom homes with serious price tags.
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A New Jersey Bagel Shop Is Turning Rainbow Bagels Into A Blink-And-You-Miss-Them Favorite
Rainbow bagels are the kind of treat that can vanish before you finish your first sip of coffee. Okay, that alone would make me set an early alarm.
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A Maryland Roadside Hangout Gave Up Its Old Identity and Became a Family Cafe With Homemade Cheesecakes
A former biker bar that once hosted rally crowds now sells homemade cheesecake and soft-serve ice cream. Its manager wanted a place where her children could feel welcome, so the...
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An Ohio Woman Turned Her Love of Childhood Candy Into a Store Packed With Retro Sweets and Toys
A real car from the Wildcat roller coaster at the old Idora Park now sits inside a candy store. I can't imagine a better mascot for a shop built on childhood thrills.
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War Of 1812 Soldiers Built This Ohio Fort, And Today You Can Walk Its Rebuilt Blockhouses
I'll admit it, I expected a quick look at some old logs and then a snack stop on the way home. Instead, I found myself wandering an enormous timber fort in northwest Ohio for hours,...
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A Doctor Bought A Missouri Spring For $800, Then Built A Hospital Over A Cave Hoping Its Air Would Help Patients
A doctor once built a hospital right on top of a cave mouth. He hoped the cool cave air would help people breathe easier. I wasn't...
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This Oklahoma Yarn Shop Turns A Quick Skein Run Into A Whole Afternoon For Knitters
I only needed one skein of sock yarn, the kind of errand that should take ten minutes in and out. Somewhere in Oklahoma, though, a small shop had other plans for my afternoon,...
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This Pennsylvania Restaurant Makes Calzones So Huge They Take 45 Minutes to Bake and Won’t Fit on a Single Plate
A calzone that takes about 45 minutes to bake should come with a warning label. This one reportedly stretches about as wide as the table it lands on.
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A Minnesota Restaurant Made A National List With One Chicken Sandwich
A spicy chicken sandwich helped a small Vietnamese restaurant land on the New York Times list of America's top 50 restaurants. That's a big deal for a dish you can hold in two...
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New Jersey Just Launched Official Film Trails That Let You Visit Real Horror-Movie Locations Across The State
The diner counter where a soaked camp owner grabbed coffee in the original Friday the 13th still serves breakfast today. I love that you can order home fries in the exact spot...
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From Door-to-Door Potholder Sales to a $25,000 Prize, This 82-Year-Old Ohio Shopkeeper Has Quite a Story
An 82-year-old shopkeeper in Ohio once sold potholders door to door, and later she walked away with a $25,000 prize. That's quite a resume for someone who now runs a cheerful little...
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An Ohio Toy Store Expanded to 20,000 Square Feet of Childhood Nostalgia
Floor-to-ceiling shelves of Star Wars figures, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Ninja Turtles fill one giant room. The store carries...
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This Virginia Family-Owned Discount Warehouse Buys Truckloads Of Store Returns, And Shoppers Never Know What Bargains They’ll Find
The price tag here shrinks every single day of the week. Wait until Thursday, and whatever is left in the bins costs a fraction of what it did on Saturday.
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This Virginia Farm Turns More Than 20 Acres Into A Halloween Nightmare With Haunted Cornfields And Dark Forest Trails
A family farm famous for slides and cider donuts by day flips the switch after dark. Suddenly, more than 20 acres turn into chainsaws, spiders, and haunted cornfields.
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After 25 Years, This Ohio Vintage Shop Moved Into a Bigger Space Packed With Nostalgia
A full 1960s kitchen sits inside this shop, staged so well you half expect a casserole to come out of the oven. That alone made me want to know more.
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You Can Try A Little Of Everything At This Missouri Indian Restaurant’s Six-Day Lunch Buffet
Goat curry, chicken tikka masala, and pakoras made with paneer could all fit into one lunch break. That alone makes my stomach pay attention.
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Seven Pounds of Burger in 30 Minutes Is the Challenge at This Ohio Restaurant
Seven pounds of burger. Thirty minutes on the clock. That is the dare waiting at one smoky steak and barbecue spot in northeast...
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Minnesota Has A Museum That Preserves The Story Of A Real-Life Dorothy
A carriage from The Wizard of Oz sits in a small Minnesota museum, and it once belonged to Abraham Lincoln. That alone made me stop and read twice.
