My Family Travels | Latest Articles
Article
This Massive Oklahoma All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Is Worth Driving Across The State For

The first lap around the buffet line is not about filling a plate. It is about reconnaissance. You walk past steaming pho stations,...

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This West Virginia Craft Store Is Packed With Bargains And Way More Supplies Than You’d Expect

Walk in for a roll of tape and you are not leaving with just tape. That is the trap. This West Virginia craft store is absolutely...

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You Can Actually Drive Exotic Supercars With Zero Speed Limits On This Massive Indiana Racetrack

Your brain says, “This is probably where someone tells you to slow down.” Then you look around and realize nobody is saying it. Instead, you are sitting behind the wheel of...

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This Historic 350-Acre Indiana Farm Packs Vibrant Sunflower Fields And Wagon Rides Into One Visit

The first sunflower is pretty. The hundredth is something else entirely. Soon, the road is disappearing behind you, the fields...

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9 Thai Restaurants in Texas That Will Transport Your Taste Buds to Bangkok

Thai food can make an ordinary dinner decision spiral beautifully out of control once spicy noodles, crispy appetizers, rich curries, and something involving coconut milk all start...

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This Sprawling Oklahoma Fabric Wonderland Has Enough Color To Stop Crafters In Their Tracks

A rainbow of fabric bolts stretches across an entire Oklahoma store, each one more vivid than the last. The sheer range of colors and patterns can overwhelm even the most seasoned...

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This Oregon Spot Is a Tropical Escape With Creative Plant-Filled Interior That Steals the Show

Step through the door and suddenly you're not in Oregon anymore. The air feels warmer, the lighting softens, and you're surrounded by a lush indoor jungle. This spot has created...

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The Missouri All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Spot Where Rolls Arrive Fresh And Refills Keep Coming

The concept is dangerously simple: pick a number of rolls, order them fresh, and keep going until you tap out. A lively Japanese...

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The Italian Hoagies At This New Jersey Deli Are So Good People Drive From Pennsylvania For Them

Okay, listen. You know how some places just get it right? This is one of them.

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9 New Hampshire Oddities You Won’t Find Anywhere Else In New England

Pulling off a back road in New Hampshire and finding something completely unexplainable sitting in the trees, that is when I knew my travel plans were about to change.

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This Middle-Of-Nowhere New Jersey Restaurant Is Famous For Its Giant Pretzel And Cozy Atmosphere

You might think you took a wrong turn. The road gets quiet. The trees close in. Then you see it. A warm glow spilling from...

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This Maryland Seafood Institution Proves Some Local Favorites Only Get Better With Age

Thirty-five years is a long time to keep Maryland diners interested, especially when seafood fans tend to have very strong opinions about where their crabs should come from.

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The Oregon Town Where The Cost Of Living is 29% Lower Than The State Average

We've all seen the headlines about Oregon's rising costs. Rent, home prices, groceries - it can feel like the state is becoming unaffordable by the minute. But here's the thing:...

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Step Inside This Abandoned New Hampshire Town Frozen In Time

That ghost town in New Hampshire hummed with the sounds of sawmills, schoolchildren, and everyday life once. Today it sits quietly beneath a canopy of forest, its foundations swallowed...

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This Missouri Lakeside Resort Includes Meals And More Than 30 Activities With Every Stay

The hardest part of a vacation should be deciding which activity to try first, not planning every detail. At a lakeside retreat in Missouri, that is exactly the kind of escape...

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10 West Virginia Trout Fry Spots Where The Catch Of The Day Sells Out Fast

Fresh trout hitting a sizzling pan is a sound that stops conversations. In West Virginia, that sound means it is time to eat. The...

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Pull Up, Dock Your Boat, And Grab The Best Brisket Cheesesteak In New Jersey

Pull up to the dock and step into a waterfront hideaway. The brisket cheesesteak here is the stuff of legend. Tender, smoky,...

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This Cozy Cajun Alabama Eatery Is Hidden Inside A 19th-Century House Guarded By A Werewolf

I was not expecting a werewolf to be standing outside a pink house, especially one serving gumbo. But there he was, guarding an 1880s home that now smells like fried Gulf shrimp,...

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A Family Day at This Pennsylvania Wild Animal Park Is More Fun Than a Trip to the Zoo

Pine and damp leaves greeted me at that Pennsylvania zoo, a welcome change from the concrete?and?crowd scent I usually associate with big city attractions. I had driven into the...

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The Oregon Beach Where Sea Glass Is Surprisingly Easy To Find This Year

There's something quietly thrilling about scanning the shoreline and spotting that smooth, frosted piece of glass glinting in the sunlight. This year, Oregon's coast is proving...

