Food

As we traveled the country, we tried to experience local culture. We didn't have much time in each location, so we thought that one of the best ways to do this quickly was to partake of local foods.

Therefore, in addition to our National Park theme, we also had a "local food" theme. As we hit each state, we ate a food famous in that state.

Just an example; we didn't go off of this map

We quickly came to realize that this is a very subjective endeavor. Before we started, I ignorantly assumed that each state would have one or two "famous" foods, making the selection process easy.

Not true.

First of all, most of what shows up on lists of foods by state is hardly "famous." It's more like "foods you will definitely find in this state and may or may not find elsewhere." Some states have a dozen such foods or more. Many states have the same "famous" foods (there is a lot of crossover with fruit and beef).

Second, much of this food is hyper-regional. It's more like famous foods by city, and if we aren't near that city, we're out of luck.

It's far from a perfect science, but we did our best.

What follows is the list of foods we tried, along with thoughts about them and a note about each person's favorite. As for favorites, it's like trying to pick our favorite national park: basically impossible!

Foods

Florida: Seafood, Cuban Sandwiches

Cuban sandwiches from a food truck: Can't beat it. The food truck was run by a Salvadorian couple, but the sandwiches were delicious, so let's not quibble.

We also picked up some stone crabs, shrimp, and a mangrove snapper to make in the RV.

Georgia: Brunswick Stew

We picked it up in Brunswick, GA. This is one of two locations that claim to be the home of Brunswick stew, the other being Brunswick County, VA. Julie is a Brunswick stew fan, but this was very different than the one she's used to from Fresh Air in Jackson, GA. This one was bean-heavy.

South Carolina: Frogmore Stew (a.k.a. Lowcountry Boil)

We make a low country boil every year at the family vacation in Edisto Beach. It's a family favorite!

Tennessee: Country Ham

Wow, they like their salt in Tennessee!

Kentucky: KFC, Mutton BBQ, Burgoo

We thought we were going to strike out in KY. After acting stumped and thinking for a bit, one lifelong resident told us that their famous food was "beef." We thought we could do better than that, but we were in a part of the state that didn't offer much outside of fast food. KFC is technically a Kentucky creation, so we initially figured that's the best we could do. But thanks to an unplanned detour, we were able to find some true Kentucky fare, mutton BBQ and burgoo. Burgoo is basically Brunswick stew, but those smart folks in Kentucky knew that they could claim it as their own if they called it something else.

West Virginia: Pepperoni Rolls

Basically an inside-out pepperoni pizza without sauce. Literally. We watched him make them.

Virginia: Peanuts

I like peanuts, and I liked the Virginia peanuts, but there's no way I could tell you how they were different from any other peanuts.

Pennsylvania: Philly Cheesesteak

We got the original at Pat's King of Steaks. If you want to go authentic, you order it 'wit' onions and topped with Cheese Whiz. I was skeptical, but man, it was really good.

Delaware: "The Bobbie" Sandwich, Scrapple

We got "The Bobbie" from Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. It was invented by a relative of the founders named Bobbie. She'd make them the day after Thanksgiving each year as a way to use up leftovers. It's cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, and mayonnaise on a hoagie.

Scrapple is... well... they say it's best you don't worry about what's in it.

Maryland: Steamed Blue Crabs

They like their Old Bay in Maryland! We saw a shirt that says "I put Old Bay on my Old Bay." Sounds about right based on the quantity they put on the crabs.

New York: Pizza

We were all very familiar with New York style pizza, but that didn't make it any less delicious!

New Jersey: Saltwater Taffy

We cheated a little bit and picked some up in New York, but close enough. We were barely over the state line. Plus, it's a New Jersey creation. And no, it does not contain saltwater. It contains sugar. Full stop.

Connecticut: White Clam Pizza, Tomato Pie

We picked these up from Frank Pepe Pizzeria in New Haven's Little Italy district.

Rhode Island: Frozen Lemonade

We got ours from Del's, which traces its roots back to 1840 in Italy where it was made using snow. We were told in no uncertain terms by the girl working the stand that locals do not use straws. 3 of 4 of us violated that rule (the fifth, Asher, doesn't like lemonade).

Massachusetts: Clam Chowder, Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts (technically just Dunkin' now) feels like a cheap one since they are available nationwide, but they are technically from MA. We went to the location of the original Dunkin' Donuts, opened in 1950. The site was original, but the building was not. The donuts were predictably delicious and tasted exactly like they do at every other Dunkin' site.

