u/atlasobscura

I grew up in what I would call a "road trip" family. There were times, sure, when we would travel to specific destinations by plane, like the trip I took in 1996 to visit New York City with my mother, or a visit to London after 7th grade (which, admittedly, would be a difficult drive from the US). Still, every summer it was normal for all 5 of us (mom, dad, two sisters, and me) to pile into the family suburban and drive from our home in Austin, Texas to the small town of Onekama, in northern Michigan.

This is why, about a decade ago when I experienced an impactful break-up and the end of a contracted job, I took to the road. I had a loose plan to visit some of the places my parents had shown me, to see some friends, and also the forge my own path. That trip took me to 28 states in 57 days. Since then, I've planned a few long trips each year: camping in my van on the way to New Orleans and back, hitting a wedding in Utah and Wisconsin's House on the Rock on my way home, and even "stopping by" a friend's baby shower in Boston between concerts in Philadelphia.

Full blog here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/have-van-will-travel

Among the horrors our ancestors visited upon the dead, gibbeting is a highly specific one, although by no means unique in its brutality. Someone who came to a bad end might find their head plunged on the end of a spike. After a horribly protracted execution, the body of a traitor could be divvied up and scattered across the land to decorate the walls of treasonous towns. (That rebellion doesn’t seem like such a great idea, now, right?) Gibbeting punished criminals even in death and warned the living to toe the line.

Among the horrors our ancestors visited upon the dead, gibbeting is a highly specific one, although by no means unique in its brutality. Someone who came to a bad end might find their head plunged on the end of a spike. After a horribly protracted execution, the body of a traitor could be divvied up and scattered across the land to decorate the walls of treasonous towns. (That rebellion doesn’t seem like such a great idea, now, right?) Gibbeting punished criminals even in death and warned the living to toe the line.

Somewhat dwarfed by the magnificent third-century Porta Maggiore ("Larger Gate"), just outside the Aurelian Walls of Rome stands a well-preserved tomb 33 feet above ground. While this marble monument may seem fit for an emperor, it was actually built for Eurysaces, a local baker and a former slave.

In La Fatarella, a village in Catalonia’s Terra Alta, the streets occasionally seem to have forgotten that they are supposed to be open to the sky. Wander through the old quarter and you will encounter narrow, twisting lanes that suddenly slip beneath houses, emerging again a few meters later in pools of sunlight. These covered passages, known locally as perxes, are among the village’s most distinctive architectural features—and they turn an ordinary stroll into something resembling a journey through a medieval maze.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/la-fatarella-perxes-and-sundials

"Driving down a rural stretch of US-68, nothing seems out of the ordinary...

Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland comes up almost unsuspectingly. No arrows or signs ushering visitors in, tracking how many miles until you reach your destination. But once it comes into sight, it's hard not to stop and take in the eclectic collection of folk art, toys, and rich history this roadside attraction has to offer."

Video here!: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/puns-toys-and-a-gun

Tucked away in the recesses of 6th Street’s Lucky Lizard Curios & Gifts, behind rows of lucky rabbit’s feet, creepy cryptids, and a life-size replica of Little Shop of Horrors’ Audrey II, sits a hidden treasure, a secret doorway to a world of macabre oddities and forgotten curiosities.

Austin’s Museum of the Weird.

Full blog here!: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/this-museum-is-keeping-austin-weird

Construction on the Torpedo Factory began on November 12, 1918, one day after the armistice ended World War I. Torpedoes began rolling off its production line in 1920. The complex expanded during World War II, then spent years as federal storage space, holding objects ranging from congressional records to surplus dinosaur bones.

Full post here!: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/torpedo-factory-art-center

"I was a late bloomer when it came to my own sexual education, and I owe most of it to Saint Emma Watson (yes, I canonized her).

In a 2016 How To: Academy talk with Gloria Steinem, St. Emma recommended the interactive sex-ed website OMGYES. I didn't stumble upon the clip until a couple of years later, but when I did, I was immediately intrigued and subsequently subscribed. And thus, my education began.

Fast forward a few years, and discovering the Antique Vibrator Museum—tucked inside the Good Vibrations store on Polk Street in San Francisco—gave me that same jolt of "wait, why didn't I know about this?"

"For nearly 50 years, Bay Area commuters have been greeted by an unlikely roadside mascot: a giant spinning ice cream sandwich along Highway 101 in Burlingame. Beneath it sits the factory store for It's-It, the oatmeal-cookie ice cream sandwich that has become one of Northern California's most beloved regional treats.

I grew up eating It's-Its by swimming pools, at my brother's Little League games, or really anywhere, yet somehow, I'd never stopped at the place where they were made. When I moved back to the Bay Area after nearly two decades, the sign became a familiar presence again. So, for my birthday, my partner and I decided to finally pull off the freeway. If you're not from around these parts, you may be asking yourself, "What's an It's-It?" Well, let me tell you."

Full blog here!: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/its-it-kind-of-birthday

I finally visited the V & E Simonetti Historic Tuba Collection after years of driving past it just a few minutes from my childhood home. This collection is the largest privately-held tuba museum in the world, with around 340 instruments – and not just tubas! Also featured in the collection are euphoniums, sousaphones, bugles, and more.

Check it out!

For more than three centuries, the Vistula River kept the fate of a most precious Polish treasure to herself. Our team searched for the royal trove in archives and underwater. But the river played her own game, and it took us more than ten years to realize that the Vistula reveals its secrets only on its own terms. This is not the story of a treasure hunt. It's the story of real exploration.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/the-river-of-treasures

"A payphone in Los Angeles already feels rare. A working payphone at the edge of the Angeles National Forest, waiting dutifully for hikers and passersby, feels almost surreal. Like the city forgot to erase one small thing.

The Altadena payphone became the first physical portal for The Goodbye Line, a participatory art project Adam Trunell and I created, inviting strangers to call from working payphones and leave the goodbyes they never got to say."

Full post: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/the-last-payphones-are-taking-goodbyes

I completed visiting all 50 states when I was 43 years old, but my journey began when I was eight.

Our family drove from Arizona to Florida to visit my grandparents. The five of us—and all of our stuff —were packed into our bright yellow-and-maroon extended minivan. We came up with nouns and verbs for Mad Libs, we played twenty questions, and kept track of what state license plates we saw. Somewhere along the way, I drew an outline map of the United States and began coloring in the states as we traveled.

Read Alicia's full story: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/is-are-we-there-yet-woth-it

"Welcome to Marsh's Free Museum!

When you walk in you're greeted with friendly staff, a giant bear and bins full of beautiful Japanese glass fishing floats. And you can't forget the extensive rows of vintage arcade games! Taxidermy was everywhere you looked...owls, seals, alligators...so much of it that every shelf seemed to have something waiting to catch your eye!

An original newspaper announcing the sinking of the Titanic. A shrunken head. Animal skins hanging from the walls. I kept thinking I'd made it through the whole museum before spotting another room or another display case packed with things I'd somehow missed."

Full post: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/welcome-to-marshs-free-museum-home-of-jake-the-alligator-man

"I heard about Perrystead the way any good Gen Z hears about anything--online. And if there's one thing in life I take seriously, its food (and if there's a second, its going on absurdly long walks in order to explore my city). With that in mind, the first time I visited Perrystead was with no expectations. It was early spring, and the garden wasn't in bloom yet. The cheese, however, blew me away; and every time I've been back since I get the same feeling I did the first time, like I've stumbled across a secret garden in the midst of an industrial center--immune to the normal sounds (and smells) of city life."

Full post: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/the-perrystead-dairy-vending-machine