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    <title>Atlas Obscura - Latest Articles and Places</title>
    <description>New wonders and curiosities added to the Atlas.</description>
    <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com</link>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <title>Machhapuchhare (Fishtail Mountain) in Annapurna Circuit, Nepal</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fishtail-mountain</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fishtail-mountain</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Starry night" data-width="1600" data-height="900" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/rBOvwwVfcpWoiIeuupvlm4onePpFjOGQteRJr5cKjHE/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/c:1074:716:nowe:276:184/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8zOTM4/ZThiNi1kNjE0LTRi/MGYtYmY1Mi04N2I4/MzViNTE1OGRjNDAy/NDNiYTMwNTMyMTM5/YmZfMTYwMHB4LVN0/YXJzX2Fib3ZlX010/Ll9GaXNodGFpbC5q/cGc.jpg" /></p> <p>There are certainly higher peaks in the Himalayas — at 6,997 meters, Machhapuchhare is far from reaching the heights of the "eight-thousanders" club, but what sets this mountain apart from its taller neighbors is the fact that it has never been officially climbed. Its English name, “Fishtail Mountain,” comes from the shape of its twin summits when seen from the west. <br /><br />Climbing Machhapuchhare is explicitly banned, which is unusual for Nepal. The peak is considered sacred, said to be the one of the homes of the Hindu god Shiva, and climbing it is deemed disrespectful to the god that is also the protector of the region.</p>
<p>Another reason for the ban is due to British climber Jimmy Roberts, who attempted to summit the peak in 1957, along with climbers David Cox and Wilfrid Noyce. The climb proved extremely difficult and had to be abandoned just 50 meters below the summit. It is said that Roberts himself asked the King of Nepal to issue a ban on climbing the mountain - whether out of pride or concern is hard to say. However, around 1983, there may have been an ascent by the daring solo climber Bill Denz from New Zealand, who paid little heed to conventions or bans in other expeditions. Since Denz was killed in 1983 in an avalanche on Makalu — the world’s fifth-highest mountain — there is no conclusive proof that the Fishtail Mountain was ever climbed.</p>
<p>The ban, along with the mountain's particularly steep vertical ascent, has so far discouraged any further attempts to climb it. Officially, Machhapuchhare remains a virgin peak. </p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/sacred-spaces">sacred spaces</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/hiking">hiking</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/adventure">adventure</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/mountains">mountains</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Castle Ward in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 10:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/castle-ward</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/castle-ward</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Main house at Castle Ward" data-width="1600" data-height="1200" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/4-qOv-zZcbxVv1tGDmGlilixLvLp_RWLjx2mpQKqkbk/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy82ZmQ2/ODQyYi02YTRmLTRm/ZmMtOTUzZC03YmVk/YzA2OWZjOGIyMmRh/YmUxMGY4ZmQzNDMz/OTlfQ2FzdGxlX1dh/cmRfMi5qcGc.jpg" /></p> <p>Despite Game of Thrones' medievalesque feel, one of the show's most popular locations was portrayed on screen by an 18th-century mansion.</p>
<p>The sprawling Castle Ward estate served as a stand-in for the seat of House Stark, Winterfell, in the hit television series - you might recognize the mansion's farmyard as the courtyard and archery range of the Stark clan, and many of the lands on the estate were used to stage war camps and battles. The Castle's tower was also digitally duplicated to create Winterfell's own version.</p>
<p>The history of the mansion is fascinating in its own right: built in 1766 by Viscount Bernard Ward and his wife Viscountess Anne, the architectural style of the house is split down the middle. When the husband and wife couldn't agree on what they wanted their new home to look like, they decided to compromise and had one side built in the Viscount's preferred classical style and the other in the Gothic style favored by Lady Anne.</p>
<p>In addition to the main house, the estate includes extensive trails open to visitors, with gems such as a sunken garden and a water temple.</p>
<p> </p>
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      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/estates">estates</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/castles">castles</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/mansions">mansions</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/film-locations">film locations</category>
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    <item>