Maine: Lobster Rolls, Wild Blueberries

The wild blueberries were just turning ripe when we visited Acadia National Park. We picked the ones we could find. Wild blueberries are smaller than the varieties we're used to, so it takes a lot of picking to get a reasonable amount. And they grow very close to the ground, not on bushes like other blueberries.

New Hampshire: Maple Ice Cream

Just as delicious as it sounds. My kids were all skeptical, but the taste (which is fairly mild) won them over. We had it at Intervale Farm Pancake House, which makes their own syrup and their own ice cream.

Vermont: Maple Syrup

We stayed at a syrup farm for a night. They gave us a tour of the operation. They have 3k+ trees up the side of a mountain, each with two taps. And the days of hanging a bucket under a faucet screwed into the tree are over. Every one of the trees is connected via a series of pipes such that all of the sap flows to the sugar house where it is processed into syrup! It was amazing. Oh, and the resulting syrup is delicious. We bought a half gallon to use on our trip. Yes, that's a lot of syrup, but real syrup doesn't go bad.

Ohio: Buckeyes

Finally, a state where it wasn't going to be hard to get everyone to try the food! After all, this isn't scrapple. A buckeye is basically a Reese's peanut butter cup in a different shape. No sweat; everyone will eagerly try these and love them. My only concern was how much I was going to end up spending on them once everyone overwhelmingly loved them, because they aren't cheap. Well, I loved them. Caleb really liked them. We polished them off. The others... well, they just have poor taste. And "too buttery"? Really, Jordan? Is that even a valid critique of any food?

Indiana: Fried Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Sweet Corn

We had a brain fart on this one and ordered a fried pork tenderloin sandwich from Schoop's for both Julie and I, leaving the bun off for Julie since she has a wheat allergy. Turns out that leaving the bun off of a fried sandwich in an effort to avoid wheat is a pointless exercise. This led to me eating a double fried pork tenderloin sandwich. It was good but also a bit much.

Michigan: Blueberries, Faygo Pop

That's right, pop. They don't serve soda in Michigan.

Illinois: Deep Dish Pizza

From our campsite in Indiana, we took the train to the city for the day. We of course had to pick up some deep dish pizza while we were there. There are many options, but we went with Lou Malnati's. I knew going in that my family loved pizza. Turns out that my family loves New York style pizza. I never thought I'd have to utter "eat your pizza" to my kids. I ate mine, but if I'm being honest, I prefer New York style as well.

Wisconsin: Cheese

I'm a huge cheese fan, and I'm pretty adventurous. I'll try just about any kind of cheese, even the stinky ones. Needless to say, I was looking forward to Wisconsin. The other members of my family also love cheese, but they are unfortunately not nearly as adventurous. We picked up 6 or 7 different varieties of cheese while in Wisconsin, many of them some variation of cheddar. Oh well. I still enjoyed them!

Minnesota: Fried Walleye Sandwich, Juicy Lucy Sandwich, Wild Rice, Hotdish

Driving around northern Minnesota, you'd think people eat walleye for every meal. The fried walleye sandwich was quite good, so maybe they do!

North Dakota: Hot Beef Sandwich, Kuchen

Put some pot roast in between two pieces of white bread and pour way too much gravy on it and you've got yourself a hot beef sandwich. None of us were huge fans, though I played the good soldier and ate it.

"Kuchen" is simply German for cake. This is a heavier cake, though. It has the consistency of a cheesecake, but it's not made with cream cheese.

South Dakota: Bison, Indian Tacos, Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Bison meat is leaner than standard beef. Lean meat tends to lack flavor, and that is what we found with the bison. We tried it on burgers and as a fried steak. We found both to be bland.

Indian tacos take the standard taco ingredients and lay them flat on a piece of Indian bread, which is sort of like an airy gyro bread. I found that I prefer the standard hard corn shell or soft tortilla shell.

South Dakota State University claims to have invented Cookies & Cream. It's unclear if they actually did, but that doesn't matter.

Montana: Huckleberry Crepes

What's a huckleberry, you ask? A proper huckleberry is actually a relative of the blueberry, and they grow well in Montana. It's different than an eastern huckleberry. You can get just about anything huckleberry flavored in Montana. We went with crepes from a bakery in Billings. Two thumbs up from me.

Idaho: Potatoes

Julie's a lover of all things potato, and she's been looking forward to this one for some time. We stopped by the Idaho Potato Museum, which contains a small café. Their fry machine was broken. It feels like that's party foul number one if you are the Idaho Potato Museum. But no matter; they had baked potatoes and potato ice cream. And before you gag, understand that potato ice cream is regular ice cream with just enough potato flakes added to call it "potato ice cream" so that the Idaho Potato Museum can sell it. They added zero potato flavor.

