asher bennett author at My Family Travels
Article
This Missouri Artist Refused To Let His Hometown Disappear, So He Rebuilt It On His Farm

Most people would probably accept that their old hometown was gone. This Missouri artist had a different idea. After returning...

Read More    7 min read

Article
A Former Missouri Silica Quarry Is Now A White-Sand Lake With Blufftop River Views

White sand is not exactly what you expect to find in the middle of Missouri. That is what makes this old quarry site so interesting.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Small-Town Missouri Steakhouse Serves Prime Rib, Filet Mignon, And Lobster Tails

A small-town dinner gets pretty serious when prime rib and lobster tail are both on the menu. This Missouri steakhouse keeps things classic with filet mignon, ribeye, seafood,...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Five Generations Have Kept The Ovens Going At This Missouri Bakery Since 1937

That is a lot of donuts for one family tree. Five generations have helped keep this Missouri bakery going since 1937, and the ovens are still turning out the kind of treats people...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Breakfast Spot Serves A 3-Pound Cinnamon Roll The Size Of A Pie

A three-pound cinnamon roll is not breakfast. It is a challenge. This Missouri spot serves one that is literally the size of...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Ten Toppings Turn One Pizza Into The Main Attraction At This Missouri Italian Joint

Some pizzas are happy with pepperoni and cheese. This Missouri Italian joint clearly likes to keep things busier. Its specialty...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Farmers Market Keeps The Local Food Coming Long After Summer Ends

Summer ending does not mean the local shopping has to stop. This Missouri market-style event keeps the weekends lively well into the colder months, with local vendors, food, handmade...

Read More    6 min read

Article
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...

Read More    8 min read

Article
28 Lakes And Hundreds Of Old TNT Bunkers Hide Inside This Missouri Conservation Area

You can come here to fish and end up staring at a World War II bunker instead. This Missouri conservation area mixes 28 lakes and ponds with woods, trails, wetlands, and a surprisingly...

Read More    7 min read

Article
Giant Pastries And Mexican Sweet Breads Fill The Cases At This Missouri Bakery

It is hard to walk past a bakery case like this without stopping. This Missouri bakery is known for big pastries, Mexican sweet breads, cookies, cakes, and plenty of colorful treats...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Fifth-Generation Missouri Meat Company Has Been Smoking Hams Since 1896

Five generations later, the smokehouse is still doing its thing. This Missouri meat company started with a small butcher shop in 1896 and grew into a family business known for...

Read More    6 min read

Article
9 Missouri Parks That Feel Completely Different Once Fall Arrives

Fall can make a familiar park feel brand new. Trails that seemed ordinary in summer suddenly open to brighter views, cooler walks, and trees putting on their best show of the year.

Read More    8 min read

Article
This New Missouri Sushi Spot Is All-You-Can-Eat, From Wild Rolls To Hibachi

This is not the place to order one roll and call it a night. This new Missouri sushi spot is all about trying a little bit of everything, from simple classics to big specialty...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Italian Market Has Been Handcrafting Salami And Other Cured Meats Since 1902

There are not many food shops where the recipes have been hanging around for more than a century. This Missouri Italian market has been making cured meats since 1902, and salami...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Country Market Has One Of The State’s Largest Bulk-Food Sections And A Bakery Full Of Homemade Treats

A pantry restock can get serious fast when the bulk-food section seems to keep going. This Missouri country market is known for a huge selection of baking supplies, spices, grains,...

Read More    6 min read

Article
More Than 70 Clydesdales Live At This Missouri Ranch, And You Can Meet Them Up Close

This Missouri ranch gives horse fans a lot more than a quick look over a fence. Visitors can tour the property, learn how the Clydesdales are bred and cared for, and see the barns...

Read More    7 min read

Article
After Three Years Away, This Missouri Greek Favorite Is Finally Serving Its Classics Again

Three years is a long time to miss your favorite bowl of avgolemono. Now, this Missouri Greek spot is finally back, and plenty of familiar dishes came with it.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Dog-Themed Missouri Ice Cream Shop Serves Warm Cookies, Homemade Desserts And Treats For Pups

This Missouri ice cream shop clearly believes dessert is better with a little dog personality mixed in. The whole place is...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Waterfront Hangout Is The Perfect Place To Kick Back By The Lake

Lake days are better when you have a relaxed spot to settle in and enjoy the view. This Missouri waterfront hangout brings together lakeside scenery, casual food, drinks, live...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Country Store Is Packed With Bulk Foods, Fresh Produce, And Discounted Groceries

A grocery cart can get surprisingly ambitious in a place like this. This Missouri country store combines bulk foods, fresh produce, pantry staples, and discounted groceries in...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Ghost Town Still Has A Battlefield, Historic Buildings, And A House Pierced By A Cannonball

Talk about a house with a story to tell. This old Missouri town still has one with cannonball holes in the walls, and that is only the beginning.

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri State Park Has Native Pine Forests, Sandstone Canyons, And Crystal-Clear Streams

Missouri does not usually bring pine forests and sandstone canyons to mind at the same time, but this park manages to pull both together.

Read More    7 min read

Article
The World’s First Machine-Sliced Bread Was Sold In This Tiny Missouri Town

Turns out sliced bread really did have a first day on the job. This Missouri town became the first place in the world to sell machine-sliced loaves in 1928, and the story is much...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Urban Market Butchers Local Meat On-Site And Serves It From Its Own Kitchen

Most markets send you home to cook. This Missouri spot can do the cooking for you. The same place that sells local meat, fresh...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This New Missouri Bakery Looks Straight Out Of The ’70s And Is Filled With Nostalgia-Inspired Sweets

Apparently, the seventies are back, and this time they brought pastries. This Missouri bakery leans all the way into the retro mood with wood paneling, lava lamps, nostalgic details,...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This New Missouri Bagel Shop Boils Its Bagels From Scratch And Cures Its Own Salmon

Fresh bagels are good. Fresh bagels that are made from scratch, boiled the traditional way, and paired with house-cured salmon are a whole different story.

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Seafood Spot Serves Maine-Style And Connecticut-Style Lobster Rolls Worth The Trip

Lobster rolls do not have to come with an ocean view to be worth craving. This Missouri seafood spot brings two East Coast classics to the same menu, so you can decide which style...

Read More    6 min read

Article
One Of Missouri’s Coolest Free Nighttime Experiences Comes With A 32-Inch Telescope

A free night out gets a lot more interesting when a giant telescope is involved. This Missouri park has a dedicated astronomy area where visitors can look up at planets, stars,...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri State Park Hides A Giant Natural Bridge, Caves, And A Turquoise Spring

This is the kind of park where you keep thinking, “Wait, there’s more?” One minute you are looking at old stone ruins...

Read More    6 min read

Article
You Can Get Lost In A Sixteen-Acre Corn Maze And Stay For A Campfire At This Missouri Farm

Corn stalks brushed together in the wind, a dry rustle that followed me as soon as I stepped off the gravel lot. I had heard about the sixteen?acre maze outside a Missouri town,...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Bakery Makes A Croissant So Chocolatey They Call It The Darkness

A friend in St. Louis told me about a chocolate croissant with a name that sounded more like a movie title than a pastry, and I could not stop thinking about it. So one bright...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Bistro And Bookstore Took Over The Factory Where Levi’s Were Made For Fifty Years

The hum of sewing machines has been replaced by the clatter of plates and the rustle of book pages. A historic factory building in Missouri once produced thousands of pairs of...

Read More    7 min read

Article
A 15-Ton Underground Locomotive Sits Inside This Former Missouri Mine Powerhouse

The gravel crunches under your feet as you step out of the car, and the first thing you notice is the scale of it. The rusted skeletons of the old mill rise against the sky, their...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Basketball Museum Lets Almost Anyone Throw Down A Slam Dunk

The squeak of sneakers echoed off the walls, a scoreboard blinked overhead, and a kid nearby was already sprinting toward a lowered rim with pure confidence. I walked into a Missouri...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Restaurant Serves Fried Guacamole Inside One Of The City’s Oldest Buildings

The building has witnessed over a century of history, from its origins as a doctor's office and pharmacy to its current life as a vibrant Peruvian kitchen. The walls that once...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Italian Market Stocks More Than Sixty Kinds Of Ravioli And Tortellini

Brick homes sat shoulder to shoulder, little front porches faced the street, and at the end of the block stood a corner market that looked like it had been there forever. That...

Read More    6 min read

Article
You Can Watch Pretzels Being Hand-Twisted At This Century-Old Missouri Bakery

Warm and yeasty, that smell drifting out of a plain brick building almost made me drive past it. Instead, I pulled over and walked into this Missouri spot, where a hallway lined...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Vegetarian Cafe Makes Its Own Seitan And Turns It Into Crispy Chiken Katsu

A vegetarian cafe that makes its own seitan is rare enough. One that turns it into crispy, golden chikn katsu is something else entirely.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This 700-Acre Missouri Resort Has Private Cottages And An Outdoor Saltwater Pool For An Easy Lake Weekend

The road narrowed into trees the moment I passed through the gate, and the noise of the highway just disappeared behind me. I had come for a lazy lake weekend, the kind where you...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Vintage Market Is Packed With Mid-Century Furniture Retro Clothing And One-Of-A-Kind Decor

I pulled open that door on a slow Thursday morning and instantly forgot what year it was. Warm wood credenzas, racks of printed dresses, and shelves of glassware stretched further...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Hidden Missouri Steakhouse Has Been Serving Steaks Down A Quiet Lake Road For Fifty Years

A log cabin sits beneath towering trees on a winding lake road. That humble building has been serving steaks to hungry travelers for nearly fifty years.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Free Missouri Shrine Is Filled With Stone Grottos Hand-Built By A Single Monk

Twenty-three years of work went into building this Missouri shrine, and the man who did it used no power tools. A Franciscan monk carried stones, seashells, and pieces of broken...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Bookshop Spans Two Buildings Connected By A Covered Porch Made For Coffee And Reading

The first thing you notice is the porch. It stretches between two historic buildings, lined with chairs and small tables that invite you to sit down with a book and a cup of coffee.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Greenhouse Café Turns Brunch Into A Garden Escape Led By A James Beard-Winning Chef

A James Beard Award-winning chef is leading the kitchen of a Missouri greenhouse café where brunch feels like a garden escape. The space is tucked inside a working plant nursery,...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Barbecue Joint Turns Burnt Ends Into A Breakfast Burrito Worth Waking Up Early For

The alarm clock becomes a necessary evil when you know what is waiting. A burrito stuffed with tender burnt ends, scrambled eggs, and cheese is enough to pull anyone out of bed.

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Free Missouri Attraction Reveals How Two Shoeboxes Of Postcards Became A Billion-Dollar American Brand

A teenage boy stepped off a train with nothing but two shoeboxes of picture postcards tucked under his arm. That modest arrival in 1910 set in motion a story that would grow into...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Restaurant Cooks Lunch Over A Roaring Argentinian-Style Wood-Fired Grill

The flames are high and the smoke is clean. An Argentinean-style grill roars at the center of a Missouri lunch spot, turning out lamb, chimichurri steak sandwiches, and tacos over...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Park Rebuilt An Entire 19th-Century Village From Relocated Buildings

The buildings were scattered across the countryside, each one a fragment of a forgotten era. A one-room schoolhouse from Tracy. A...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Cave Hides A 75-Foot Natural Dam Beneath The Ozark Hills

Water drips through limestone for thousands of years, and something remarkable takes shape. A natural dam stretches across an underground chamber, built slowly by mineral deposits...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri Steakhouse Still Has Its Original 1940s Art Deco Bar And Wooden Booths

Some restaurants have history, but this one lets you sit inside it. A Missouri steakhouse has been serving the same community for nearly a century.

Read More    7 min read

Article
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...

Read More    7 min read

Article
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...

Read More    7 min read

Article
A Four-Story Mill And One Of Missouri’s Last Covered Bridges Stand Side By Side At This Riverfront Site

The water still turns the wheel, just as it has for more than a century. A massive four-story mill of stone and brick rises beside the river, its griststones still grinding corn...

Read More    7 min read

Article
After A Good Rain This Missouri Trail Drops From The State’s Highest Point To Its Tallest Waterfall

A three-mile loop is all it takes to check two major items off a Missouri hiking bucket list. The trail connects the state's highest point with its tallest waterfall.

Read More    7 min read

Article
This 165-Acre Missouri Ranch Lets You Spend The Day With Rescued Horses And Farm Animals

A quiet lane leads to a place where second chances are the main event. More than a hundred rescued animals roam the pastures. Goats,...

Read More    7 min read

Article
The Chef Who Invented Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken Opened This Missouri Restaurant

In 1963, a Chinese immigrant chef faced a room full of diners who weren't sure what to make of his menu. So he did what any resourceful cook would do: he adapted.

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Missouri Chocolate Factory Shows You How Cocoa Beans Become Chocolate On A Forty-Five-Minute Tour

A forty-five-minute tour is enough time to watch cocoa beans transform into chocolate, but it is also enough time to develop a serious appreciation for the craft. This Missouri...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Missouri BBQ Joint Serves Two-Pound Pork Steaks That Barely Fit On The Plate

Some barbecue plates arrive with a modest portion, but this one demands a second look. At a no-frills joint in Missouri, the signature dish is a two-pound pork steak that barely...

Read More    6 min read

Article
This Welcoming Missouri Diner Serves Southern Comfort Food That Visitors Can’t Get Enough Of

A plate of crispy fried chicken, a side of creamy mac and cheese, and a biscuit that practically melts in your mouth. That is the kind of meal that makes this family-run diner...

Read More    7 min read

Article
This Restored 1880s Missouri Café Lets You Browse A Boutique Between Sips Of House-Roasted Coffee

The coffee here is roasted in-house, filling the air with the kind of aroma that makes you want to linger. And linger you should, because this restored historic home in Missouri...

Read More    7 min read