      <title>The Community Library  in Ketchum, Idaho</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:49:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-community-library</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-community-library</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="The library has collections of over 100,000 lending books, downloadables, DVDs, CDs, games, and musical instruments." data-width="4080" data-height="3072" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/c1uNsuNJmLyTAlDsgegaiUWUvjJZ8fPdlV_vWp9q7Ck/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9iMzBl/NmUzYmQ3YzFkODBk/ZWFfYmFubmVyIGlt/YWdlIExlY3R1cmUg/SGFsbC5qcGc.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 1955, 17 open-minded women from central Idaho founded The Community Library Association, which they operated with funds from a one-room resale shop called the Gold Mine Thrift Store. Their mission—which persists to this day—was to create a place “of the people,” where members of their community could be exposed to diverse ideas in ever-changing forms. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After two years of fundraising at the Gold Mine, the founders were able to open a physical library location in downtown Ketchum. However, when the community showed up in even larger numbers than expected, the library outgrew this site and moved to a much bigger space nearby. (The original location has since been converted into a retail outlet of Gold Mine, which has itself become something of a local legend.) </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After its last renovation in 2019, The Community Library now encompasses nearly 28,000 square feet, including newer additions like the Children’s Library and the Regional History Department. Today, over 5,000 people (and counting) hold library cards at The Community Library, and people from all over the globe tune into its programming. Local residency is not required to check out books, so visitors are always welcome to stop by and take advantage of the many resources available. </span></p>
<p>The resource is especially appealing in the winter months, when visitors can cozy up with a new favorite book by the library's fireplace.</p>
<p>The library's diverse programming has something for everyone, from writing workshops to crafting workshops and musical performances. Between English language classes and documentary screenings, the Community Library offers many educational opportunities, helping to foster lifelong learning and curiosity. </p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://comlib.org/">The Community Library</a> is also associated with the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">historic Hemingway House, which contains a collection of artifacts from Ernest Hemingway’s time visiting and living in Idaho. The Library holds the distinction of being the custodian of Hemingway’s final home along the Big Wood River, and each July, the Hemingway Distinguished Lecture is held to honor the month of the author’s birth and death.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Wood River Museum of History &amp; Culture, which hosts interactive exhibits, is also a part of The Community Library.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Library-run Bookmobile travels through the area with free books, library cards, and other fun initiatives. Though the Bookmobile was first established to help prevent learning loss during the summers, it now operates all year long and can often be found at community events around town and at local preschools. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bookmobile is but one small part of <a href="https://visitsunvalley.com/searching-for-sun-valley/the-independent-spirit-of-the-community-library/">The Community Library</a>’s greater mission to get kids reading; it also organizes The Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit—a multi-day event that brings together Idaho’s teachers to explore reading as a science—and hosts storytimes and crafting sessions for kids. You can even find book ideas for young readers on the Library’s weekly blog, where staff members provide thoughtful recommendations.</span></p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/books">books</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/libraries">libraries</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve in Stanley, Idaho</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:46:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cental-idaho-dark-sky-reserve</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cental-idaho-dark-sky-reserve</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="The Reserve is situated in the spectacular scenery of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. " data-width="3000" data-height="2000" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/bVZZjLwRBimspN8BCKfVuTRieVVida_i0W0KEfGspkw/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy83YTE5/YWMyZDkzNjVhOTBl/MTdfRGFya19Ta2ll/c19HYWRkX1JheV9K/X19PNEE2NjM4Lmpw/Zw.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Central Idaho’s vast expanses of undisturbed natural landscapes provide a unique backdrop for taking in the night sky. At the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, community members, public land managers, and private landowners have come together to protect this treasured resource. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2017, the site became the first designated Dark Sky Reserve in America as decided by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), making it one of only 12 worldwide at the time. (As of 2025, the list of Dark Sky Reserves has grown to 25.) Also in 2017, the city of Ketchum— located inside the reserve—received the title of International Dark Sky Community for its efforts to reduce light pollution. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At 906,000 acres, the site constitutes one of the largest “pools” of natural nighttime darkness in the United States. Most of its acreage is public land within the Sawtooth National Forest, including parts of three separate designated Wilderness areas. During the day, the area is a popular destination for hikers, bikers, and skiers, with plenty of trails to explore, and visitors are likely to spot elk, mountain goats, or any number of native birds. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At night, the <a href="https://idahodarksky.org/">Dark Sky Reserve</a> becomes a prime spot to view the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies, revealing all manner of planets, constellations, and even meteor showers. It also hosts a number of <a href="https://visitsunvalley.com/events/dark-sky-dinners/">events</a>, from viewing parties for major celestial occurrences to educational talks by local astronomers, a Dark Sky Paint &amp; Sip, four-course full moon dinners at <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/galena-lodge?preview=visitsunvalley864">Galena Lodge</a>, and dark sky dinners at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A new hotel slated to open for the 2026 summer season will also feature a observatory on the top floor and offer a variety of programming to help guests take in the area’s dark skies.</span></p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/nature">nature</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/stars">stars</category>
