Venturing Beyond Big-Name Attractions

On the Iowa side of the Mississippi, just a few miles north of the Quad Cities in Le Claire, is a rustic little eating spot called Sneaky Pete's. This place always springs to mind when people ask me what I like most about travelling. The gritty charm, the view of the river, the white oak steaks, the sacrificial neckties dangling from the ceiling. I can go on and on, but my favorite part is that I found it by employing what my wife calls my "Forrest Gump method."

In other words, I ended up there because I was driving around, got lost and then hungry. In any case, the hour or so I spent there shooting the breeze with the bartender and a local antique dealer is one my best memories of a surprisingly fun trip to the Quad Cities.

Sure, it's fun to check out the headline-grabbers. If you're in Boston, for example, you have to try the chowder. Indeed, what we've read, seen and heard about cities is what attracts us to them in the first place. But for my money, it's a city's capacity for surprise that often yields the best memories ... and the most compelling stories.

From east to west, here are a few US cities poised to surprise you in one fashion or another:

The Rochester area in Upstate New York promises several fascinating museums, specifically the International Museum of Photography and Film and the wiggle-worthy Jell-O Museum in nearby Leroy. Meanwhile, high culture in Pittsburgh runs far deeper than Terrible Towels and Primanti Brothers thanks to highbrow institutions like the Carnegie Museum of Art, where the permanent exhibits include pieces by Renoir, Degas, Pollock and Warhol. On the Left Coast, the Museums of Photographic Arts and Contemporary Art offer just two reasons why San Diego is a must-do for art lovers.

If sweet tea and antique shopping appeals to you, Pendleton, SC is certainly rich in both. Additionally, the Historic Pendleton District more or less includes every building and home within sight of the village green, including an Episcopal church and farmers' hall that have been in continuous use since the 1820s. Over in Texas, there's a small crossroad community outside of New Braunfels called Gruene. Aside from "gently resisting change since 1872," it's also home to the state's oldest dance hall and a whole posse of antique dealers. Several hours north, Oklahoma City's avant garde aspirations are on display in the Historic Paseo Arts District, which over the years has made the transition from hippie enclave to vibrant art community.

About halfway between Louisville and Indianapolis on I-65 is Columbus, Indiana. Amazingly enough, the American Institute of Architects ranks this town of 39,000 behind only Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, DC as one of the most architecturally significant cities in the US. If you're a student of architecture or just have an affinity for cool designs, Columbus is definitely worth a sidetrip.

The Vanderbilt Family's "country retreat" draws over one million people to the Asheville area each year. While there's no question that the stunning Biltmore Estate warrants exploration (especially in the spring), so too does the innovative cookery going on in downtown kitchens like Ophelia's, Limones, and Flying Frog. Kansas City, meanwhile, has robust Italian eateries like Paulo & Bill, proving they're cooking a lot more than meat-n-potatoes on the prairie nowadays. Further west, Vegas has made its way onto the "eats scene" by shoving aside the cheap buffets of yore with a truly global tableu of high-end restaurants such as Joël Robuchon at the Mansion.