fiona tate author at My Family Travels
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Sushi, Hibachi, And Endless Seafood Fill This Massive Missouri All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

You know the kind of buffet where everyone comes back to the table with a completely different plate? This Missouri spot is built for that.

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This Old-Fashioned Missouri Sweet Shop Lets You Watch Candy Makers At Work

Watching caramel get poured and chocolate get dipped makes buying candy a lot more fun. This Missouri sweet shop lets visitors peek through big windows while the candy makers work...

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Coffee, Ice Cream, And Homemade Food Make This Rural Missouri Crossroads Cafe Worth The Detour

Some of the best road-trip stops are the ones you almost drive past. This rural Missouri cafe sits at a quiet crossroads and...

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More Than 75 Classic And Celebrity Cars Fill This Missouri Route 66 Museum

One minute you are staring at a polished classic, and the next you are pointing at a car you swear you have seen on screen before.

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This New Missouri Gelato Shop Is Filled With Italian Pastries And Sandwiches On House-Made Bread

Gelato might get you through the door, but the pastry case makes it hard to leave quickly. This new Missouri shop packs in Italian sweets, fresh bread, panini, sandwiches, and...

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A Sunken 1856 Steamboat Left Behind 200 Tons Of Frontier Cargo At This Missouri Museum

This is one of those museum stories that sounds made up until you see the evidence. A steamboat sank in 1856, disappeared under the Missouri River landscape, and sat there for...

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Pick A Steak From The Butcher Case And Have The Kitchen Cook It For Dinner At This Missouri Market

Choosing dinner usually happens from a menu. Here, it starts at the butcher case. This Missouri market lets you pick out the...

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Japanese Milk Bread, Fresh Focaccia, And Blackhole Pastries Fill This Missouri Neighborhood Bodega

Milk bread, focaccia, and Blackhole pastries are doing a lot of heavy lifting inside this tiny Missouri bodega. The shelves may say neighborhood market, but the food lineup feels...

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This Three-Mile Missouri Loop Follows A Clear Creek To A Cascading Waterfall

Three miles does not sound like much until the trail starts throwing creek crossings, rocky stretches, and a waterfall into the mix.

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This Missouri Salvage Shop Is Packed With Architectural Antiques And Vintage Treasures

Old houses leave behind more than memories. Doors, hinges, light fixtures, woodwork, and other pieces can all find a second life here.

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More Than 40 Years Later, This Missouri Chinese Restaurant Is Still Serving Award-Winning Cashew Chicken

Some recipes earn a following. Others stick around for decades and become part of the local food scene. This Missouri Chinese...

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This Missouri BBQ Joint Lets You Eat Inside An Old Railroad Car Beside The Tracks

Barbecue tastes a little more fun when dinner comes with a railroad car. This Missouri restaurant serves its smoked meats in a setting packed with train history, including a vintage...

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Behind The Doors Of This Cozy Missouri Italian-French Joint, A Chef With James Beard House Credentials Is Cooking

A restaurant does not need a huge dining room to make a serious impression. This Missouri Italian-French joint keeps things cozy while putting plenty of attention into the food,...

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Missouri Shoppers Can Find Everyday Grocery Savings At This No-Frills Store

Grocery shopping does not always need to mean filling a huge cart. Sometimes, a simple store with everyday essentials and straightforward prices is exactly what you need.

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You Can Hike Around A Wooded Lake Then Cool Off At The Beach In This Missouri State Park

The trail dips beneath a canopy of oak and hickory, and the sound of the lake grows closer with each step. A three-and-a-half-mile loop circles the water, offering shaded stretches...

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Bald Eagles And More Than 300 Bird Species Can Be Spotted Along This Ten-Mile Missouri Wildlife Drive

A wall of honking snow geese so loud you laugh out loud in your own car. That is the first thing that hits you on the gravel loop at a Missouri wildlife refuge, a place where the...

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This Family-Run Missouri Mexican Market Starts Serving Breakfast Tacos At Six In The Morning

That soft gray-blue sky over Kansas City, Missouri before sunrise, and the only light on the block came from a corner building with piñatas hanging in the window. I had heard...

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This Missouri Steakhouse Has Been Serving Dinner In Kansas City’s Historic Stockyards Since 1949

That historic building in the Missouri's West Bottoms has been standing since the late 1800s, and the steakhouse inside it has been feeding people since 1949. Stepping through...

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This Missouri Cave Lets You Walk Half A Mile Underground Without Climbing A Single Stair

That cave mouth was so wide it looked like the hillside had yawned. I had driven out on a warm afternoon expecting a quick roadside stop, and instead I found cool air rolling out...

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This Missouri Cabin Resort Shuttles You Upriver So You Can Float Back To Your Cabin

Most float trips end with a long, tired drive back to the car. This one ends at your front door. At a cabin resort tucked deep...