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    <item>
      <title>The Roundhouse in Ketchum, Idaho</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:24:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-roundhouse</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-roundhouse</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="The Roundhouse sits at an elevation of 7,700 feet on Bald Mountain." data-width="10751" data-height="5335" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/o_sTY6KYOS56FNsELEtD-nrNqJlMIQFS8zsSN0KS8Rc/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8xM2M3/MzBmOWNhNTg5MDc5/OGFfU1ZSX0YgQl9S/b3VuZGhvdXNlX1N1/bnNldF9Db29wZXIg/bW9ydG9uXzAyLjA3/LjI1XzUuanBn.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fancy a meal with a heaping side of scenery? Head to The Roundhouse, a Sun Valley eatery perched 7,700 feet high atop Bald Mountain, with panoramic views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since 1939, the restaurant has served up New American cuisine in its unique, octagonal building, complete with an expansive outdoor deck and four-way stone fireplace. Envisioned almost 90 years ago as the perfect place to relax after a long day on the slopes, The Roundhouse still maintains the cozy, rustic character of its original design.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Massive wooden beams stretch across the ceiling while chandeliers made of antlers fill the space with a soft, warm light. Old snowshoes rest atop the mantle, and photos hung across the walls pay homage to The Roundhouse’s history. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, the restaurant once had a role on the silver screen in </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sun Valley Serenade</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a 1941 musical that topped the box office and garnered three Academy Award nominations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The <a href="https://www.sunvalley.com/dining/the-roundhouse/">Roundhouse</a> is located atop the slopes of the Sun Valley Resort, accessible only by gondola or a long hike up the Bald Mountain Trail. It was founded in 1936 to give Americans a taste of the Alps’ famous ski lodges, and today, it is the oldest ski resort in the U.S. The resort even features the world’s first chairlift, installed in 1936 by Union Pacific Engineer James Curran. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">True to this legacy (or, perhaps, just out of necessity), </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Roundhouse is accessible only by gondola, with a “Roundhouse Express” that shuttles visitors up and down the mountain, or—if you’re up for it—a nice long hike up the Bald Mountain Trail  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For lunch, diners can enjoy a variety of hearty sandwiches including the Baldy Burger: a vegetarian burger with smoked cheddar and garlic aioli named for the mountain The Roundhouse calls home. Visitors also rave about the Idaho Lamb Burger </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(served with goat cheese, pickled mustard seed, and lingonberry jam) and the Truffle Fries, which make for a perfect plate to pass around the table. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For dinner, the Roundhouse Fondue is a can’t-miss experience, featuring thick melted cheese paired with artisan bread, grapes, and gherkin. And if you’ve saved room for dessert, get ready for sumptuous treats like the Chocolate Stout Cake, topped with mocha crunch, espresso chantilly, and milk chocolate espuma.<br /></span></p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/history">history</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/food">food</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/mountains">mountains</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/restaurants">restaurants</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Torre Del Tajo in Barbate, Spain</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-del-tajo</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-del-tajo</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Torre del Tajo" data-width="751" data-height="376" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/760h8nCSlGmizYLjaceGT_IXOL1mHPInU7vp_s4Hxz8/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy80ZjI1/YzdhYy0yNjI2LTQ3/NjUtOThmNC0xY2Mw/MTkyMjBlNTIzNGQ4/M2QyOGI2NjdlZWMz/OGVfTWlyYWRvcl9k/ZWxfdGFqb18yX0Jh/cmJhdGVfLV9wYW5v/cmFtaW8uanBn.jpg" /></p> <p>Built by Felipe II in the 1580s, this imposing tower was part of the King's fortifications of Spain's western coast. </p>
<p>The tower's architecture, consisting of a simple conical shape nearly 14 meters high and with only one entrance, hints to its strictly military use. Its location on a cliff over 100 meters high allowed sentries to gain an expansive view of the surrounding seas, and allows visitors today to enjoy sweeping views of the stunning panorama. </p>
