Pennsylvania

A paper bag, a handful of coins, and a row of glass jars can turn a grown adult…

By John Palmer · Oct 5

Gravy was the last thing on my mind when I pulled off a busy Pennsylvania highway looking for…

By Laura Sullivan · Oct 5

Three million donuts a year is a number that makes you stop chewing and do the math. I…

By John Palmer · Oct 4

The first thing that hits you is the smell, a warm cocoa cloud that drifts out the doors…

By John Palmer · Oct 4

Wood smoke drifting over a small-town street in Pennsylvania is the best kind of road sign. I followed…

By Laura Sullivan · Oct 4

Paper-thin ham, warm sweet sauce, and a squishy bun that soaks it all up might not sound fancy,…

By John Palmer · Oct 3

Smoke was the first thing I noticed, a sweet hickory drift floating over farm fields where I expected…

By John Palmer · Oct 3

Frosting squished out the sides and landed on my shoe before I even made it back to the…

By Laura Sullivan · Oct 3

Bread is supposed to hold a sandwich together, but in Pennsylvania the fish often refuses to follow that…

By John Palmer · Oct 2

Three slices of toast, held together by frilly toothpicks, can tell you a lot about a sandwich shop…

By John Palmer · Oct 2

Square noodles, rolled by hand and dropped straight into simmering broth, are the reason many people in Pennsylvania…

By Laura Sullivan · Oct 2

A paper bag on the passenger seat, still warm from a strip-mall bakery case, ended up being the…

By John Palmer · Oct 1

A line of hungry people stretching into a parking lot at 11 on a Saturday morning is not…

By John Palmer · Oct 1

A bag of cinnamon the size of a pillow was not on my shopping list, yet there it…

By Laura Sullivan · Oct 1

Cinnamon reached me before the car door even shut, drifting across a parking lot surrounded by quiet Pennsylvania…

By John Palmer · Sep 30

A long wooden paddle scraping the bottom of a copper kettle makes a sound you do not forget,…

By John Palmer · Sep 30

Two giant chickens stand guard by the front door, and that was my first clue this breakfast stop…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 30

Warm cocoa hits you before the door even closes behind you, and suddenly a quick stop turns into…

By John Palmer · Sep 29

Faded paint and an old roadside sign almost convinced me to keep driving past this little Pennsylvania diner.…

By John Palmer · Sep 29

Bees were buzzing inside the grocery store, right behind a pane of glass, and that was only the…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 29

Custard running down your wrist before you even reach the car is a strange thing to call a…

By John Palmer · Sep 28

Salt crystals the size of tiny pebbles were the first clue that this was no ordinary snack stop.…

By John Palmer · Sep 28

A former gas station was the last place I expected to find the best potato and cheese dumpling…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 28

Your car can take the afternoon off. Once you are parked, nearly everything worth getting distracted by sits…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 28

Chili sauce, chopped onions, and a squiggle of tangy mustard on a grilled dog might not sound like…

By John Palmer · Sep 27

Ricotta was the last thing I expected to fall for at a plain little pizza counter, yet one…

By John Palmer · Sep 27

Park the car. If the next hour disappears before you remember where you left it, the downtown is…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 27

A paper sack of warm cider doughnuts once turned a quick roadside stop into the best part of…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 27

Smell reaches you first, a warm cloud of griddle butter and sizzling onions drifting out of a doorway…

By John Palmer · Sep 26

Tuesday has been keeping the same appointment here for more than a century. That alone tells you something.…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 26

Sesame seeds on a steak roll should not be enough to make a driver change lanes, but in…

By John Palmer · Sep 26

A paper box on the passenger seat can change a whole road trip in Pennsylvania. You stop for…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 26

Neon signs and a chrome counter were not what I expected to find on a quiet drive through…

By John Palmer · Sep 25

Mustard, chili, and onions all the way is the order I kept hearing about, so I finally went…

By John Palmer · Sep 25

Butter hitting a hot griddle makes a sound you can hear from the sidewalk, and it pulled me…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 25

Orange batter hitting a hot griddle has a smell that can stop a grown adult mid-sentence, and I…

By John Palmer · Sep 24

Onions melted right into the sauce was the first surprise, and it came from a square slice I…

By John Palmer · Sep 24

A rectangle of pizza with a crackly bottom, a soft middle, and cheese that nobody will fully explain…

By Laura Sullivan · Sep 24

Cinnamon sugar on your fingers, a paper bag going see-through with warmth, and a farm stand you almost…

By John Palmer · Sep 23