Maryland Has a Small Town Bakery That Makes a Historic Main Street Even More Tempting
Some main streets have history. Others have charm. This Maryland town has both, and the bakery on its main street makes the whole...
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This Tiny Missouri Cafe Has Been Serving Homestyle Meals Since 1942 And Still Makes 30 Kinds Of Pie
Long before trendy brunch spots and giant dessert menus, this little Missouri cafe was already feeding people well. It has been around since 1942, serving homestyle meals, hearty...
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When Cold Weather Hits, Oklahoma Families Head For Pie At These 7 Diners
The first real cold snap in Oklahoma does something funny to a family car. Somebody mentions pie, and suddenly a plain Saturday turns into a road trip toward a diner with a gravel...
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This Fourth-Generation Missouri Bakery Makes Nearly 60 Kinds Of Donuts Every Day
Before trendy donut shops started piling cereal and candy onto everything, this Missouri bakery was already making people happy with the classics.
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This European-Style Christmas Market Has Been Bringing Holiday Magic To Texas For Years
Christmas markets are a European tradition that many Americans only experience through photos and travel blogs, but this Texas event has been bringing that same magic stateside...
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11 Missouri Meat Markets Where Buying In Bulk Still Beats The Supermarket
Buying meat used to mean talking to a butcher, choosing the cuts you wanted, and taking home enough to last awhile. Plenty of Missouri meat markets still work that way.
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Vietnamese Pho, Banh Mi And Egg Rolls Draw Tulsa Families To These 5 Spots
The first time I followed the smell of star anise into a plain little strip-mall door, I expected a quick lunch and nothing more. Instead, I found a steaming bowl of broth so rich...
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Garlic Takes Over This New Jersey Town For One Wildly Flavorful Fall Festival
There are subtle fall festivals. This is not one of them. For one day, garlic takes over downtown with food, vendors, local...
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Big Subs And Old-School Charm Keep This New Jersey Sandwich Shop Going Strong
There is something reassuring about a sandwich shop that does not feel the need to reinvent lunch. No foam. No tweezers.
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The Fresh Donuts At This Tiny Indiana Bakery Are The Most Unforgettable Thing You’ll Ever Taste
The donut has a short life expectancy. Very short. It comes out warm. Someone buys it.
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This Indiana Museum Tells The Unforgettable Story Of The Miami, Potawatomi, And Native American Past
The cowboy is not actually the beginning of the story. He just makes a dramatic entrance. This Indiana museum may have bronze...
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This Missouri Italian Market Has Been Cutting Meat The Old-Fashioned Way Since 1929
Before shrink-wrapped steaks and grab-and-go meat cases took over, this was simply how grocery shopping worked. At this Missouri market, the butcher counter still feels pleasantly...
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8 Family-Friendly Texas Hikes Where The Trails Are Short And The Payoffs Are Big
Hiking with kids does not have to mean meltdowns, tired legs, and promises of ice cream just to get everyone back to the car, because these eight Texas trails were practically...
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This Oregon Town Has A Historic Past You’d Never Guess From Its Quiet Main Street
Quiet storefronts, sleepy sidewalks, absolutely nothing suggesting this town once played a bigger role than its current pace lets on.
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This Missouri Drive-In Theater Still Lets You Watch Movies From Your Car Along Historic Route 66
Watching a movie from the front seat still feels more fun than it probably should. This Missouri drive-in keeps that old-school experience alive with a huge outdoor screen, car-side...
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This New Jersey Hobby Store Has Enough Games And Collectibles To Test Your Self-Control
Going into a hobby store with a strict budget is an admirable idea. Keeping that budget intact? Well, good luck with that....
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This Little New Hampshire Cheesecake Company Turns Over 40 Flavors Into A Sweet Treasure Hunt
Some dessert shops offer a handful of options and call it a menu. This New Hampshire cheesecake company takes a different approach, with over forty flavors rotating through the...
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This Maryland Buffet Lets You Load Your Plate With Seafood and Plenty of Other Favorites
Buffets are about options. The more there are, the better the experience. This Maryland spot delivers on that front, with a spread...
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This European-Style Christmas Market Has Been Bringing Holiday Magic To Oregon For Over a Decade
Warm cider steam, wreaths on every post, and a whole row of wooden stalls that looks lifted straight from a snow globe. Handmade...
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Motorcycle Riders Love This New Hampshire Beachfront Hangout With Live Music And Waterfront Views
Some places are built for a quick stop, and some are built for spending the whole afternoon. This New Hampshire beachfront hangout falls into the second category.