<p>The tower is only reachable on foot and as part of the Sendero del Acantilado, a sandy, clifftop trail that offers an expansive overlook of the ocean and coastline. The area is surrounded by the coastal pine forest of the La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park with parking by the trailhead on either end. Torre del Tajo was declared a <em>Bien de Interés Cultural</em> in 1985. </p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/cliffs">cliffs</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/towers">towers</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/history-culture">history &amp; culture</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/trails">trails</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/nature">nature</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Egg Sandwich Laboratory Vending Machine in Atsugi, Japan</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/egg-sandwich-laboratory-vending-machine</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/egg-sandwich-laboratory-vending-machine</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="The amazing Yamamotoya Egg Sandwich Laboratory" data-width="2048" data-height="946" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/9qJtEV-9Vc68QxAbnKmmwaZL25_fVCM-y-5JwwS_QCM/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8xZDY5/MTM5ZS1iM2NiLTRi/NDktYTNkYS1hNzgz/MmIxNjQwM2Y5N2Ez/YTVjZmQ4NDdiODYw/YjVfNDczYzZhOGEt/MWJmMS00MTU0LThj/OGQtNGM5Njk0ZDg3/YzBhLmpwZWc.jpg" /></p> <p data-start="361" data-end="741">Yellow is the key to finding this obscure delight. Yellow outbuildings, yellow refrigerators, and even a Dalmatian statue with yellow spots point the way. Most importantly, there are bright yellow yolks packed into the delicious, freshly made egg salad sandwiches. The filling is so generous that the most popular item is the namesake “overflowing egg salad sandwich.”</p>
<p data-start="743" data-end="1155">Other sandwich options include tonkatsu (pork cutlet), ham and cheese, and dessert sandwiches filled with sliced fruit and sweet whipped cream. The sandwiches are stored in apartment-sized yellow refrigerators tucked into matching yellow shelters. Nearby, yellow vending machines dispense Japanese sodas, water, and canned coffee, while another machine offers more elaborate frozen meals to heat and eat at home.</p>
<p data-start="1157" data-end="1438">Fresh sandwiches are assembled and restocked on a set schedule. Locals know when the sandwich makers will arrive, so timing your visit can make all the difference for the freshest selection. A change machine accepts ¥1000 bills, and sandwiches typically cost between ¥200 and ¥500.</p>
<p data-start="1440" data-end="1534">Visit on the second Sunday of each month for a special bonus: live local musical performances.</p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/sandwiches">sandwiches</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/eggs">eggs</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/vending-machines">vending machines</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Sudeley Castle and St Mary's Church in Winchcombe, England</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 10:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sudeley-castle-and-st-marys-church</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sudeley-castle-and-st-marys-church</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Catherine Parr&#39;s Tomb" data-width="3060" data-height="4080" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/HqVLeSl1SDeJ7vU4zbsYDoTnEHF0zHhubqCa8pTF83k/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9iMjcy/NzEwZC1kZWY3LTQy/MzAtYTkwYy1hM2Fl/YzQ3ZDQ3YTA2ZDFl/MDZkZWQyNDg1ZDk0/ZDJfMjAyNTEwMDNf/MTQwNjI3LmpwZw.jpg" /></p> <p>The castle's history dates back before 1066; however, it became dramatic during the medieval civil war known as "The Anarchy" between Stephen and Matilda. The castle's family took the losing side, backing Empress Matilda, and subsequently lost everything. </p>
<p>Later in the Medieval period, the castle was taken over by the de Sudeley family, who managed to get on the wrong side of history once again by being one of the four knights to murder the catholic martyr Thomas Becket in 1170, causing shockwaves of outrage and horror, forcing the most important man in the country, King Henry II to walk barefoot to the cathedral only to be whipped by monks in penance. Becket is now honoured in the Castle's church. </p>
<p>The present castle was built on the spoils of the Hundred Years' War in the mid-13th century by the Boteler family, which included St Mary's Church and the enormous Tithe Barn in the grounds. However, continuing the Castle's tradition of choosing the wrong side, the Boteler family stood with the Lancastrians in the War of the Roses. This backfired, however, when Edward IV of the Yorkists came to power during the conflict, confiscating the castle and gifting it to the future Richard III. The castle was connected to Edward IV's rumoured secret wife, Lady Eleanor Talbot. Richard III used this as an excuse to declare the Princes in the Tower illegitimate, leaving him as the sole Yorkist heir. </p>
<p>The Castle had reverted to the crown by the 1530s, only to become the site of a momentous decision that changed the political and religious landscape of England to this day. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited the castle in 1535 with Thomas Cromwell while visiting the nearby Winchcombe Abbey, Anne Boleyn is rumoured to have caught the monks refilling a vial of Christ's blood with duck's blood. Outraged, Anne and Henry reportedly planned the dissolution of the monasteries during this visit, which ultimately led to the destruction of every single one of the 800 working monasteries, abbeys, nunneries and other religious buildings by 1540. </p>
