Road Trip Temptation: Exploring By Taste Without Getting Off Track

As you are reading this we are out on the road on our latest road trip exploring Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. One of our family's favorite ways to explore is through taste and as I was researching our trip I came across a ton of stuff I know we'll just have to try. At home we try to eat healthfully buying organic when we can, eating lean meats and lots of veggies and trying to limit sweets and … [Read more...]

Culture through Desserts: A Tasty Way To Explore

Who doesn't love a tasty treat?  Food is a super way to learn about different regions and cultures and it's one of my best ways of keeping everyone interested and engaged in whatever we're exploring.  When I mention tasting or sampling everyone's ears perk up, but it takes on a whole new level when it's something sweet! There's nothing like sugar to lift everyone's spirits and get everyone chatting and making nice. … [Read more...]

Where There’s Smoke … There’s BBQ!

Guest blog post by: Jeff Shoer What would a good road trip be without the hunt for great tasting Barbecue? The origins of the word Barbecue may have come from foreign lands long ago (the word itself comes from the Spanish Barbacoa translating to sacred fire pit), but these days Barbeque or BBQ (for short) is right at home in the States. You can describe the enthusiasm for this now famous American style of cooking … [Read more...]

Reader Profile: The White Family – Giving Their Kids “Wings”

The White Family

As the Explore All 50 Project has grown and is now reaching more readers, it's really given me the opportunity to "meet" some amazing people all across the country who like me, share a real passion to see all of America. About two weeks I got to know Nicole White from Maryland who along with her husband Chad and kids Gavin (13) and Lucy (10) have already visited 27 states and are in the process of planning this … [Read more...]

Our Top Five Weirdest Food Experiences

Why exploring tastes should be part of any road trip adventure. On the road we get to see and do lots of interesting and unique things we would never get to experience at home. It’s those things and our reactions to them that create lasting memories that we share and the stories that we tell. One of our favorite ways to explore is through taste, sampling unusual regional specialties to dial in to the culture of … [Read more...]

Factory Tours!-Fascinating Fun Learning How Things Are Made

Every time we take a factory tour we feel it- enormous pride watching hard working Americans doing their best to make a quality product who are proud of what they were doing and eager to share it. This is the spirit that makes America great! Inspiration,  innovation, and dedication. My kids and I LOVE factory tours, they are what we most look forward to on any road trip.  It all started with a show I … [Read more...]

Reader Profile: Jeff Shoer, combining a passion for food and a quest to see all 50!

Jeff Shoer

Jeff Shoer is a self proclaimed food and travel “experientialist”. What is that you ask? Well, according to Jeff it’s a term he coined to sum up his combined passion for experiencing food and travel while writing articles documenting his adventures both on the road and on the plate. Jeff officially began his quest to discover and “taste” all 50 states as a co-pilot on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest … [Read more...]

Explore All 50′s Top 10 Breakfast Experiences Across The USA

Breakfast

Since we are pretty budget conscious when we travel, most of the time we take advantage of the complimentary breakfast that comes with our hotel. Sometimes our hotel doesn't offer breakfast so we are forced to seek out somewhere tasty to chow down before we head out to our next adventure. Much to our delight we have found some wonderful places that served delicious breakfasts that were truly memorable and we'd like … [Read more...]

Bush Visitor Center (Dandridge)

Bush Visitor Center (Dandridge)

Sometimes driving along the road you can encounter a really awesome experience that you missed when doing your research. That's exactly what happened when we came across the Bush Visitor Center in the town of Dandridge—What a fun little surprise this was. Of course we've all seen Bush's baked beans on the shelves at our local supermarket so we pulled over and headed right in wondering what we'd find. Inside … [Read more...]

National Mustard Museum (Middleton)

Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

When we visited the National Mustard Museum it was located in a small town right outside Madison named Mt. Horeb but be forewarned, they renamed the town Middleton.  This was such a cute, quirky and interesting stop and I highly recommend you don't miss it.  We learned everything we could ever want to know about our favorite yellow condiment. The museum is literally one man’s obsession turned into a shrine and … [Read more...]