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Why Thanksgiving Pie Orders Start Now At These 5 Small-Town Oklahoma Bakeries
The best pie I ever ate came from a plain little counter I almost drove right past on a gray Oklahoma afternoon. No fancy sign, no big crowd, just a glass case and a smell that...
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This Pennsylvania Grocery Outlet Started on an Amish Farm in 1986, and Shoppers Still Hunt for Groceries at Deep Discounts
A grocery store that proudly puts dents and bumps in its slogan? It exists, and shoppers fill whole carts there without flinching. The...
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This Easy 1-Mile Indiana Trail Hidden In An Ancient Forest Leads To A Secret Waterfall Ravine
Nine cents. Local lore says a worker once dropped a full day's wages, just nine pennies, into a creek. That creek now gives its...
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Nobody Expects A 600-Foot Gorge Lookout From A Picnic Table, Yet Grandview Delivers One
A picnic table here sits just a few minutes' walk from a lookout perched 1,400 feet above a winding river. That's not a typo, and it's not a hike that requires boots and a granola-bar...
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This Historic Indiana Grist Mill Has Peaceful Family Trails You Need to Walk at Least Once
A water-powered mill in northern Indiana still grinds corn, wheat, rye, and buckwheat on stones. It has been doing this job since the 1830s.
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This Indiana Consignment Shop Hides Chanel, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton Among Its Secondhand Finds
Chanel, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton bags sit on the shelves of a secondhand shop in a suburban strip of Indiana. They aren't knockoffs, either.
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This Missouri Indoor Waterpark Has A Lazy River For The Ultimate Slow-Motion Escape
A 600-gallon bucket sits on top of a three-story treehouse, waiting to dump water on everyone below. Somewhere nearby, a lazy river keeps drifting along like nothing dramatic is...
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Only 39 People Had Finished This Five-Pound Pancake at an Ohio Diner, According to Its Staff
A single pancake here weighs about five pounds, and it arrives on a platter instead of a plate. According to the staff, only 39 people had managed to finish one at one point.
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This Texas Museum Lets You Explore 45,000 Square Feet of Military History Without Paying Admission
An actual fighter jet is on display here, alongside tanks, helicopters, and rows of historic military vehicles. And admission costs absolutely nothing.
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Oklahoma Has A Whole Pioneer Village Of Log Cabins You Walk Through Like A Town Stopped In Time
Some road trip stops look like nothing from the parking lot, and then they swallow your whole afternoon. I pulled in expecting a quick look at a few old cabins and walked out hours...
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She Retired, Helped Raise Her Grandchildren, Then Opened the Tiny Ohio Restaurant She Always Wanted
Every hot dog on this little menu is named after one of the owner's granddaughters. That's five grand girls, each with her own dog.
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A Two-Hour Ride Behind A Coal-Fired Shay Steam Engine Climbs A Mountain In West Virginia
A steam locomotive built to haul logs still drags open-air passenger cars up a mountainside in West Virginia, burning coal the whole way. The engine is a Shay, a geared climber...
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Oregon Has A Museum Where 20,000 Square Feet Of Neon Signs Tell America’s Story
A glowing Howard Johnson's Simple Simon sign lives inside a 1910 Elks lodge. Nearby, an animated Dog n' Suds sign shares space with vintage gas station giants.
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An Ohio Restaurant Turned an Old Bank Vault Into Seating, and You Can Still Eat Inside It
I walked in hungry for a burger and walked out talking about a giant steel door. This small Ohio restaurant sits inside a historic old bank, and the original vault is now a dining...
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Hot Tamales Keep Oklahomans Coming Back To These 7 Family Kitchens
The first time I unwrapped a corn husk in a little strip-mall kitchen in Oklahoma, I expected a quick snack and got a whole new obsession. Steam rolled out, the masa was soft and...
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This West Virginia River Ferry Has Carried Travelers Across The Ohio Since Before The Civil War
The paperwork for this river crossing was signed in 1817, back when West Virginia was still part of Virginia. More than two centuries later, the job hasn't changed much: get people...
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A Texas Family Turned an Old Airport Terminal Into a Restaurant Where Dinner Comes With a Runway View
White runway markings stretch across the dining room floor, while real planes taxi past the windows. No boarding pass required. This...