<p>Henry's sixth wife, Catherine of Aragon, found a home in Sudeley after being set free by her husband's death. She married the infamous Thomas Seymour and gave birth to her daughter, Mary, in the castle in 1548. However, Catherine's happy ending wasn't to be; she died just a few weeks after. Her daughter Mary has disappeared from history; it is presumed she died in infancy, but there is simply no record of her life. Catherine was buried in St Mary's church in the grounds. </p>
<p>The castle's bad luck continued with a visit from Elizabeth I under the new family, the Brydges. Brydges practically bankrupted himself to create 3 days of utter opulence, often known as one of the longest parties in history, only for Elizabeth to leave grumpy due to bad weather. </p>
<p>Amazingly, this castle's bad luck seems to be an established tradition, with the family siding with Charles I and the royalists during the Civil War. The roundheads took no mercy on the castle; a large hole in the castle wall is still visible, a scar from the bombardment where a cannonball ripped straight through the wall, decapitating one of the royalist soldiers. The chapel was desecrated with the altar being used as a butcher's block. </p>
<p>For 2 centuries, the castle remained completely ruined, finding a new purpose as a tourist attraction. Catherine Parr's resting place was soon to be discovered by two young women exploring. From then on, visitors would open the coffin, taking pieces of her hair and her teeth, reducing her perfectly preserved remains to mere dust. </p>
<p>Catherine Parr, however, would not be the only royal to fall into trouble at the castle. George III stayed nearby in Cheltenham and tumbled down the stairs near the banqueting hall. His fall, however, was cushioned by Mrs Cox, the housekeeper, with a reportedly "substantial" figure, throwing herself down at the foot of the stairs. In thanks for her unconventional heroism, her son was given a place in the royal guards. </p>
<p>The castle's hero, however, came in the form of Victorian glove makers, the Dent brothers and the formidable Emma Dent, who dedicated her life to rebuilding Sudeley, furnishing the inside with worthy artefacts and contributing to the town of Winchcombe itself. She restored St Mary's church, now a peaceful and permanent home for Catherine Parr, after being denied peace even in death for centuries. </p>
<p>Sudeley was used as an Italian POW camp in WW2, as well as a safe-haven for the treasures of the Tate from German bombing. </p>
<p>The castle remains in the hands of the Dent-Brocklehursts to this day. It is open to the public to view its treasures including but in no way limited to: fragments of Catherine Parr's hair, her prayer book, the ruins of the old banqueting hall not restored by the Dents, ruined Tithe Barn, a painted peice of Tudor propaganda and a beautiful lace canopy believed to be worked on by Anne Boleyn herself for her daughters christening. </p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/medieval">medieval</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/castles">castles</category>
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      <title>Discover Arizona’s Majesty</title>
      <dc:creator>Margo  Steines</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 09:57:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/arizona-guide</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/arizona-guide</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Arizona is wild in its environmental diversity, boasting five of the six distinct types of ecological biomes. Tundra, forest, woodland, scrub, grassland, and desert biomes are spread across the state, with four deserts, over 210 named mountain ranges, a biblical-scale monsoon season—and, of course, the Grand Canyon. The Sonoran Desert, which stretches across much of the state’s southern half, is a “lush desert,” meaning that it receives rain twice a year, and thus features a visually stunning blend of sepia tones and deep green vegetation.</p>
<p>The state’s rich culture reflects the diversity of its Native populations and the many who have migrated to the area, along with a strong connection to Mexican cultural heritage. The region is the ancestral and current home to twenty-two federally recognized Native American tribes, including Diné (Navajo Nation) and the Tohono O'odham Nation.</p>
<h3>Northern Region: Flagstaff and Holbrook</h3>
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<h3>Behold Arizona’s Sublime Beauty</h3>
<p>The Rainbow Forest includes the largest and most colorful displays of petrified wood in Petrified Forest National Park.</p>
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<p>Ancient geology and celestial discovery converge in Northern Arizona, inviting travelers to reflect on humanity’s place between the stars above and the eons below. Many visitors come for the Grand Canyon, but Northern Arizona contains multitudes. The high-elevation region features rugged mountain ranges, the state’s highest peak, and four distinct seasons, making it a destination for winter sports, mountaineering, and astronomy. The charming city of Flagstaff serves as home base to Northern Arizona University, the regional destination ski resort Snowbowl, and the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lowell-observatory">Lowell Observatory</a></h3>
<p>Stargazers flock to Lowell Observatory, a world-class astronomy destination on the edge of Flagstaff. The site has been in continuous operation since the late 1800s, when it was established by Percival Lowell, a financier and astronomer who became obsessed with the possibility of life on Mars. Lowell had the means to fund his fascinations, and thus Lowell Observatory was built, with Northern Arizona selected as its site for its high elevation and dark skies. Pluto was discovered here, and the city’s commitment was recognized in 2001, when Flagstaff became the first International Dark Sky City.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="http://www2.lowell.edu/users/elgb/observing_site.html">Mars Hill and Anderson Mesa</a></h3>
<p>Just west of Flagstaff proper sits Mars Hill, part of Lowell Observatory’s campus and the site of the apocryphal origin story of the theory of dark matter. As you drive up the hill, spot the iconic dome of the Clark Refractor, a telescope dating back to the 1800s. Continue your astronomy tour by heading southeast to spot Anderson Mesa, a flattop plateau in Coconino County that hosts Anderson Mesa Station, a dark-sky astronomical observatory.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/petrified-forest-national-park">Petrified Forest National Park</a></h3>
<p>Is it rock? Is it wood? The answer is yes at Petrified Forest National Park, where hundreds of millions of years of the organic process of permineralization have turned what was once a forest of trees into a wavy psychedelic desert landscape laden with fossils. These artifacts of the Triassic period (the era when dinosaurs are thought to have first appeared) include compression fossils of leaves, seeds, insects, and fish as well as scattered petrified logs.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/850116.htm#6/27.450/-89.143">Rainbow Forest</a></h3>
<p>Nestled within Petrified Forest National Park, the Rainbow Forest features huge, vibrant rocks in deep reds, yellows, blues, and purples. The rocks began life as trees, petrified over hundreds of millions of years, and draw their vivid hues from minerals like manganese, iron oxide, quartz, and hematite. Pop into the Rainbow Forest Museum to learn about the geological and cultural history of the land, which is the historic home of the Ancestral Puebloan people.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.visitarizona.com/places/parks-monuments/painted-desert">Painted Desert</a></h3>
<p>Before you leave Petrified Forest National Park, head to the park’s north side to visit the Painted Desert, another region of the park with unique geological characteristics. Here, find badlands with distinctly visible layers—looking like they were painted with a steady hand. These layers are the result of stratification of shale, mudstone, and siltstone, each of which carry a distinctive pigment.</p>
<h3>Central Region: Clarkdale, Camp Verde, and Jerome</h3>
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<h3>Explore Vibrant Arts, Culture, and Experiences</h3>
<p>Evidence suggests the construction at Montezuma Castle National Monument began in the 1100s. It was occupied until as late as 1395.</p>
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<p>In Central Arizona, Saguaros stand watch over canyons and copper towns, linking ancient ingenuity, industrial ambition, and enduring cultural roots. The region features the sprawling state capital city of Phoenix, but the whole area is rich with Indigenous culture as well as niche historic sites dedicated to preserving the stories of the Wild West. Copper mining was and is a significant industry in the region, and the remnants of the extraction business are conserved in installations like the town of Jerome’s Mine Museum.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/verde-canyon-railroad">Verde Canyon Railroad</a></h3>
<p>The Verde Canyon Railroad, a quirky heritage railroad that runs 20 miles from Clarkdale to Perkinsville, features a vintage diesel locomotive powers that this sightseeing excursion, bringing riders through the vibrant wilderness landscape. In the canyon, keep your eyes peeled for the bald eagles who frequent the area.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://historicbridges.org/b_h_fipsm.php?bsearch=04025">Perkinsville Trestle</a></h3>
<p>As you ride the Verde Canyon Railroad, you’ll pass over a series of gorges formed by the Verde River. These steep valleys are spanned by metal trestles—making for extraordinary vistas from the open-air viewing cars. When your rail car traverses the Perkinsville Trestle, the tracks, directly underneath the car, are obscured to riders, creating the feeling that the railroad has taken flight.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.arizonacopperartmuseum.com">Arizona Copper Art Museum</a></h3>
<p>The deposits of copper embedded in Arizona’s earth have enticed miners since Native people harvested ore to make tools and jewelry. Since the early 1900s, industrial mining has pulled copper from the land. The former mining town Clarkdale is home to the Arizona Copper Art Museum, which stands as a testament to the creative uses of the mineral. On a visit, check out the distillery room, where you’ll find elaborate copper vessel systems for winemaking.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/montezuma-castle-national-monument">Montezuma Castle National Monument</a></h3>
<p>Pull off the highway in Camp Verde to stop by Montezuma Castle National Monument, a historic site that honors and preserves the prehistoric cliff dwelling architecture of the Indigenous Sinagua people. Built into a limestone cliff is a multi-level 20-room dwelling that is noted as one of the best-preserved examples of pre-contact architecture.</p>
<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/moca/planyourvisit/exploring-montezuma-well.htm">Montezuma Well</a></h3>
<p>Within Montezuma Castle National Monument lies a giant hole: Montezuma Well. Nearly 400 feet from shore to shore, the “well” is in fact a huge, naturally occurring spring-fed limestone sinkhole full of carbonated, arsenic-laden water. The well serves as home to five species of fauna that exist nowhere else in the world, including the water scorpion.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jeromes-sliding-jail">Jerome’s Sliding Jail</a></h3>
