Big Bend in Texas is not one of our most visited national parks but it’s certainly not off the beaten path. Even though this area of the southwest is extraordinarily dry and rocky, it’s not without its rewards for the sharp-eyed and patient traveler. Half an hour west of the park you’ll find a ghost […]
Utah is legend for the sights you can see there—arches, hoodoos, swirling stone landscapes, cliffs and canyons. Visit in season and you’ll definitely be on the beaten path. But there are places even here that most people never see. Far from the interstate you’ll find Capitol Reef National Park (see interactive map below). This park is, at […]Read More
We were on our trip with our 20-something niece headed for Madison, WI, and after 325 hard, fast mils we needed a break. “Hey!” I said, “Here’s a 16-foot high sundial that really tells time.” Everyone seemed ready for a break and to check it out. “There’s only one problem,” I said. “It’s at a […]Read More
A trip took us to the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan’s upper peninsula. Our way home took us along M-28, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, where we passed a colorful metal sign advertising “Junkyard Art.” Pulling off into a surprisingly large parking area, we chuckled at a sign that said, ‘Donations welcome but not […]Read More
By Anna Burkett New England towns have plenty of vestigial British references. One of these is the suffix minster, as in Westminster, which designates a town with a monastic center or a cathedral. Leominster, Massachusetts (see map below) cedes that distinction to its namesake in the old country, but does have an interesting history. It's the […]Read More
Acadia, in Maine, is one of the top 10 national parks in the U.S., with more than 2.5 million visitors annually. Come summer, it’s wall to wall people from Ellsworth to Bar Harbor and everywhere in between. You might think it would be hard to get off the beaten path here, but not so! For […]Read More
When you’re driving around the country, you often see the brown signs that mark some sort of historic site. We often stop for these, even though they’re nothing we’ve ever heard of. Sometimes we hit the jackpot. That was the case when we pulled off near Ganado, Arizona (see interactive map below) at the marker […]Read More
Roadtrekers traversing the U.S. will probably end up in Austin, Texas sooner or later. When you do, be sure not to miss out on one of the country's greatest natural spectacles. Every night just before sunset, from March to November, hundreds of folks gather along the Congress Avenue bridge (see interactive map below), because […]Read More
If you’re familiar with historical Native American figures beyond Crazy Horse and Osceola, you’ve likely heard of Black Elk. He was born to the Oglala Sioux on Wyoming’s Powder River in 1863. As a young man, already a distinguished warrior, he fought in the Battle of Greasy Grass (we call it Little Bighorn), in which […]Read More
Western Oklahoma fits the “roads less travelled” bill quite nicely, and we’d like to tell you about an event that requires a bit of pre-planning. The town is Beaver, Oklahoma (see interactive map below), on U.S. 64 and not really close to anything else. The road is good, views are vast as you drive the […]Read More
We love river drives, especially on the big rivers of the Midwest. They’re dotted with cities and small towns, and their long tenure as transportation corridors means they’re full of history and great stories. Enter the Great River Road along the Mississippi River (see interactive map below). A hundred years ago button factories and mussel […]Read More
Remember Phillips 66 gas stations? Well, Frank Phillips made his money in the oil business and he thought about building a big east coast mansion like his friends the Rockefellers and Carnegies. Instead he bought a big hunk of Oklahoma land and put up a western style lodge, but one with eastern style amenities. He […]Read More
Charleston, South Carolina is full of bloody history, low country folklore, and pirate tales, so us finding such a thing there was maybe not a surprise. John’s Island, a bit south and west of the city (see interactive map below), is home to one of the largest trees in the U.S. — the Angel Oak. It’s […]Read More
One of nature’s most unusual spectacles – synchronous fireflies — takes place in June, and it’s a good idea to plan ahead if you want to see it. There are more than a dozen species of fireflies, and three are known to show this unusual behavior of synchronizing. Fireflies start life as eggs, and live […]Read More
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