Tempt Your Tastebuds along America's Byways

Road-tripping is hungry work, but rather than fill the backseat with wadded-up fast food wrappers and paper cups, add some savor to your trip with fine dining and authentic gourmet experiences along America's Byways®. Sample some of the nation's best fare, from world-famous restaurant dishes and cultural celebratory cuisine to roadside produce and locally made cheeses. Whatever tantalizes your tastebuds, you'll find constant culinary thrills on America's Byways.

There are no lobsters like these – simply boiled, with no fancy sauces, only melted butter and lemon, they have no equals anywhere. Even shipped or flown alive away from their dark homes, they lose something. – John Steinbeck

Start your culinary travels with a taste of the sea and try the Maine lobsters that impressed Steinbeck so much on his Travels with Charley. Each August, the Winter Harbor Lobster Festival on the Schoodic Scenic Byway invites you to celebrate one of New England's most famous foods with Lobster boat races, craft fairs, a late afternoon parade, and of course, an afternoon "lobster feed." For another fresh seafood experience, venture onto a crab deck on Maryland's Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway, where you'll open fresh blue crabs covered in classic Old Bay seasoning.

Take all you want, eat all you take.- Amish/Mennonite saying

Trips to the local farmer's market or family farms represent a return to early American roots. Many people tout fresh produce and cheese and weekly menus planned around harvest seasons as the ultimate in healthy living. Travel to the Midwest and visit Ohio's Amish Country Byway to put that theory to the test. Discover locally made cheeses and dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables, hand-crafted baked goods, and expertly presented meat and fish. For a one-of-a-kind, byway-specific treat, head to the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway in Minnesota, and pick up a Paul Bunyan sugar cookie which proudly carries the byway logo. In the spring, summer and fall, stop at the byways farmer's markets that abound all along the route.

To celebrate more cultural cuisine, try 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 than 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. If you find yourself on the route's southern end, be sure to pick up some famous New Mexico Chile Verde for a spicy kick on Route 66.

For more fine-dining adventure, head down south 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 more than 30 restaurants in the St. Augustine area to 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.

While you're down south, add some spice to your trip and head on over to the 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.

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 the 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.

Sometimes the best food experience requires a trip to the source, and Utah's Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway begins and ends where a nice chunk of the nation's food originates. Known by some as the 'land of milk and honey,' Logan offers up dairy products and fresh honey. Pick up a variety of cheeses and ice creams for a fraction of the price in your grocery store, and enjoy fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries in nearby Bear Lake. 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.

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 operate high-class restaurants on the Las Vegas strip. Superstar chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse join several up-and-coming culinary artists to compete for the multitudes of high rollers ready to drop wads of cash for world-class food. But while the big names bring big prices, you will also find plenty of mid-ranged restaurants that offer virtually every type of food imaginable- even the ubiquitous buffets.

Instead of spending mealtime 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, you're sure to discover some of America's most palate-pleasing, iconic dishes along America's Byways.