<p>In Jerome (population 464), the main attraction is a small jail structure that was erected in the early 1900s on the slope of a mountain. Dynamite from nearby mines caused the jail to literally slide down the hill until finding stasis on the main thoroughfare. Now a visitor’s attraction, the jail harks back to the days of the Wild West, when hard-drinking rabble-rousers would sleep it off within the cell’s walls.</p>
<h3>Southern Region: Bisbee, Tubac, and Patagonia</h3>
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<div class="flip-card-front"><img src="https://atlas-dev.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/assets/f5d06809-5120-43bc-820f-df69590282a120d65582e662de3d08_usfws-pronghorn-buenos-aires-natinal-wildlife-refuge.jpg" alt="Pronghorn Antelope in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge" /></div>
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<h3>Experience Arizona’s Welcoming Warmth and Ties to Nature</h3>
<p>The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is home to hundreds of species, including the pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and puma.</p>
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<p>Where wild canyons bloom and hummingbirds hover, artists, dreamers, and makers create in harmony with the desert’s vivid, living canvas. Known for its miles of Saguaro cacti, Southern Arizona is home to a large swath of the Sonoran Desert, about 370 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and the city of Tucson.</p>
<p>The Sonoran Desert is home to a diversity of flora and fauna, including prickly pear, Gila monsters, roadrunners, and the western diamondback rattlesnake. For more sedate engagements with local culture, Tucson is a dining hotspot: a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, a designation awarded to sites of global culinary significance.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.bisbeebreakfastclub.com">Bisbee Breakfast Club</a></h3>
<p>Bisbee Breakfast Club locations can be spotted across Southern Arizona, but Bisbee is the home of the original. Within the nondescript beige building, the charmingly weathered interior is classic American diner with a Southwestern twist. Nosh on regional Mexican favorites like huevos rancheros and fan-fave house specialties like the Copper Queen Skillet, a mashup of eggs, potatoes, and seemingly every kind of breakfast meat: bacon, ham, sausage, and spicy sausage gravy.</p>
<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="http://www.oldbisbeebrewingcompany.com">Old Bisbee Brewing Co.</a></h3>
<p>For a bite and a brew in the kitschy town, the Old Bisbee Brewing Co. offers an eclectic and sophisticated menu of draft beers, brewed on-site. Strict IPA buffs will appreciate the heady Double Hopped IPA, while those with more experimental tastes may delight in the Mayan Stout, brewed using a heritage Mesoamerican bean.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.tubacarts.org">Tubac Center for the Arts</a></h3>
<p>Luxe meets rustic at Tubac, an arts and leisure complex tucked between the Tumacácori and Santa Rita mountains. Find the ritzy side at Tubac Golf Resort &amp; Spa, where golfers flock to the 27-hole course and spa-goers indulge, but the arts and the grounds are the real draw. Explore Tubac to find four galleries, a performance space, and arts library, plus a trail system that connects with the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/buenos-aires">Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge</a></h3>
<p>Near the border town of Sasabe, 117,000 acres of public grassland desert serves as an ecological reserve. Habitat restoration makes the refuge a safe haven for 50+ mammal species, with the land sheltering endangered species including the masked bobwhite quail. Find an open-access trail system as well as guided hikes, and complimentary public-access campsites. Keep your eyes peeled for deer, javelina, coyotes, skunks, rabbits—even the occasional jaguar.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://tucsonbirds.org/paton-center/">Paton Center for Hummingbirds</a></h3>
<p>Patagonia’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds is a conservation space for more than 250 bird species, including the rare violet-crowned hummingbird. The 1.4-acre woodland site began its life as the yard of a pair of local birdwatchers, who in the 1970s began inviting others to join them in marveling at the tiny avian pollinators. From there, the local Audubon Society acquired the property, which is lovingly managed as an oasis for birds and birders alike.</p>
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<h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm">Chiricahua National Monument</a></h3>
<p>Find rocks on rocks on rocks at Chiricahua National Monument, where physics-defying rock stacks give an otherworldly feel to the ecological environs. The result of a historical volcanic event, the area’s rock formations (officially known as hoodoos and rhyolite pinnacles) look like blocks stacked by the hands of giants. Travelers can take in their weird splendor from 17 miles of maintained trails and campground facilities.</p>]]>
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      <title>20 Places to Travel and Transform Yourself in 2026, from Atlas Obscura</title>
      <dc:creator>Atlas Obscura</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 05:58:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/20-places-to-travel-and-transform-yourself-in-2026-from-atlas-obscura</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/20-places-to-travel-and-transform-yourself-in-2026-from-atlas-obscura</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Looking for your next adventure? These 20 extraordinary destinations might just change how you see the world in 2026. Each place on this list asks something of you—patience, curiosity, humility, wonder—and gives something back in return. They’re not just trips; they’re invitations to travel differently, and to come home changed.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>1.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fes-el-bali"> <strong>Fes el-Bali in Fez, </strong>Morocco</a></h2>
