Roughly 100 years ago, Picher, Oklahoma was a booming mining town. Residents took great pride in the town’s multiple thriving zinc and lead extraction sites. Picher’s seemingly endless supply of lead was used to fashion ammunition for soldiers fighting in World War I and World War II. As lead extraction expanded, so did poisonous piles…
Despite the galactic name, the Mars Cheese Castle is located on planet Earth. In 1947, Mario Ventura—otherwise known as Mars—opened a small gas station which sold some of Wisconsin’s most delicious cheeses. Over the decades, Ventura and family cultivated a cheese business that was so robust, only a giant custom castle on Frontage Road in…
The Illinois Railway Museum—which is located about an hour outside of Chicago—was founded in 1953 by 10 avid train lovers who each forked over a bit of their hard-earned money to save a retired train car from ending up in a junkyard. Since its inception, the Illinois Railway Museum has been a labor of love…
At first glance, the area surrounding California’s Salton Sea is strange, eerie, and desolate. The Salton Sea is a steadily dying lake that is contaminated by toxic farm runoff. Since the once popular Salton Sea began to decline in the 1970s, artists and other eccentric, creative folks have flocked to the lake’s shores in an…
50 years ago, an adventurous pilot named Don Sheldon risked his life so that he could transport mountaineers, hunters, and other fellow adventure seekers to some of Alaska‘s most remote locations. With his wife Roberta forever by his side, Don Sheldon perfected risky glacier landings. Don’s love of Alaska’s unexplored spaces inspired him to build…
When most people think of iconic red rock formations, they envision Bryce Canyon in Utah, or the towering rocks surrounding Sedona, Arizona. Radan Mountain in Serbia is home to some of the world’s most impressive red rock formations. Legend states that dueling devils fighting to exert demonic influence over the surrounding lands created the tall,…
To modern travelers, the Natural Park of the Ampezzo Dolomites appears as a pristine nature preserve surrounded by stately, pointy mountains. There are waterfalls, evergreen forests, and wild foxes. Astute visitors may notice that there are also a series of man-made tunnels, evidence of detonated grenades, heavy gunfire, and other somber reminders that some of…
If you’re a cave enthusiast who has bumped your head on a low cave ceiling one too many times, Fantastic Caverns near Springfield, Missouri is the cave tour for you. Fantastic Caverns features a tram that allows visitors to sit and gaze in wonder at various glistening cave formations without worrying about leaving the cave…