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This New Jersey Pasta Shop Has Been Making Fresh Pasta By Hand Since 1971
There's a reason fresh pasta can turn a perfectly ordinary Tuesday into something worth celebrating. The texture, the sauce...
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The Government Built Giant Satellite Dishes in North Carolina to Track Spacecraft, Then Walked Away
Giant white dishes rising out of a North Carolina forest look like something from a science fiction movie. They sit quietly among the mountain laurel, far from any city, and pulling...
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A Mystical Stone Castle Hidden Deep Inside An Alabama Suburb Looks Exactly Like A Fairy Tale
Real estate listings usually mention bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage. A dragon and a moat would certainly make the description more interesting.
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Bring Comfortable Shoes Because This Enormous Oregon Swap Meet Eats Up An Entire Saturday
Sneakers laced, coffee in hand, and a plan to “just take a quick look.” That plan never survives the first aisle. Row after...
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This New Hampshire Castle Ruin Was Once The Site Of Lavish Parties Hosted By A Famous Costume Designer
Some ruins tell a story just by standing there, and this New Hampshire site tells one that sounds almost too dramatic to be true. Stone arches rise from the forest floor, a staircase...
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This 1741 New Jersey Furnace Helped Turn A Small Town Into An Industrial Powerhouse
Before factories became enormous buildings filled with machinery, industrial progress sometimes started with a furnace, raw materials, and an astonishing amount of hard labor....
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A Beautiful Maryland Park With a Waterfront Promenade Makes for an Easy Weekend Escape
Weekend escapes do not have to be complicated. Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery and a place to walk without a plan. This...
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This Little New Jersey Roadside Diner Still Serves Breakfast In A Vintage Dining Car
Breakfast tastes a little different when the building looks like it belongs in an old roadside photograph. The shiny exterior,...
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This Missouri BBQ Joint Cooks Its Meats Hot And Fast Inside 55-Gallon Drums
Low and slow is not the only way to make good barbecue. This Missouri joint takes the opposite approach, cooking meat hot and fast inside 55-gallon drums over live fire.
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This Pennsylvania Butcher Shop Has Been Cutting and Curing Meat the Old-Fashioned Way Since 1919
Smoke drifting out of a small shop along a winding rural highway is the kind of welcome that makes you pull over without thinking. Since 1919, the place has done things the slow,...
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11 Minnesota Places That Make You Wonder Who Came Up With This Idea
Somewhere, a person raised a hand in a meeting and said, “What if we built it anyway?” Everyone said yes, and here we are. Minnesota...
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This Quirky New Jersey Cafe Feels Like Someone Let An Artist Design Dinner
Who decided restaurants had to look serious to serve a good meal? Certainly not the creative minds behind this wonderfully eccentric dining spot.
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47 Rooms, 190,000 LED Lights, and Secret Passages Make This Ohio Museum Feel Like Another Universe
Quiet, slightly tired plazas on the east side of an Ohio city can hide something unexpected. Walking through one unassuming door leads to a glowing alien forest, and within seconds...
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Dig Into A Farm-To-Table Feast Before Hunting Real Spirits Inside This Haunted Alabama Home
The plan sounds straightforward: enjoy a seasonal dinner, admire a historic mansion, and investigate whether the ghost stories have any substance. The final part may be harder...
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An Oregon Lodge With Big Steakhouse Energy Is Calling Your Name
Flames in the fireplace, steaks on the grill, and a mountain backdrop that makes every table feel like the best seat in the house.
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This Massive Virginia Bowling Alley Has 32 Glowing Lanes And A Retro-Inspired Interior
Thirty-two lanes is a lot of bowling. But this Virginia alley is not just about the number. The interior leans into a retro aesthetic,...
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This Small Virginia Mountain Town Has Four Waterfalls Hidden Inside A 140-Acre Nature Park
Four waterfalls in one park is not something you see every day. This small Virginia mountain town has exactly that, tucked inside a 140-acre nature park that most people have never...
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This New Jersey Chinese Restaurant Takes Soup Dumplings To Another Level
Soup dumplings come with an important warning: patience is delicious, but impatience can be painful. Those delicate little...
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Maryland Locals Say the Chicken Parmesan at This Italian Restaurant Never Disappoints
Chicken parm is a dish that can go wrong in a lot of ways. Dry chicken, soggy breading, sauce that tastes like it came from a jar.
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Over 7,000 Toys Fill a Spaceship-Shaped Pennsylvania Store Where Playing Is Actually Encouraged
Giant silver spaceships parked beside country highways are not something you see every day, but one in Pennsylvania has been drawing curious drivers off the road for years. The...