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This Missouri Park Becomes A Bustling Market Each Wednesday From May Through October

The park looks different on Wednesdays. The usual calm of the green space gives way to a bustling scene of white tents and friendly crowds.

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This Missouri Restaurant Is Hidden Inside A Craft Mall Where Live Music Comes With Dinner

A meal and a show usually mean two separate stops. Not at this spot in Missouri. A restaurant tucked inside a sprawling craft...

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This Giant Missouri Fabric Wonderland Has Crafters Planning Entire Weekends Around It

A single fabric shop has grown into a creative empire that draws crafters from across the globe. What began as a modest storefront with one quilting machine and two bolts of fabric...

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This Missouri Seafood Shack Serves Warm Buttered Lobster Rolls Worth Every Mile

There is a certain kind of magic that happens when sweet lobster meat meets a warm, butter-soaked bun. It is the kind of simple perfection that turns a casual meal into something...

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The Missouri Beachfront Ice Cream Shack Locals Swear By For Summer Treats

A scoop of ice cream tastes even better when eaten with your toes in the sand. That is the simple pleasure waiting at a beloved beachfront shack in Missouri, where locals have...

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This Family-Owned Missouri Mexican Restaurant Has Its Own Tortilla Factory

The best tacos start with a tortilla that is made fresh that morning. At a family-owned restaurant in Missouri, that is exactly what you get every single day.

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This Retro Missouri Diner Serves Plate-Sized Cinnamon Rolls At Any Hour Of The Night

A place that never closes is a rare comfort, especially when the craving for something warm and sweet hits well past midnight. At...

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This Retro Missouri Ice Cream Stand Is Famous For Soft Serve But Its Fresh-Made Smash Burgers Steal The Show

Soft serve draws them in, but it is the sizzle of a fresh-made smash burger that keeps them coming back. A retro walk-up stand...

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Missouri’s Oldest Restaurant Still Serves Fried Chicken Inside An 1834 Tavern And It Feels Timeless

Step inside and the years seem to melt away. Wooden floors creak underfoot, and the scent of frying chicken drifts from a kitchen that has been at work since before the Civil War.

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This Missouri Courthouse Still Has A Civil War Cannonball Lodged In One Of Its Columns

Some scars are meant to fade. Others are left as a reminder of what happened. In a small Missouri town, a courthouse has carried...

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You Have Until January To Ride This Missouri Roller Coaster Before It Disappears Forever

For over three decades, it has been a rite of passage for thrill-seekers visiting the Ozarks. But the clock is ticking on this legendary Missouri coaster.

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The Pork Tenderloin At This No-Frills Missouri Lunch Counter Is Worth A Road Trip

Some of the best meals come from places that refuse to advertise, answer a phone, or even have a website. This cash-only lunch counter in Missouri has built a devoted following...

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This Missouri Bagel Shop Cures Its Own Salmon And Often Sells Out Before Lunch

The house-cured salmon at this Missouri bagel shop is the kind of thing that makes you want to become a regular. The owners...

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This French-Asian Bakery In Missouri Serves Pastries That Look Almost Too Pretty To Eat

One glance at the display case and you will understand the dilemma. Each pastry looks more like edible art than a simple breakfast, with glossy fruit glazes, delicate cream swirls,...

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This Short Missouri Trail Leads To A 40-Foot Waterfall Hidden Inside A Box Canyon

You round a bend in the trail and the ground falls away, revealing a forty-foot cascade plunging into a narrow box canyon. The water echoes off the limestone walls, and the mist...

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This Missouri Waterpark Has An Adults-Only Pool With A Swim-Up Bar And Endless Relaxation

You hear the kids laughing from the wave pool and the lazy river, but there is a corner of this Missouri waterpark that is just for adults. A swim-up bar sits right in the pool,...

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This Former Missouri Quarry Looks Like A White-Sand Beach Hidden In The Midwest

The water is so clear it looks like the Caribbean, and the sand is so white it practically glows. But this isn't a tropical island.

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This Missouri Village Lets You Step Straight Into Daily Life In The 1850s

The past is not a quiet museum here. It is alive and loud. A hammer clangs at the blacksmith shop. A schoolmarm rings a bell....

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Locals Say This Once-Quiet Missouri River Town Is Now Overrun By Tourists

The Elk River still runs clear, and the bluffs still rise above the water. But the quiet that once defined this Missouri river town has been replaced by the hum of out-of-state...

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This Old-School Missouri Deli Has Been Serving Hot Pastrami Since The 1940s

Pastrami. Hot. Piled high. On fresh rye. That is the only reason you need to walk into this Missouri deli. The slicer has...

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This Hand-Painted Missouri Art Deco Café Serves Sky-High Sundaes And Scratch-Made Malts

The hand-painted Art Deco murals wrap around the room like a story you have not heard yet, and the sundaes arrive tall enough to make you reconsider your life choices.

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This Small Missouri Town Preserves The Childhood Landscape That Inspired Main Street U.S.A.

A restored train depot in a small Missouri town holds the childhood of the man who created a kingdom of imagination. Walt...

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This Roadside Missouri Cheese Store Stocks More Than 275 Varieties, Including Chocolate And Ghost Pepper

The history of Oklahoma is written in the land, and nowhere is that more true than at a site in the eastern part of the state. It is the only prehistoric Native American archaeological...

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Locals Call This Missouri Farmers Market The Best Around With Prices Half Of What You’d Pay At The Supermarket

Some of the best deals in Missouri are hiding inside a historic market building that has been standing for over a century and has deep roots in the community. Locals have been...

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Your Road Trip Isn’t Complete Without This Missouri Cheese Wonderland

There are hundreds of different varieties of cheese on the shelves at this Missouri roadside stop, and the samples are there to help you make sense of it all.

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This Missouri Fudge Factory Turns A Route 66 Pit Stop Into A Wild Candy-Filled Roadside Adventure

What happens when you mix a classic Route 66 road trip, a fudge factory, and a sense of humor that doesn't take itself too seriously? You get a Missouri stop where the fudge is...

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Everything At This Missouri Cafe Is Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, And Way More Fun Than You’d Expect

You know that feeling when you walk into a cafe and have to ask a dozen questions just to make sure you won't get sick? That feeling doesn't exist here .

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This Hidden Missouri Discount Grocery Store Turns Every Visit Into A Changing Pantry Bargain Hunt

Missouri bargain hunters know the feeling. You walk in for a gallon of milk, and an hour later, you are wrestling a cart full of dented cans, overstock chips, and a box of protein...

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9 Legendary Missouri Pizzerias Serving Cracker-Thin Tavern Squares That Locals Treat Like Pure Gold

The cracker-thin crust shatters with every bite, and the cheese blisters all the way to the edges of the square-cut slice. That is the texture that Missouri locals have been chasing...

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This Small-Town Missouri Kitchen Is Serving Shockingly Good Seafood in the Middle of the Ozarks

A small-town Missouri kitchen in the Ozarks does not sound like the place to find great seafood. But one restaurant has been proving that assumption wrong for years.

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This Missouri BBQ Joint Smokes Ribs for Hours, and They Still Sell Out Almost Every Day

The smoker runs all night. The ribs go on before dawn, and they do not come off until they are tender enough to fall off the bone. This...

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This Giant Missouri All-You-Can-Eat Hotspot Gives You Exactly Two Hours to Feast on Unlimited Smoked Meat

A two-hour timer is not usually part of a dining experience. But this Missouri all-you-can-eat hotspot has turned it into a challenge. Two hours. Unlimited smoked meat.

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10 World-Class Missouri Attractions That Cost Absolutely Nothing To Enter

The best price tag in Missouri is the one that does not exist. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Ten world-class attractions across the state...

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This Massive, Family-Owned Missouri Butcher Shop Is A Hidden Food Wonderland You Need To Visit This Summer

Washington, Missouri has a secret hiding in plain sight. A massive, family-owned butcher shop that has been feeding the community for generations, turning out meats so good that...

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This Quirky Missouri Candy Factory Lets You Watch Handmade Sweets Come to Life

A candy factory that lets you watch the magic happen is a rare find, and this one in Missouri offers exactly that. Visitors can step inside and see the candy-making process firsthand,...

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This Missouri Park Feels Like a Hidden European Fairytale Right in the U.S.

You might expect a state park with a name like that to lean hard into the medieval vibe. But this Missouri park earned that name honestly, and the dramatic landscapes more than...

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11 German Restaurants in Missouri That Will Make You Forget You’re Still in the United States

You do not need a passport to find Bavaria. Missouri has been quietly hiding a collection of German restaurants that transport you straight across the Atlantic, and eleven of them...

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10 Missouri Spots Serving the Legendary Garlic-Butter Gerber Sandwich That Locals Swear By

The Gerber sandwich does not get the attention it deserves outside St. Louis. Everyone talks about barbecue and toasted ravioli, but this open-faced creation of garlic butter,...

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This Amish Country Bakery in Missouri Is Famous for Homemade Breads, Pies, and Old-Fashioned Comfort

The smell hits you before you even park the car. Warm bread, bubbling fruit, and something cinnamon that seems to wrap around you like a hug.

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This Haunted Missouri Ridge Is Filled With Eerie Rocks and Chilling Local Legends

The ground practically glitters and the air carries a quiet, mysterious energy that is hard to shake. This Missouri spot sits over an ancient volcano, and that geological history...

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