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11 New Hampshire Small Towns With Population Under 500 And Big Character

Frost-covered peaks of the White Mountains, quiet ponds where the only sound is a paddle cutting through still water, and gravel roads that most people never bother to explore....

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This Massive New Hampshire Bookstore Makes It Easy To Take Home Stacks Of Books

That old black barn and white house sitting among the trees stopped me in my tracks the moment I turned onto the road in New Hampshire. I had driven out with no real plan, just...

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This Massive Thrift Store In Maryland Has Deals So Good, It’s Worth A Road Trip

Thrift stores are basically treasure hunts where nobody knows what the treasure is until somebody spots it three aisles away. This...

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Late Night Cravings Hit Different in Louisiana, and These 10 Spots Know It

The glow of a grill firing up at two in the morning, and the whole street leaning toward the smell. That is what I found one night in Louisiana after a long walk along the river...

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This Family-Owned Oregon Bakery Makes Fluffy Hand-Crafted Buttermilk Donuts That Draw Massive Weekend Crowds

There are donuts, and then there are donuts worth waking up early for. This family-owned Oregon bakery falls firmly into the second category. The buttermilk donuts here are so...

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This Oklahoma Park Has An Inclusive Playground Where Children Of Every Ability Can Play Together

A playground where every child can play together is a rare and wonderful thing. This Oklahoma park was designed with that idea at its heart.

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This Missouri Italian Restaurant Invented The Chicken Spiedini That Became A Kansas City Staple

A skewer of tender chicken, bathed in lemon butter and kissed by the grill, became an accidental icon. In 1989, a restaurateur in Missouri took a traditional Italian dish and gave...

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This Tiny West Virginia House Is The Cutest Historic Landmark You Will Ever Visit

You have never seen a historic landmark quite like this. This West Virginia treasure stands just ten feet tall. Ten feet....

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This Louisiana Buffet Has Been Serving Scratch-Made Creole Classics Since Before Most Food Trends Were Born

That smell met me before the door even swung open, all fried fish, simmering roux, and buttery cornbread. I had pulled off the highway on a warm afternoon with no real plan except...

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This Massive Alabama Facility Packs More Historic Combat Helicopters Than Anywhere Else On Earth

You count one helicopter. Then another. Then you look toward the ceiling and realize there are rotor blades hanging over your...

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11 Virginia Hidden Gems That Locals Love But Won’t Tell You About

Beyond the well-worn tourist trails and famous landmarks in Virginia, there are places so quietly magical that locals guard them like treasured secrets.

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10 Bucket List Adventures In Virginia You Cannot Have Anywhere Else

Ancient caverns glitter beneath Virginia's surface, wild ponies splash across open water, and rugged mountain trails give way to untouched Atlantic coastline.

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12 Jersey Shore Beach Towns Worth Visiting After The Summer Crowds Go Home

The first time I showed up at the coast in October, I honestly thought I had made a scheduling mistake. Parking spots everywhere,...

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A No-Frills Texas Restaurant Is Serving The Kind Of Homestyle Buffet That’s Getting Hard To Find

Some restaurants want you to photograph the plate before touching it. This Texas spot seems much more interested in making sure there is enough food on it.

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The Old-Fashioned Oregon General Store Where The Bakery Case Is Only The Beginning

You know that feeling when you walk into a place and instantly feel like you've stepped back in time? That's exactly what happens here. This old-fashioned Oregon general store...

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The Biscuits Are Fluffy, the Gravy Is Creamy, and This North Carolina Diner Feels Like a Hug on a Plate

That plain white building with the word DINER painted right on the side is what pulled me off Highway 221 on a cool morning. I had no real plan except coffee, and I ended up staying...

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Guy Fieri Visited This Oklahoma Diner For Its Two-Time State Championship Chili

Guy Fieri rolled into Norman in his red Camaro and never forgot what he tasted. A hundred-year-old diner on Main Street served him a chili that had already won the Oklahoma State...

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Welcome To Missouri’s Most Tourist-Packed Town Where Weekend Crowds Never Seem To Thin

A little chaos is part of the charm at this Missouri town. The main strip moves at a crawl on summer weekends. The shows start...

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Good Luck Choosing Just One Flavor At This Irresistible New Jersey Italian Ice Shop

Walk in and the hardest decision of your day begins. Flavors everywhere. Lemon, cherry, mango, lime mint, pina colada, and...

