Food Trails
Some of the best vacations happen when our stomachs lead the way. Luckily, the U.S. is crisscrossed by sweet and savory byways that make a tasty case for a road trip seasoned with summertime favorites.
- Download the online map and cruise the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail (visitnh.gov), started in 2012 to promote New Hampshire’s dairy farm industry. With 50 stops around the Granite State, this route is sprinkled with ice cream parlors, candy stores, restaurants, and dairy farms, such as the family-owned Beech Hill Farms and Ice Cream Barn, home to more than 75 New England-made flavors, including sugar-free versions and a make-your-own-sundae bar.
- A good burger always satisfies after a long drive, and in California’s scenic Sierra Nevada foothills, more than 30 independently owned saloons, trendy restaurants, rustic roadhouses, and Gold Rush-era haunts serve unique and hearty versions of America’s favorite sandwich along the new Amador Burger Route (visitamador.com). Not to miss is the historic Hotel Sutter’s mighty ½-pound Traveller Whiskey Burger, topped with house-made BBQ sauce, bacon, and crispy onion strings.
- For those who don’t mind the sound of shucking and slurping, the North Carolina Oyster Trail (ncoystertrail.org) suggests more than 80 places to pull over, including seafood markets, educational centers, museums, restaurants, oyster bars, and tour companies, such as Coastal Eco Adventures, where guests are taken by boat to a seed nursery and farm and taught to open and taste the beloved bivalves.
Road Writers
While smartphones have become the de facto diaries for daily and far-flung adventures, Lavinia Spalding, author of Writing Away, says that recording the world via pen and paper has its rewards too. “A journal isn’t just a storage unit for memories and impressions, it’s an artifact and a one-of-a-kind souvenir. And the act of keeping a journal is a path to mindfulness and deeper awareness.” Spalding shares these tips for safeguarding precious moments:
Best type of journal? “I’m partial to unlined journals because they double as sketch pads or collage canvases for the ephemera of a trip, such as business cards, wine labels, ticket stubs, and dried flowers (pack a glue stick). Some people prefer lines or the structure of a fill-in-the-blank notebook, and that’s great. Find a journal that invites you in.”
What to write? “Ask yourself each day what you want to remember or would regret forgetting. I recommend taking notes on what you won’t be able to find later in photographs, such as what you smelled, tasted, heard, touched, and how you felt in the moment.”
How often? “It’s best if you can write a little every day. Five or ten minutes in the morning or evening can accomplish a lot, even if you’re just scribbling bullet-point highlights.”
New Fee
Mexico is a popular cruise destination for Americans, but south-of-the-border seafarers take note: Mexican authorities wanted to create a $42 per person tourist tax that would apply to all cruise ship passengers, whether they disembark or not. (Historically, port fees in Mexico were waived for those who stayed aboard.) After some backlash, the fee has been lowered to $5, beginning July 1, but it will rise to $21 over the next three years.
This article is featured in the July/August 2025 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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