Explore America’s strangest places: ghost towns, odd roadside attractions, mysterious natural wonders, abandoned sites, hidden deserts, caves, and bizarre small towns.
You have most likely done that each time you vacation in California. For this fleeting moment, everything in life seems to be going according to plan, and you’re at ease. Your problems have been momentarily put aside. And you say to yourself, “I wish I could stay here forever.” You may have looked through the…
In the early 20th century, Chattanooga, Tennessee was a booming train hub. Travelers boarded trains in northern cities such as Cincinnati and stopped in Chattanooga to switch trains or rest prior to heading to southern cities such as Atlanta. Chattanooga’s legacy as a train town is still on display with a train-themed hotel, and a…
In the early 1950s, Italian artist Guido Galletti designed a bronze statue of Jesus Christ that was placed in the Italian Riviera near San Fruttuoso to honor the legacy of diver Duilio Marcante and divers and sailors who lost their lives at sea. Galletti’s statue—known as Il Cristo degli Abissi, or Christ of the Abyss—was…
Every motorist who has driven past the exit for Zzyzx Road on Interstate 15 in California’s Mojave Desert en route to Las Vegas has wondered about the road’s quirky name. Zzyzx Road—which is pronounced “zi-zex”—leads to a small lake fed by a natural spring, which was once home to a health resort run by an…
Minnesota prides itself on being ‘The Land of 10,000 Lakes’ because there are a multitude of lakes and charming lakeside towns where visitors can swim, fish, and sail. One of Minnesota’s loveliest and most interesting beach towns is Grand Marais, which is one part art colony and one part fishing village. Grand Marais is home…
On March 11th, 1958, Walter Gregg was puttering around in a workshop on his Mars Bluff, South Carolina property. Gregg’s wife, his children and their friends, and his niece were also nearby. Without warning, an ordinary day took a menacing turn. After Walter Gregg heard an ear-splitting blast that shook the ground, followed by a…
In 1903, two Bavarian brothers named Otto and Louis Seelbach decided to open a grand hotel replete with ornate old-world craftsmanship in Louisville, Kentucky. The Seelbach Hotel was so wildly popular when it opened its doors in 1905 that the Seelbach brothers immediately started on an expansion that included an ornate Rathskeller Room—basement barroom—that featured…
There are several stories about how the charming small town of Cashiers, North Carolina came to be known by the peculiar name of Cashiers. Some say that Cashiers was a star racehorse, a trusty mule, or even an eccentric hermit. Local historical records indicate that Colonel John Zachary—who helped establish the town in the 1830s—chose…