Wyoming: Beef

Any number of states around here could probably lay claim to beef, but Wyoming felt like as good a state as any. We purchased some jerky from a local rancher, and we had some meatloaf made with local beef at the Yellowstone Inn during our visit to the park. We tried, but we never had a steak. All restaurants in the park that served steam required reservations, which we didn't have.

Utah: Scones

These are almost certainly not what you are picturing. Instead, think of an elephant ear that you'd get at a fair. It's like that. And it's served with honey butter. And it's delicious.

Nevada: Las Vegas Buffet

Lest you feel like we cheated with this one, I challenge you to find a famous Nevada dish. Deadspin wrote "The Great American Menu: Foods Of The States, Ranked And Mapped" in 2013, and Nevada was the only state given an empty plate.

Colorado: Blue Corn

Colorado is apparently one of those states that doesn't have a particular dish for which they feel proud. A few lists will tell you to try Rocky Mountain oysters, but some locals told us that was just a joke they play on tourists (others did admit to eating them but said they wouldn't really consider them a "Colorado food"). We ended up purchasing some blue corn meal from an Indian reservation and making corn cakes out of it.

New Mexico: Chiles

Unlike Colorado, there was no question what a person had to try in New Mexico. Chiles are everywhere in this state. They are green, or they are red. That's pretty much all you need to know to order. If you want both, order your meal "Christmas style." (They are the same chile, just in different states of ripeness.) We had green chile pizza, green chile salsa, and green chile rellenos.

Texas: Brisket and Kolaches

We lucked into the brisket by virtue of being in Texas on Thanksgiving. The campground at which we were staying offered a (free) Thanksgiving meal for all guests. A few guys were up all night smoking the meat for the meal!

Mexico: Tamales, Goat Tacos, and Enchiladas

The astute reader may notice that this is not a state. We hadn't planned it ahead of time, but our visit to Big Bend afforded us an opportunity to literally walk across the Rio Grande into Mexico. We visited a local restaurant (one of the two options in town), and there were three things on the menu that day. We ordered all three. We also ordered some so-called "Mexican Cokes." It's Coke with cane sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup we get here in the States.

Arizona: Sonoran Hot Dogs

We stayed in Tucson, AZ for over a month. Tucson is in the middle of the Sonoran desert and just above the state of Sonora in Mexico. It therefore has a large Sonoran population. The namesake hot dog consists of a standard wiener wrapped in bacon and then covered with pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, and jalapeño salsa. Yes, it's a lot. And it typically comes with a grilled pale pepper on the side.

California: Fresh Produce and Artichokes

I've known for a little while that California was going to be tough. It's hard to distill such a large and diverse state down to a single "famous" food. After driving through the central portion of the state, seeing the farms, and understanding just how much of the nation's produce comes from this state (often from a very small area, depending on the food), we decided that "fresh produce" was as good a choice as any. We've been gorging ourselves on fresh strawberries and oranges so far, and we'll adapt as other things become ripe.

As a sub-category to "fresh produce," we chose to focus on artichokes. Julie loves them, but it was largely opportunistic. We were staying a few miles from The Giant Artichoke Family Restaurant in Castroville. While there, we learned that almost 100% of this nation's artichokes come from California (though they are native to the Mediterranean region), with 80% of those coming from Monterey County, which is where we were staying. We had steamed artichoke hearts, artichoke nachos, fire-roasted artichoke, cheese and artichoke dip, and an artichoke cupcake. You'd have no clue the latter had artichokes in it without being told!

By the way, did you know that artichokes are just not-yet-bloomed flowers? I didn't, but I do now!

Oregon: Hazelnuts and Tillamook Cheese & Ice Cream

We didn't do anything fancy with the hazelnuts; we just cracked and ate them.

We discovered Tillamook cheese and ice cream while in California, and it quickly became our favorite of each. Therefore, we adjusted our previous plans so that we could go by the creamery. We spent an evening there learning about cheese making as well as enjoying some cheesy dishes at the café (my mac and cheese was excellent) followed by ice cream.

Washington: Sweet Cherries

Ironically, we ate more Washington sweet cherries in Oregon and California than we did in Washington, but we did get some local ones while in state. We had both Bing (which is most likely what you'll find in your store as simply "sweet cherries") and Rainier cherries. I love the former so much that it made me skeptical about the latter, but they won me over. I think they are my new favorite sweet cherry.