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A Tiny Hole-In-The-Wall Ohio Bakery Is One Of Columbus’s Most Beloved Italian Staples
I once drove past a plain little bakery three times before I finally stopped, and I have been apologizing to my waistline ever since. Ohio has plenty of sweet shops, but very few...
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7 Oklahoma Stops Between OKC And Tulsa That Make The Turner Turnpike Worth Exiting
Most of us have driven the Turner Turnpike so many times that the exits blur together like fence posts. Then one day you get hungry, take an exit on a whim, and find a smoky shack...
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An Old Downtown Hotel In Guthrie Holds Territorial Oklahoma’s Forgotten Capitol Story
I pulled off the highway expecting a quick stretch break and maybe a snack, and instead found a red brick doorway that swallowed up my whole afternoon. Most Oklahomans can name...
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Real Indian Tacos On Fry Bread Are Worth The Drive To These 6 Oklahoma Kitchens
Some of the best meals in Oklahoma come from places you might drive right past without a second look. A plain little building, a paper plate, and then a golden circle of fry bread...
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This Texas Restaurant Uses Indigenous Family Traditions to Tell a Story That Goes Far Beyond the Food
The smoker outside this Texas restaurant used to be the propane tank at the owner's grandparents' house. It ran their home for decades.
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A Family-Run Horse Boarding Ranch Near Broken Arrow Where Rescue Comes First
Some of the best places in Oklahoma don't come with a gift shop or a giant sign by the highway. I went looking for animals and found a quiet ranch where horses graze, hay bales...
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We Ranked 10 Texas Apple Cider Donut Spots From Good to Absolutely Worth The Trip
One farm bakery on this list opens just three mornings a week, and only for four hours at a time. Miss the window, and you wait days.
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This Classic Missouri Steakhouse Has Been Keeping The Steak-Night Tradition Alive Since 1961
A filet mignon wearing a pile of onion rings sounds like it dressed up for dinner. Here, it goes by Steak by George, a name with enough personality to make me reconsider my usual...
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More Than 300,000 Cheese Rolls Come Out Of This New Jersey Diner Every Year
Over 300,000 cheese rolls leave one diner bakery every single year. That's the detail I can't get over. It works out to hundreds...
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This Massive New Jersey Halloween Store Took Over A Former Sears For Spooky Season
Part of a former Sears department store now comes alive with Halloween masks, spooky props, and life-size animatronics. Household appliances have given way to costumes and creepy...
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Two Movies For $12 Is Still An Absolute Reality At This 1950s Indiana Drive-In Theater
Twelve bucks gets an adult two movies on a giant outdoor screen here. Kids five and under get in free, which feels almost suspicious in today's world.
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This Tiny Indiana Bread Shop Grew Into One of the State’s Most Beloved Italian Bakeries
The cannoli here get filled by the hour, with fresh ricotta mixed right in the building. That's not a slogan. That's a schedule...
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This Missouri Vintage Store Opens Just One Weekend A Month And Makes You Plan Your Shopping Around It
Most stores would be thrilled to see shoppers lining up at 8 AM, but this one makes them earn it. The doors open just two days a month, so missing a shopping weekend means giving...
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This Texas Art Supply Warehouse Is Filled With Things Other People Threw Away Including Some Seriously Strange Finds
Yarn is sold by the pound at this Texas warehouse, alongside bins of buttons, old photographs, and assorted oddities that seem to have escaped somebody's attic. Past finds have...
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Oregon Food Stops That Give You A Reason To Explore Beyond Portland
One bag of cheese curds can send you on a road trip, because it’s sold at exactly one building and nowhere else. That’s how my Oregon snack hunt started.
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This Missouri Breakfast Buffet Lets You Keep Going Back For Bacon, Sausage, And Biscuits And Gravy
Bacon usually gets plenty of attention at breakfast, but burnt bacon ends deserve a plate of their own. Here, those crispy, smoky little bites have a spot on the weekend buffet,...
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This New Jersey Vintage Shop Still Lets You Trade Your Old Toys And Collectibles For Store Credit
Half the retail value in store credit. That's what one little shop offers for good, in-demand vintage toys, records, and games. Honestly,...
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A Fire Nearly Destroyed This 1952 New Hampshire Diner, But Its Owners Saved The Original Dining Car
A sour cream donut gets split, grilled on a flat top until crusty, then buried in whipped cream and local maple syrup. That's breakfast here.
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