Places michaelleejones Wants to Go

Chef Ashleigh Shanti serves up a classic Appalachian fish fry.

This remote Colorado canyon is home to the second-largest collection of natural arches in the world.

Why settle for barbecue chips when you can get actual barbecue?

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

For more than a century, Parisians have come for affordable dishes in a grand converted train station.

This Arkansas town is known for its gangster history, its healing waters, and now its brews.

The hot chocolate here all stems from small, sustainable microproducers in Chiapas and Tabasco.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

One of the last socialist halls still standing in the United States.

Come for the giant taxidermy lion, stay for the knick knacks at this Minneapolis curiosity shop.

A monument to the "father of modern warfare" Gustav II Adolf.

Once the legendary capital of the Dacian Kingdom, this city has been reduced to mere ruins.

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.

16,500-acre ranch filled with American heritage, geological wonders, and a giant pile of tires is the crown jewel of an intriguing tug-of-war.

A collection of fading fantasy tchotchkes lines this dirt road in the Colorado wilderness.

It is the only marker for one of the most famous hate crimes in American history. There are no other memorials for him in the entire state.

Dance on a hand-hewn log floor padded with bouncy boxcar springs at a saloon built in 1883.

Taos Pueblo recipes, foraged ingredients, and outdoor ovens define the menu at this eatery.

This restaurant features Native American foods from across the country.

Enjoy dishes that founding fathers once ate at this Colonial Williamsburg pub.

Eat like a "buckaroo" at this remote restaurant.

This ice cream parlor serves scoops of flavors like rakia, medlar, and poppy seed.

Step past the gas pumps and into a fine French bistro.

Some of the best pastries in "the Czech heritage capital of Texas" come from a gas station off I-35.