Road-tripping is hungry work, but rather than fill the backseat with wadded-up fast food wrappers and paper cups, add class to your trip with some fine dining along America's Byways®. Sample some of the nation's best fare in world-famous restaurants and culinary celebrations.
True connoisseurs flock to Florida's A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway in the late fall and early winter to sample famous cuisine, fine wines, and the certified best chowder in the area. Early November's Annual Great Chowder Debate invites over thirty restaurants in the St. Augustine area as they compete for the coveted title of Best Chowder. A few days later food and wine lovers converge on Ponte Vedra for the annual Food and Winefest. Northern Florida's finest gourmet restaurants provide multi-course meals, cooking seminars, and live entertainment. Early December tempts palates with wines, cheeses, and desserts at the Wine for the Holidays event.
Add some spice to your trip in the Deep South on Creole Nature Trail in Louisiana. The annual Cajun Music and Food Festival brings jambalaya, gumbo and catfish to Lake Charles' Burton Coliseum every summer. Practice your Cajun two-step between courses of BBQ and crawfish and enjoy the famed southern hospitality among authentic French Cajuns. For similar events up North, hit the road to Detroit's Woodward Avenue. Summertime attracts locals and tourists alike to Arts, Beats and Eats and Cityfest in this Michigan city. Both events offer an international taste test, where aromas entice travelers to sample exotic African dishes, spicy Latin American fare, good-old American BBQ and more against the backdrop of local art and music.
Food plays an essential part in the all-American road trip, and no road more completely represents the classic road trip like Historic Route 66. Along the Illinois portion of the byway you'll see the birthplace of the original corn dog and enjoy multiple opportunities to cradle an overflowing Chicago hot dog. Route 66 dining opportunities extend beyond well-dressed sausages, of course, as 50s-style diners line the world-famous route from Illinois to Arizona, offering classic American cuisine and old-fashioned hospitality. Be sure to pick up some famous New Mexico Chile Verde on the drive's southwestern end.
Often, while traveling across the nation, you find experiences so unique that they refuse to be passed up. Dine in the same restaurant as General George Armstrong Custer and Jesse James on Flint Hills National Scenic Byway in Kansas, home to the oldest continuously operated restaurant west of the Mississippi. Originally opened by Daniel Boone's great-grandson in 1867, the Hays House offers famous Kansas beef and fried chicken. Finish up your home-cooked meal with homemade peach pie. In Illinois, Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway offers its own singular dining experience. Grafton's Fin Inn along the byway invites diners to enjoy fresh fish and turtle soup while surrounded by 8,000 gallons of fish tanks. In Southern Utah, you might find rattlesnake cakes served as appetizers before a meal of organic, locally raised and grown smile-inducing concoctions in Torrey at the northern end of Scenic Byway 12. For a special treat, try the locally-baked mulberry pie, offered at the Historic Gifford Farm a few miles east of Torrey in Capitol Reef National Park.
For the western gourmand or lucky slot winner, the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada now boasts a rapidly growing assortment of fine dining experiences. Some of the most recognizable names among American chefs now operate high-class restaurants on the Las Vegas strip. Superstar chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Legasse join several up-and-comers to compete for the multitudes of high rollers ready to drop wads of cash for world-class food. While the big names bring big prices, the average American road-tripper finds plenty of mid-ranged restaurants offering virtually every type of food imaginable. Yes, including the ubiquitous buffets.
Instead of spending meal time at the usual dining establishments along American roadways, include dining plans along with your hotel reservations and theme-park tickets. With a bit of planning, America's Byways will satisfy each of your culinary cravings.
