Think of a place you visited and found an unexpected pleasure. Or maybe a place lots of people visit while overlooking something.
I asked a co-worker, a total history buff, about what there was to do in Amarillo and he drew a blank. Mrs. L and I totally enjoyed visiting this place:
I told him, “Amarillo has some cool stuff,” which surprised him greatly.
ETA Hotel and restaurant recommendations would be great!
Amarillo has The Big Texan, 64oz steak!
That’s…about all I know about it though. Oh, and they still allow smoking in restaurants like a bunch of savages.
We ate at the Big Texan…but i0reasonably sized meal. They also had this kind of bizarre shooting gallery with skeletons. They also had the pictures with the lenticular screens where from one angle it looks like a normal person but move a bit and whoa! It’s a skull!
We also liked this monument
Of course the Cadillac Ranch is there.
And this Peace Monument.
Did they do that thing where if you eat the whole thing in one sitting (including the baked potato and salad), it’s free?
I guess this is becoming an Amarillo thread, but just to try to go along with the OP,
If you’re ever in Amarillo, make sure you… get vaccinated.
They set up a huge COVID vaccination center there, and the locals were unenthusiastic, so there were encouraging anyone to come. Half of Santa Fe (including me) drove there to get vaccinated early this year. I went to the botanical gardens (disappointing), but didn’t know about any of these other attractions.
If you’re ever in Cape Town, visit Kalk Bay. Have some fish and chips in the harbour.
If you’re ever in Venice, just … step off the well-trodden, people-packed tourist route from St Mark’s to the Rialto. Get lost, as I did in the days before smartphone GPSes. Find some little campo facing a couple of bridges where some small canals intersect and just breathe.
In 2018 I visited Huntsville, AL to attend an SAE meeting. Another person at the meeting asked me if I wanted to visit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center afterwards. I didn’t have any plans, so I said, “Sure.” I had never heard of it, but it sounded interesting. I was blown away… the museum was fantastic. It contains two Saturn V rockets: an upright, full-size model located outside and a real one (lying horizontally) inside. It’s impossible to adequately describe the size of it - you have to see it. I was so impressed that I am thinking of taking our son to it in a couple weeks.
Another one I thought of: if you’re ever in Oklahoma City, stop by the Oklahoma City National Memorial, along with the museum located adjacent to it. I was really moved by it. Well worth it.
If you’re in Kansas City, make a trip to the National World War One museum and memorial. It’s a world-class museum about World War One- not just the US experience. It is on par with the Imperial War Museum in London and the French Military Museum at Les Invalides in terms of quality, layout, etc…
I haven’t been there in years but it was a blast as a kid: freeze-dried astronaut food, Skylab mock-up, chairs that simulated weightlessness – I believe they filmed the movie Space Camp there. If they still give tours, hit the Marshall Space Flight Center just down the block.
If you’re in Maggie Valley, NC, get your butt out of bed early and breakfast at Joey’s Pancake House. People drive from miles around and hours away for a stack and a ham steak the size of a regulation Frisbee. Prepare to wait. They don’t do lunch or dinner.
If you’re ever in Chicago make sure you stop by
The Wooly Mammoth
It’s odd, macabre, funky and surprising, don’t leave without buying something even if it’s porcupine quills and a sticker.
I think so, yeah. I did eat there, but I didn’t do any of that nonsense.
Who cares about that dumb ass movie!? Actual real-life space camp is there! I went in 85…sadly just before the challenger disaster.
So much steak . . . lungs filling, sinuses packed with meat . . .”
If you’re ever in Toledo, OH, make sure you stop by Tony Packo’s Restaurant at 1902 Front St. In addition to good food and a full-service bar, there are hundreds of hot dog buns hung on the walls. Each is signed by a well-known artist, entertainer, or politician.
If you’re ever in Dayton, OH, make sure you stop by two places:
The original Marion’s Piazza at 711 Shroyer Rd. There are dozens of B&W photos on the walls that show famous actors & actresses who visited the restaurant in the 1960s and 1970s.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force. It’s the only place you can see the Valkyrie, among other things.
If you’re ever in Sebastopol, CA, make sure you take a short stroll or drive down Florence Avenue to check out all the cool Patrick Amiot creations in people’s front yards.
If you’re ever in New Haven, CT make sure you eat at Louis Lunch. It’s a very quaint little place where the hamburger was allegedly invented.
But don’t ask for ketchup!
And if you’re ever in my home town of West Bend, WI, make sure you eat at Omicron just to say you did.
But don’t ask what the medieval looking tower is in the middle of town.
It’s where we keep the princess locked up. 
Ill second this nomination. By far the best air/space museum. Way better than the Smithsonian. And really the only reason to make a trip to Dayton at all if you weren’t already headed there, or through there, for some other commitments.
We were going to stop there on our way back from Asheville NC but had to redirect. I always used to make these lists of multiple attractions in the area. If the main one wasn’t that great, that gave us other options. If you’re going back perhaps these would be of interest.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSE: http://wrightinalabama.com/ ($10 to tour)
Unclaimed Luggage Unclaimed Baggage Center, Scottsboro, Alabama
Harmony Park Safari
Next to Maple Hill Cemetery Dead Children’s Playground
So to recommend something I can vouch for? In Asheville NC, Chai Pani has great Indian food—really good pakoras.
http://www.chaipaniasheville.com/
In Philadelphia, at the Reading Terminal Market there’s a restaurant named “The Dutch Eating Place” that serves an awesome Reuben sandwich.
If you’re ever in Corning, NY, go to the Corning Museum of Glass. There’s a section on art glass, another gallery with a collection of glass from different eras and locations, and a section on scientific uses, like fiver optics and telescopes.