I’m taking a break this week from showing you one of our Favorite Places so I can share with you one of the resources we use to get to those favorite places. It is Reader’s Digest’s Off the Beaten Path.
This book is for the traveler who likes to see interesting and under-visited places around the U.S. There are over 1,000 destinations spread from Maine to Hawaii and Alaska to Florida. This handy guide is organized by state. Within each state you will find an updated map, a list of the unique sites and lots of colorful pictures. Plus, there is a good description of each place with all the necessary information.
We are preparing to hit the road this week, heading east from California. I’ve looked through each of the states we plan to visit and I’ve scouted out some great places along the way. To give you an idea of how unique this book is, I picked a state right in the middle: Missouri. There are 24 Off the Beaten Path places in the state. Here’s a sample:
- Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge – a bird lover’s paradise (warblers, avocets, snow geese, bald eagles)
- The YouZeum – interactive exhibits about your body and health
- Jefferson Farm and Gardens – showplace on the importance of farming and horticulture inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s garden at Monticello (67 acres)
- City Museum in St. Louis – This museum is devoted to the eccentric and surreal with exhibits both inside and outside
I hope you get the idea with just a few examples. I didn’t even mention the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum or Mark Twain’s Historic site or the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library. Every state has its own unique set of places to visit. These are good vacation destinations or day trips if you live nearby.
We have used this guide for years but now they have a new, up-dated Third Edition. Keeping this guide up-to-date is one of the things I like about it. Be prepared, it is a big book, over an inch thick, and heavy. We are selective on what comes along with us as we travel. This one makes the cut.
On the Contents page is a quote of Mark Twain’s that I find so appropriate for Off-the-Beaten-Path Travelers.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. . . Explore. Dream. Discover.”
What are your Favorite Places that are Off the Beaten Path?
What a wonderful post. I am very interested in travels and travelling and think this sounds like a great book. The city museum in St. Louis sounds like a fun place to go and see.
And moreover (to add to Mark Twain if I might be so presumptuous), in another 20 years you might not be *able* to do those things! Alas, now I’m almost to the Emily Dickinson Stage of Life (as in, “There is no frigate like a BOOK to take us lands away….”)
Fun post! I hope we see more from Off the Beaten Path!
Sounds like a great book! Is your trip all planned out or will you go wherever the road leads you? I hope you have a great time.
You are living the retired life that I hope to have. Thanks so much for this valuable resource. I hope to put it to good use sometime soon.
Super resource. I’m going have to look for it. We usually try not to overplan when we travel.
Travel safely, and I assume you’ll be blogging along the way.
Great post, mom! I absolutely love travel books, maps and thinking about traveling~almost as much as I LOVE to travel. I wish there was a link on your site to purchase that book (hint, hint). Very good quote too. As I get older, I appreciate Mark Twain and his (often cantankerous) views of life. Thanks.
happy trails, candice
Well, if you make it as far east as Cleveland there’s a great off-the-radar tour guide named Stacy. Let me know if you need to contact her
Have happy and safe travel!
Too bad they don’t cover Canada – that’s where we’re headed this summer.
I loved Monticello – the gardens as well as the home. Excellent place to visit.
If you are ever in the Hartford, CT area you should go to Mark Twain’s House. It is so cool.
This looks like a great book. Will you be blogging as you go? Even the phrase “off the beaten path” sounds so enticing.
This book is the best for finding off the beaten path areas to visit. My husband and I enjoyed horseback riding on the Big Island’s Waipi’o Valley after learning about it from Off the Beaten Path. I’ll look forward to reading about your journey. Safe travels.
I think I have one of the older ones. Grandma gave it to me when I went to college, I think. I love to look thru it it makes great day trips when you want to go on a trip but cant go too far. I am planning some of those myself. Maybe I should hunt out my old book.