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This Small Ohio Airport Is A Haven For Cheap Breeze Flights And Quick Security
I used to think the best part of any vacation started after the airport, never inside it. Then I flew out of a modest little terminal in Ohio and walked from my parked car to my...
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This Little Missouri Mill Sits Beside The Spring That Once Helped Power An Entire Town
The water beside this little mill once did much more than make the setting pretty. In Missouri, the spring first helped power a grist mill, then later supplied electricity to the...
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Always-Fresh Pan Dulce And Oaxacan Specialties Keep Regulars Coming Back To This Oklahoma Mexican Bakery
I only stopped because I needed coffee and something sweet, and the plain little storefront did not promise much. Then the door swung open and the smell of warm sugar and butter...
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A Giant Two-Headed T-Rex and a Bumblebee Made of Car Parts Stand in This Pennsylvania Sculpture Garden
Two-headed dinosaurs with spark plug teeth sit on a front lawn in Pennsylvania. Just down the road, a giant bumblebee wears the face of an old car, and a rocket points straight...
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This Minnesota Museum Lets You Play An Instrument Without Ever Touching It
Wave a hand in the air, and music answers back. No strings, no keys, no lessons required. The secret is an instrument that responds to movement alone. Step up, stretch your fingers...
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A New Jersey Farming Village Grew Around A Canal That Could Lift Entire Boats Over Hills
Boats climbing hills sounds like somebody got their transportation plans seriously mixed up. Yet that was the clever idea...
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Three Stooges Fans Can Find Nearly 100,000 Pieces of Comedy History Inside This Pennsylvania Museum
The familiar nyuk-nyuk-nyuk still echoes in memory, so discovering a whole museum devoted to slapstick comedy felt like a dream come true. Pennsylvania has a quiet spot that looks...
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13,000 Clocks and Watches Fill This Pennsylvania Museum, Including One With Marching Soldiers
Soft ticking drifts out of the galleries like friendly whispers, a chorus of clocks marking time in a small Pennsylvania river town. The largest collection of clocks and watches...
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This Hidden Urban Forest Playground In Alabama Once Safely Housed Real Live Spider Monkeys
The phrase "monkey business" takes on a fairly literal meaning at this Alabama park. For about 25 years, real spider monkeys performed on trapezes and flying rings, entertaining...
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This Completely Free Virginia Museum Sits Inside A 45-Acre Historic Park
Free admission is rare, especially when the museum is worth paying for. This Virginia museum charges nothing, and it sits inside a 45-acre historic park that adds another layer...
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One Of Virginia’s Most Unusual Museums Houses Rare Bibles And Sacred Texts Worth Over $1 Million
Museums usually display art, history, or science. This one displays something different. Rare Bibles and sacred texts, some of...
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Two-Headed Animals and Bizarre Circus Oddities Fill This Georgia Museum of the Unbelievable
Half a giraffe poking out of a wall made me laugh out loud before I even bought a ticket. Georgia has a museum packed floor to ceiling with strange treasures that most people only...
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This Missouri Restaurant Rolls Sushi Into Burritos Packed With Salmon, Shrimp Tempura, And Crunch
This is what happens when sushi gets a little less delicate and a lot more filling. At this Missouri restaurant, rolls come packed like burritos with salmon, shrimp tempura, rice,...
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An Ohio Museum Holds Mysterious Stones Found in the 1860s That Still Spark Arguments Over Their Origins
Hebrew letters carved into two stones have sparked arguments since the 1860s. One stone is shaped like a keystone, and the other shows a robed figure beside a short version of...
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The Minnesota Restaurant That Makes Its Own Smoked Meats
Smoke curls out of the back, and the whole block suddenly smells like a very good decision. Every cut here starts long before...
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This Historic Alabama Courthouse Features A Spooky Phantom Face Etched Permanently In A Window
A window should not have a fan club. Yet this one has kept people looking up for generations. The attraction is a faint, human-looking...
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Oversized Patties Meant For Sharing Keep Families Coming Back To This Old-School Oklahoma Burger Joint
Some of the best meals in Oklahoma come from places you would drive past a hundred times without a second look. A plain storefront, a parking lot, a sign that has seen a few decades.
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An Ohio Man Started a Witchcraft Museum in His Basement in 1966, and His Strange Collection Is Still on Display
Incense drifts through a small shop on a gray Ohio afternoon. The front door opens into a space that smells softly of something ancient, and right away this feels unlike any ordinary...
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Indiana’s Secret Sandstone Chapel Looks Like It Was Plucked Straight Out of the Swiss Alps
Some historic buildings are famous for how much they contain. This chapel is memorable for how little it needs. Sandstone walls....
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