Places rubysage Wants to Go

Artisans have been gathering in North Carolina since 1989 to show off whimsical takes on an everyday item.

The time thousands of bags of chips washed ashore in the Outer Banks is memorialized in a local museum.

This museum explores the lives of Chang and Eng, the "Original Siamese Twins."

The only pachinko parlor in the United States.

Rare videos and memorabilia await visitors inside this unique store.

A nourishing complex of found object art, paintings, and sculptures that celebrate key figures in Black history.

Step back in time on this preserved 1800s farm.

Divinely-inspired village houses 6,000 dolls, plus strange and lovely outsider art.

The wooden house where the jazz great learned to play the piano.

Follow the path behind this treat-slinging camper van to a sculpture garden in the forest.

This roadside attraction has been serving out its fair share of hearty folklore and chaos since 1858.

The 15-foot-wide, 2-ton pan fries hundreds of chickens once a year.

Some North Carolina Cherokee have been keeping their history alive for decades with a single play.

This Transylvania County city is home to a rare white squirrel population that is descended from an escaped carnival animal.

Ruins of an American Civil War iron forge still survive today.

A wonderful display of arts and crafts handmade by local artisans in the Southern Appalachians.

A psychological self-portrait in the form of a giant, segmented head.

A 17th-century bezoar, dirt from an infamous site, and other curios decorate this unusual bar.

A six-foot pair of socks hangs from a drawer of the world's largest bureau.

A wedding chapel, vintage clothing shop, and bar all under one roof.

This nine-story building can be played like an instrument.

Perhaps the oldest vine in North America, this sprawling plant helps make a sweet wine.

Art museum based around the collections accumulated over 58 years by one eccentric thrift store owner.

This North Carolina store preserves a historic moment in America's movement for racial equality.