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The 11 North Carolina Buffets That Kept Us Coming Back for Seconds, and Thirds

Somewhere between the pine flats of the coastal plain and the blue ridges out west, North Carolina quietly built a buffet culture that runs on vinegar sauce, hot hushpuppies, and...

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This Small-Town Indiana BBQ Spot Smokes Handmade Sausage And Brisket Hot Dogs

You came for a hot dog. You left wondering why nobody ever put brisket on one before. That is the kind of surprise waiting...

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This Giant Indiana Amusement Warehouse Features Tactical Mission-Based Laser Tag and Foam Dart Arenas

You walk in expecting a rainy-day activity and suddenly find yourself standing beside a school bus inside a laser tag arena. A real school bus.

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This Southwest Virginia Preserve Has A Suspension Footbridge Hidden Along A Scenic Nature Trail

Swaying gently over the water below, that suspension bridge in Virginia made the whole world get quieter the moment I stepped onto it.

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This Historic Virginia Street Still Has Old Stone Paving That Echoes The Town’s Colonial Past

Worn smooth by centuries of horses, boots, wagon wheels, and time, that old stone paving on a Virginia street still holds its original energy.

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Can You Still Have A Great Texas Weekend For $500? We Did The Math

Five hundred dollars sounds generous right up until Friday night checks in and starts sending invoices. A Texas weekend can...

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The 9 South Carolina Beach Towns That Tourists Overran

Salt air, pluff mud, shrimp boats, and sand dollars all blur together into something I still think about months later. That is what happened the first time I drove the length of...

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U.S. News Just Ranked These 11 South Carolina Cities Among the Best Places to Live And Some Might Surprise You

Salt marshes, a waterfall tucked inside a downtown park, and streets shaded by oaks older than the country. That is what slowed me down during a quick loop through South Carolina...

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There’s a Beach in Oregon Where the Sand Actually Sings

You know that sound when you walk on fresh snow, that satisfying crunch under your feet? Now imagine that, but on a beach, with the whole shoreline humming beneath you. That's...

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We Ate 12 Steaks in North Carolina So You Don’t Have to, But You Should

The sizzle of a proper steak is what I spent a few weeks chasing across North Carolina, driving past tobacco fields, lake roads, and downtown blocks lined with old brick buildings....

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This Small Indiana Sushi Restaurant Serves One Of The Only Halal Sushi Menus In The State

I once opened a sushi menu, found something that looked perfect, and then spent the next five minutes figuring out whether I could actually order it. That little bit of detective...

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This Alabama BBQ Joint Is Recognized As The State’s Oldest Barbecue Restaurant

You smell the hickory smoke before you even know where it’s coming from. Then you realize it’s coming from a barbecue joint that has been feeding hungry travelers since 1891.

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This Steep Alabama Canyon Trail Descends 600 Feet to the River Floor and Historic Chairlift Ruins

What would make a 600-foot descent even more memorable? How about an abandoned chairlift route leading all the way to the bottom of a massive canyon?

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This Historic Virginia Drive-In Has Been Showing Movies Under The Stars Since 1956

Pulling off a quiet Virginia highway at dusk, the sky turned shades of orange and pink, and the excitement of what came next started to build before I even found my spot.

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The Bricks For This Virginia Church Were Fired By Enslaved Laborers And Still Bear Their Handprints

Small churches along the James River usually blend into the landscape, but this one in Virginia stopped me cold. Modest in size, heavy in weight.

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9 Tiny Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurants in Maryland Where the Food Is Worth Every Single Minute of Waiting

Some of Maryland's most memorable restaurants have approximately zero interest in looking impressive from the parking lot. They...

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You Can Eat Inside a Giant Fish in Minnesota

Ever looked at a giant roadside attraction and thought, "I wish I could eat inside that thing"? Well, Minnesota heard you. At this quirky spot up north, you can do exactly that...

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What $100 Gets You In Texas’ Most Popular Beach Towns

A hundred dollars used to sound like a comfortable beach-day budget. In 2026, it sounds more like a challenge with sunscreen. Between...

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The Maryland Spanish Restaurant Where the Portions Are So Generous You Will Be Eating Leftovers for Days

Tapas are supposed to be small plates, but nobody said you had to demonstrate self-control when ordering them. This Maryland...

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The Massive Texas Flea Market Where You Can Eat, Shop, And Wander For Hours

A flea market stops being a casual shopping trip when it covers 105 acres and has more than 1,500 vendors competing for your attention.

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11 Oklahoma Roadside Attractions So Strange You’ll Pull Over Just To Make Sure They’re Real

Some roadside attractions are designed to be memorable. Others are designed to make you question your grip on reality. Oklahoma...

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