Ah, the great American road trip. Packing up the car, hitting the road, and finding your destination along the way. But if you want to plan just a little bit in advance, plot out a few points on your itinerary before you leave, we’ve got you covered. Or, really, you do — we asked for your favorite road trip stops this morning, and boy did you deliver.
For all the Texans who will be chiming in:
Buc-ee’s.
It’s a like a mega-truck stop sexed up the Sheetz/Wawa twins in a Super-Target store. They have pretty decent food (prepared on-site all day) including brisket and bbq sammiches, tacos, and kolaches, plus several steer’s worth of jerkies and literal walls of packaged beaver-branded snacks (Beaver Nuggets are pretty dang tasty in a super-sweet-sugary kid’s cereal kinda way). Add into it they tend to sell locally relevant products (at my nearest one in New Braunfels they sell the ubiquitous “huntin’ “ supplies like bags of deer corn, feeders and the odd deer stand plus river/lake tubing gear for the nearby bodies of water) and all the Texas souvenirs you could ever want, tacky middle-aged white woman decor of a Chip and Joan bent (life-affirming slogans painted on rusty corrugated tin, Christian-adjacent tat, faux rustic everything) and fresh coffee and fountain drinks and more gas pumps than you could ever need.All in all a pretty darn good travel stop but what really sets them up as a must-stop is their bathrooms are huge and impeccably clean. Always.
Despite having never entered the state of Texas, even I’ve heard of Buc-ee’s: a sort of sprawling Tractor Supply/Bass Pro Shop/Cabela’s-style institution, that also happens to sell food and gas. It seems like the perfect place to stop when you venture out on a hunting trip, only to realize you’ve forgotten everything up and including your own clothing. Just one of those days.
Submitted by: Lahjik
I will laugh my way across Iowa
I can’t imagine what you’re laughing about, when faced with this kind of selection. A store that sells gasoline and fuel for your human body, like pre-packaged sandwiches or a nice refreshing Gatorade? A place you can come to, refuel your car and body and mind — even your very soul — and then go forth from.
Submitted by: 4jim
Tony’s I-75, in Birch Run. Get the 1lb. Bacon sammich, with a side of bacon;
This seems as good a time as any to reveal a deep truth about myself: I don’t really understand the whole bacon thing. It can be nice, sure, but it’s not even one of the top preparations of pork in my book. It’s so difficult to get right, neither chewy nor overcooked, and even when done absolutely perfectly it’s still not as tasty as char siu or tonkatsu. The bacon lovers among you may be eyeing a pilgrimage to Tony’s, but I’ll catch you all at the the stop after.
Submitted by: Philmosk
Most Midwesterners think Quik Trip is the shit. Me? I will always pull off for a Sapp Brothers. You can get good coffee, “intimate lubrication” AND fireworks. What else ya need?
As a gas station connoisseur, I can confirm: The more flammable items for sale, the better. Gas? Off to a good start. Gas and Bic lighters on the counter? Even better. Gas, Bic lighters, and a full array of fireworks? Now we’re really talking. Just make sure your next campground isn’t full of dry leaves before setting them off.
Submitted by: JadeRose
South of the Border. If you have traveled up and down the East Coast you will see the billboards and you will stop once and be disappointed.
I’ve driven past South Of The Border more than my fair share of times — which is to say, any number of times. This photo is from 2021, and features enormous caricatures and a “Mexico shop.” South Of The Border is, for those new to this exciting locale, in South Carolina. Not a great look, I have to say.
Submitted by: phatplat
When I’m road tripping, I always take at least one meal per day at a fun, unique restaurant. I hop on Yelp and look for weird, highly-rated stuff. Even if I have to drive 20 min out of the way. It’s a rule for me.
I found this great Vietnamese place in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. There wasn’t a menu, per se. The place had like 3 tables, and the little old lady running it just gave you food.
This, however, is a great look. Hop off the highway at lunch time, check Yelp or the local subreddit, and find where the locals eat — then grab a bite there rather than the next McDonald’s drive-thru you pass. Not only will you get better food, you’ll help out a local business that’s probably seen diminishing returns since that chain opened right off the exit. The great experience is just a bonus.
Submitted by: Unacceptably Dry Scones
The Cut River Bridge Roadside Park on US-2 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a good stop to walk around and get an up close view of a steel cantilever bridge. Parking available on each end.
If you really take the time to think about it, big bridges are absolute miracles of engineering. Forcing steel and asphalt to span enormous gaps, only to then ask that they bear the weight of passing vehicles? Looking up at a steel bridge from underneath gives such an interesting view of the mechanics, how the bridge is structured to combat the various forces it has to deal with.
Submitted by: 4Motion
It’s really any of those trucker-centric mega gas stations where you can step into a road warrior’s superstore. This is where you’ll find the best selection of cheap sunglasses, gaudy hats, and offensive T shirts. I once saw canned oxygen being peddled as a legal recreational drug along side a neon assortment of OTC stimulant pills. The best of these mega gas stations even have a section full of big rig jewelry that flashy truckers buy to pimp their trucks. These places are the best.
In my life, I’ve visited truck stops that sold CB radios out of locked display cases, along with night vision goggles, flare funs, anything you can imagine. It’s all out there, on the road, ready for the taking. Do you need to return from your road trip with a bountiful harvest of gas-station gadgets? Probably not. But, think of them as souvenirs, and suddenly the idea gets a lot more appealing.
Submitted by: Kaiser Khan
Any historical, random, or natural feature that you otherwise wouldn’t make a dedicated trip for.
I use Atlas Obscura to find random but fun things along the way on any road trip, like the Superman statue in Metropolis, IL, hiking the tallest point in North Dakota on my way to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (it wasn’t very tall), or the Engineers Tradition Stone in Fairbanks, AK. This sort of goofy stuff is fun and you might learn a cool random fact, or you might be disappointed but hey, it wasn’t out of your way.
I’ve actually been on a road trip entirely comprised of Atlas Obscura spots. Places like abandoned water parks, old military bases, and a tube of cooled lava in the Mojave desert. They aren’t always the most accessible locations, but they’re always an experience once you arrive.
Submitted by: dreygata
The Bathroom. After you had to hold it for while that feeling of euphoria as the buildup of pressure is released is as amazing and awe inspiring as some of the greatest road trip sites.
Hey, sometimes you don’t choose the stop — the stop chooses you. When you really need to pull over, there’s no point in being picky. If it works, it works, and will get you back on the road and headed towards your destination. In the end, that can be the best stop of them all.
Submitted by: daveman