Category: USA Roadtrips

The 10 Best Places for Pancakes in the USA: Updated Summer 2025

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips

Pancakes. Hotcakes. Griddle Cakes. Flapjacks.

No matter what they’re called, they happen to be one of my favorite ways to start the morning, and when I travel around the country, I make it a point to seek out the very best local places to find these breakfast staples. I personally don’t like a lot of extra stuff on or in my pancakes:  whipped cream, sprinkles, candy, chocolate chips, strawberry sauce, ice cream, hot fudge – in my opinion these are usually just ways to mask a boring or poorly made pancake. A really top-notch pancake should be able to stand on its own, maybe with some simple blueberries in the batter, and always with a little help from butter and real maple syrup.

I’m updating this post again this year. Things change. Even some of the best restaurants may go out of business, some places that used to be good seem to fade in quality, and in my continued travels, I discover new places that I feel obligated to include in my list. So… here are my latest rankings as of June, 2025.

To find the best pancakes in the country, read on!

The Virtual American Road Trip

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, U.S.A., USA Roadtrips, USA Roadtrips

As many of you already know, during my 35 years or so living in California, I made over 40 round-trip drives across the USA to visit friends and relatives in Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. One of the most freeing experiences for me is to be out on the open road, listening to my music and stopping wherever I choose to sample the local cuisine, take a hike or a swim, or visit some local attractions.

Continue reading “The Virtual American Road Trip” →

Hurricane Matt: The Unusual Storm That Ate Its Way Across Florida

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Florida, Travel Recommendations, USA Roadtrips

When I’d cover the topic of hurricanes in the course on Natural Disasters that I taught for many years at my former university, I’d sometimes joke that these storms seemed to have an uncanny knack, an amazing ability to aim for highly vulnerable mobile home parks. Well, not unlike a Category 5 hurricane, I recently cut a swath across Florida’s midsection from the Gulf to the Atlantic, and while mobile home parks remained safe and untouched, every highly rated restaurant on tripadvisor.com was directly in my path. Hurricane Matt, the first unofficial storm of the 2021 Hurricane Season, left his mark on the Sunshine State. Let’s retrace the path of this culinary storm.

Hurricane Matt brewing in the Gulf?
Continue reading “Hurricane Matt: The Unusual Storm That Ate Its Way Across Florida” →

Raven & Lily: Collierville, Tennessee

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips
The train station…
and the train…
Candy-cane lined walkways on the Square

Just a half hour east of Memphis you’ll find the truly charming town of Collierville, Tennessee. A walk around its picturesque central square, and the myriad little shops and restaurants that surround it, will make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time to an innocent 1950s or 1960s sitcom back lot. Visiting earlier this month, with the square decked out in Christmas lights and decorations, I would have sworn I had been transported into a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie!

Continue reading “Raven & Lily: Collierville, Tennessee” →

Following in the Footsteps of The Walking Dead: A Visit to Senoia, Georgia

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA Roadtrips

The horror genre has never been a favorite of mine, and I typically avoid these types of TV shows or movies like the plague (pun intended!). However, about two years ago I happened to be curled up in a warm hotel room on a chilly New Year’s Eve, avoiding the crowds and the drinking and the sub-freezing temperatures. Flipping through the TV channels I stumbled upon a marathon of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The iconic Season 1 poster
The same view from Atlanta’s Jacskon Street Bridge

Next stop: Senoia, Georgia – dead ahead…

American Roadtrip, Part III: New England

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips

I was born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, about an hour south of Boston and a half an hour east of Providence, Rhode Island. Although I left New England in 1980 for graduate school in Virginia and subsequently southern California, it is still “home” to me, and I make visits back there several times a year, with a cross country road trip every summer and every Christmas. Because I have made the trip so many times, I begin to feel like I’m already on home turf by the time I reach Pennsylvania, but crossing the border from New York into Connecticut, one of the six New England states, means I’m “home”.

You CAN get there from here! Read on!

American Roadtrip, Part II: The South

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips

After my first visit south of the Mason-Dixon line some 40 years ago, I joked that now I understood the reason that the South lost the Civil War. They were obviously too full from all their amazing foods to be able to fight at full effectiveness. Despite the fact that I was born a Yankee, I lived in Virginia for a couple of years and I’ve traveled through the southern states often. From the Carolinas to Texas, I find the people to be among the warmest, most welcoming and polite I’ve ever encountered.

Y’all read more now, hear?

You Don’t Have to Take Route 66 to Get Your Kicks! American Roadtrip, Part I: The Southwest

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips

“Get Your Kicks on Route 66” is a popular refrain from the 1946 song that was made famous by Nat King Cole and subsequently was recorded by dozens of other artists including Chuck Berry, Asleep at the Wheel, and Michael Martin Murphy. While vestiges of the old highway that wound “from Chicago to L.A.” still remain (notably in the California desert and various parts of New Mexico and Oklahoma), much of it has been replaced by Interstate 40. But don’t despair, you can get your kicks on any number of highways that crisscross the U.S. You just have to take that long dreamed about road trip!

The Burr Trail, a scenic but rugged drive off Highway 12 near Boulder, Utah

Let’s hit the road! Read More: