Erie Sign at Bayview Park – Erie, PA
Erie’s giant letters sit on a bluff over the Presque Isle Bay marina. Come at sunset, take the selfie, thank us later.
Places
Every museum, cave, castle, and world's-largest-thing we've pulled over for: one post per place, rated, photographed, and mapped.
Tamarack Marketplace, Beckley, WV
We stopped at Tamarack for a stretch break and left with art, a great cheap lunch, and a banjo. West Virginia’s showcase of 2,800+ artisans is worth the exit.
Elsinore Arch – Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati needed a water valve house in 1883. Then somebody from the Water Works saw Hamlet at Music Hall, and the city got a castle instead. Free, weird, and wonderful at the corner of Gilbert and Elsinore.
Tivoli Redfish Water Tower
Tivoli’s water tower wears a giant leaping red drum, because the Austwell-Tivoli High mascot is the Redfish and this is Texas coastal fishing country. It’s the best two-minute photo stop on Highway 35, especially at sunset.
Highland Park – Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh’s grand Victorian park in the East End: a restored Entry Garden with a fountain worth the drive, a reservoir loop made for walking, and 130-plus years of history courtesy of Edward Bigelow.
Ault Park – Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati’s hilltop hidden gem: a 1930 Italianate pavilion over formal gardens and a cascade fountain, with a terrace that runs for miles over the valley. Free, and mostly to yourself.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Statue – Columbus, OH
Eight feet of bronze Arnold Schwarzenegger, mid-flex, on a Columbus sidewalk, marking his 1970 Mr. World win in town and the Arnold Classic he’s hosted here ever since. Free, and impossible to walk past.
Allegheny Landing – Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh’s North Shore sculpture park, dedicated in 1984 on a reclaimed industrial riverbank. Abstract art on the lawn, the Allegheny at your feet, and the whole downtown skyline laid out across the water. Free.
Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine
A real drift mine you ride into on a man-trip car, guided by a retired miner, plus a recreated coal camp and museum that lay bare how brutally the company towns worked. One of the first coal-mining historic sites in the country.
Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs – Louisville, KY
Two floors of Derby history at the track where it all happens, plus a 360-degree film and a guided walk out to the twin spires. You don’t need a first-Saturday-in-May ticket to stand at Churchill Downs.
Big Four Bridge – Louisville, KY
The 1895 railroad bridge that lost its ramps and sat marooned midriver for decades, until a giant spiral walkway brought it back in 2013. Free to cross, day or night.
Cole Park Pier – Corpus Christi, TX
A long, rebuilt fishing pier reaching into Corpus Christi Bay off Ocean Drive. Free to walk, shaded at the far end, and an easy stop for the whole car.
DeLeon City Plaza – Victoria, TX
Victoria’s town square since 1824, with a gazebo, an amphitheater, a statue of the founding De León family, and, as a bonus, public restrooms.
USS Lexington, The Blue Ghost – Corpus Christi, TX
An 872-foot WWII carrier the Japanese reported sunk four times, parked in Corpus Christi Bay since 1992. Five tour routes, 20+ aircraft, escape rooms, and the best drone subject on the coast.
Whataburger by the Bay: The Two-Story Mothership – Corpus Christi, TX
The only two-story Whataburger on Earth, built in the chain’s hometown for its 50th birthday, with an elevator, a bay-view balcony, and the same burger tasting better upstairs.
Goliad County Courthouse – Goliad, TX
An 1894 Second Empire courthouse with a disputed architect, a twin in Lockhart, and a beautiful old oak on the north lawn with a genuinely ugly résumé.
Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse – Port Lavaca, TX
A lighthouse that spent 84 years standing in the middle of Matagorda Bay on screw piles, survived the Civil War and a career as a dredging office, and now lives in a parking lot. Ten minutes, well spent.
Bayfront Peninsula Park & Fishing Pier – Port Lavaca, TX
A windy pier, a playground, a bayfront veterans memorial, and a flock of seagulls all facing the same direction like they agreed on it beforehand. Mind the gifts from overhead.
Fannin Battleground State Historic Site – Victoria, TX
The prairie where Fannin’s 350 men were surrounded, fought for two days, and surrendered on a promise that wasn’t kept. The battle happened here; the grave is nine miles away in Goliad.
Buc-ee’s Store No. 12: The Baby Buc-ee’s Turning Into a 7-Eleven – Port Lavaca, TX
Before Buc-ee’s went mega, it built gas stations like this one: Store No. 12, open 24 hours for 26 years, now becoming a 7-Eleven. We caught its last Christmas.
