Shrimp with vanilla glaze, big island of Hawaii
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Food Lover's Guide to the Big Island of Hawaii

Hawaii has long been associated with growing three foods—pineapples, sugar, and macadamia nuts—but they are now cheaper to grow in other parts of the world and aren't as prevalent in the 50th state as the once were. On a recent trip to Hawaii…
Leonard's bakery in Oahu-famous malasadas (Portugese donuts)
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Food Lover's Guide to Oahu

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through these links we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Besides being a surfer's paradise, Oahu also offers many unexpected tasty treats. There's definitely…
peanut butter & banana sandwich-Elvis
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WWEE: What would Elvis eat?

Memphis, Tennessee is justly known for its dry-rubbed barbecue ribs. But that’s all right, after driving 500 miles to get to the birthplace of rock-and-roll I was there to see Elvis stuff so I thought, “What would Elvis eat?” Among other…
exterior of Johnny Cash museum
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Walk the line at the Johnny Cash Museum

A museum dedicated to the Man in Black opened in Nashville, Tennessee. The Johnny Cash Museum, a block off the fabled Broadway music district, almost brings the man back to life through artful displays of recordings, artifacts and…
Downtown LA-City hall tower and signposts
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No car required: Walking around downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the focus of a sprawling metropolitan area with widespread places like Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Pasadena, all connected by the infamous freeways. But walking around downtown Los Angeles, no car required, is a fun way to spend…
platter hot dog with rice, garlic shrimp platter, oahu
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Hot Dog of the Month: Giovanni's Shrimp Truck in Hawaii

The north coast of Oahu is festooned with trucks serving a local favorite: garlic shrimp. Visitors driving along the Kamehameha Highway to watch a surfing competition among the pounding waves of the North Shore will be hard-pressed not to stop…

Mickey Mantle's boyhood home on Route 66

Commerce, Oklahoma was the hometown of baseball legend Mickey Mantle, whose boyhood home appears pretty much unchanged since his youth. Baseball's greatest power hitting switch-hitter learned to hit in the side yard, his father…
painted cars at Cadillac Ranch
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Cadillac Ranch & the quirky car sculptures of Texas

The windswept plains of Amarillo, Texas are world renowned for being the home of Cadillac Ranch, a series of tail-finned Cadillacs set into the earth like they crashed from outer space. But there are several more car sculptures of Texas nearby…
SRV Alpine Valley entrance Stevie Ray Vaughan

SRV - 25 years gone, the sky is still crying

This year is the 25th anniversary of the death of blues rock guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughan. On August 26th, 1990, he had just finished a monster show at the Alpine Valley ski resort in Wisconsin. Other players on the bill included his brother…
Frangellis donuts Philadelphia
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The dozen best donuts in America

We've been crisscrossing  the United States for the last three years and visited all 50 states to seek out the best donuts in America. Here's our ranking of the best dozen donuts of the many, many, way too many, that we tasted, with a bonus…
Buffalo City Hall

GO: Buffalo food, art and architecture

A funny thing happened on the way to Niagara Falls: We got distracted - for a week - by Buffalo. Hoping to avoid a few of the 12 million annual visitors who flock to see that famous tumbling water, we chose the city 20 miles down the road,…
seaplane in alaska

More reasons to visit Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska is a popular spot for cruise vacations. However most of the visitors who take an Alaska cruise only skirt the shoreline of America’s largest state.  Visitors preparing to board or disembark from a cruise nearby should realize there…
Cincinnati coneys-hot dogs with chili and cheese on top
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Where is the best Cincinnati chili? (And what is it?)

Cincinnati chili is one of those things you either get it or you don't. Among national food critics it’s developed a love it or hate it reputation that brings out the snark. As with many regional food favorites, it helps to have grown up there.…
Bats at dusk, bridge Austin, Texas

Quirky America: Going batty in Austin, Texas

The capital city of Texas is famous for the motto “Keep Austin Weird.” Not only is it the self-proclaimed live music capital of America, it also provides the best setting (other than a cave) to see the bats of Austin, a nightly event with…
Benjamin Franklin statue on the Philadelphia Liberty Trail
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Philadelphia Liberty Trail: Our first book is here!

When we departed Philadelphia in 2011 we thought we'd explore the world for a year and then figure out what we wanted to do when we grew up. We started writing stories about our journey on this blog and for a new series called "A Year in…
Rodeo rider in Kissimmee Florida

Finding Authentic Cowboy Heritage . . . in Central Florida

It’s no surprise to anyone that central Florida is a vacation destination with attractions galore. But did you know it’s also a great place to see national circuit rodeo? Tucked amid the theme parks and cartoon characters and water slides…
Surf Ballroom Buddy Holly final concert
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Buddy Holly's final show: Visiting the Surf Ballroom

In Don McLean’s song American Pie, he refers to the death of rock-and-roll star Buddy Holly on February 3, 1959 due to a plane crash in an Iowa cornfield as “the day the music died.” Earlier Holly had played a concert at the Surf…
Larissa at the border of Canada & Point Roberts Washington
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Quirky America: Why you need a passport to visit Point Roberts, Washington

The quaint hamlet of Point Roberts, Washington looks like a piece of Norman Rockwell's America. Seattle Seahawks flags flap in the breeze while families frolic at the beach. But then something seems out of place: gasoline prices are listed…