Alaska: Fresh Fish

This one was a no-brainer. Some of the salmon breeds (there are 5 in Alaska) were running while we were in state, so we had to have some fresh fish. We learned to stay away from pink ("humpy") salmon, because as they say in Alaska, "friends don't let friends eat pink salmon." Apparently they are only good for bait in Alaska. The joke is on the rest of the country when they are exported. By hanging out at a fish cleaning station, Julie and Jordan scored some free coho ("silver") spoon meat (scraped off the bones using spoons). Julie made salmon cakes with it. One nice man also donated two salmon steaks, which we grilled. Finally, the girls also got their hands on some fresh halibut!

Canada: Poutine

Meh.

Nebraska: Runzas and Beef

I am not sure how many people have claimed "beef" as one of their home state's famous foods to us on this trip, but I think Nebraska's claim is more legitimate than most. We saw cattle farm after cattle farm while driving through the state (unfortunately, most of them were awful looking factory farms). And who hasn't heard of Omaha Steaks? Therefore, there was little debate over what we'd eat when staying near Omaha. Caleb and Julie worked together to find a reasonably priced steakhouse where we could all enjoy some Nebraska beef.

We also picked up a few runzas (think of a Hot Pocket but way better) to try. They came from the German population and are available from a regional fast food joint of the same name.

Iowa: Blue Bunny Ice Cream

We couldn't find a way to integrate much of Iowa into our route, but we lucked out that Le Mars was near the Nebraska border, which meant we could head over for a day trip from Omaha. Never heard of Le Mars? It's only the "Ice Cream Capital of the World." Ok, that's self-proclaimed, but it is defensible, because Le Mars produces more ice cream in a single location than anywhere else in the country. (I guess they figured that was good enough for world domination, kind of like being "world champions" when you win the NBA title.) This is the home of Blue Bunny and the location of their largest plant (which is really, really large). We hit the town's visitors center, which is really just a big ad for Blue Bunny. We learned the history of the company, and we partook of their product.

Missouri: Pork Steak, Toasted Ravioli, Ooey Gooey Cake, and St. Louis-style Pizza

We knocked out all of these foods at a single location: The Lou in St. Louis. The pizza didn't impress me, and the ravioli tasted pretty much how you'd expect fried ravioli to taste ("toasted" really means "fried"). If you like ravioli, you'd probably like it. If you don't, frying it won't win you over.

Arkansas: Fried Pickles, Possum Pie

I'm not a pickle eater, but I can manage fried pickles. And having ranch for dipping helps. A local told us that they dip everything in ranch in Arkansas.

As for possum pie... well, it's delicious. And no, it doesn't contain possum. Here's a description from online: "The dessert typically features a nut-crumb crust, a cream cheese layer, a chocolate layer, a vanilla layer and whipped cream layer."

Kansas: Ribs and Fried Chicken

I asked a woman at a town museum what food is famous in Kansas. Without missing a beat, she said "fried chicken." She told me about a town nearby that had 6 fried chicken joints, "all are good." I always thought of fried chicken as a southern thing, and I don't think of Kansas as in the south. But I have an open mind. I then asked a cashier at a grocery store on the way to that town about it, and she said that, no, they are not all good. She enthusiastically directed me to a specific one. So we went there. None of us were impressed. So don't tell Kansans, but their chicken doesn't stack up to southern fried chicken.

Kansas City ribs on the other hand... absolutely delicious. And yes, the famous Kansas City is in Missouri, but we had them across the river in Kansas at a place recommended by a guy I met in Alaska.

Oklahoma: Braum's Ice Cream

Braum's is in a few states, but it started in Oklahoma City. It consists of a fast food restaurant with burgers and ice cream coupled with a small market. It's a local staple. Did we like it? I mean... it's ice cream, so yes.

Louisiana: Gumbo, Jambalaya, and Pralines

I was looking forward to Louisiana for a long time, and it didn't disappoint. Even better, we got to eat homemade meals courtesy of Julie's aunts who live in the state!

By the way, if you are in Louisiana, "pralines" have an 'a' that sounds like the 'o' in "mob". If you are outside, you likely say it with a long 'a'.

Mississippi: Caramel Cake

I mean... look at the name. Of course it was delicious.

Alabama: BBQ with White Sauce, Royal Red Shrimp, Pork Rinds, Conecuh Sausage

After living there for so many years, I am partial to North Carolina vinegar-based BBQ sauce, but I'm not going to lie, the white sauce is pretty darn good. It is typically served with chicken.

Pork rinds? None of us were fans.

Favorites

Michael

WA: Rainier Cherries

Julie

KY: Mutton BBQ

Asher

IA: Blue Bunny Ice Cream

Caleb

MO: Ribs

Jordan

MO: Ribs