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<p>Step through the<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-blue-gate-of-fes-fez-morocco"> Blue Gate</a> into the world's largest car-free medieval city—9,400 winding alleyways where 150,000 people live as their ancestors did. Getting lost among leather tanneries and spice souks forces you to surrender control and trust strangers, a reminder that not everything worth finding can be Googled.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> March-May or September-November for mild temperatures</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>2.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/waitomo-glowworm-caves"> <strong>Glowworm Caves in Waitomo, New Zealand</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Float silently through pitch-black caves beneath thousands of bioluminescent larvae creating nature's own planetarium. The <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/video-wonder-new-zealands-twinkling-glowworm-caves">boat journey</a> requires complete silence—no talking, no cameras. In our age of constant documentation, experiencing something you can't immediately share teaches you that some moments are meant to be felt, not captured.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> December-March (summer) for warmer weather above ground.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>3.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kallur-lighthouse"> Kallur Lighthouse in Kalsoy, <strong>Faroe Islands, Kingdom of Denmark</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Eighteen volcanic islands with dramatic cliffs,<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gasadalur-village-2"> grass-roofed villages</a>, and more sheep than people. Hike to Kallur Lighthouse or photograph Múlafossur waterfall cascading into the ocean. Weather changes every hour—all four seasons in a single day.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> June-July for longest days and accessible trails.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>4.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cappadocia"> <strong>Cappadocia in Aksaray, Turkey</strong></a></h2>
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<p><br />Volcanic eruptions created fairy chimneys, hidden<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/derinkuyu-underground-city"> cave churches with Byzantine frescoes, and underground cities</a>. One such city was even <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/derinkuyu-turkey-underground-city-strange-maps">discovered by a local resident</a> during a home renovation project. Take a hot air balloon ride at sunrise, explore the underground cities carved eight levels deep, or stay in a cave hotel.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> April-May or September-October for ideal balloon weather.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>5.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/into-the-glacier"> Langjökull<strong> Glacier Ice Caves near Húsafell, Iceland</strong></a></h2>
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<p>November through March, Iceland's glaciers reveal crystalline caves in impossible shades of blue. Because ice constantly melts and refreezes, you never see the same cave twice—each visit is literally once-in-human-history.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> January-February for most dramatic ice formations.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>6.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/petra"> <strong>Petra, Jordan</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Walk through the narrow Siq canyon and emerge facing the Treasury—a 2,000-year-old facade carved into rose-red rock. This Nabataean city features hundreds of tombs and temples carved into sandstone. Climb to the Monastery or hike to <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/little-petra">Little Petra</a> for solitude.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> March-May or September-November. Early morning light makes the sandstone glow.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>7.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cerro-fitz-roy"><strong> Cerro Fitz Roy in El Chaltén, Argentina</strong></a></h2>
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<p>The Patagonia logo mountain. This 3,405-meter granite spire offers saw-toothed peaks and glacial lakes in impossible turquoise. The trek to Laguna de Los Tres delivers sunrise views that turn granite into a golden shade of pink. If you want extra adventure and you have time to take your journey northward, start in El Chaltén and then journey to the small town of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nahuelito-argentina-loch-ness-monster-bariloche-patagonia">Bariloche</a>, where Argentina's own Loch Ness monster is rumored to live.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> December-February (summer) for most stable weather.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>8.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bagan"> <strong>Bagan in Nyaung-U, Myanmar</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas built between the 11th-13th centuries dot ancient plains. Rent an e-bike to explore, climb select temples for sunrise, or take a hot air balloon ride. Less crowded than Angkor Wat, equally impressive.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> November-February (cool, dry season) for comfortable exploration.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>9.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salar-de-uyuni-bolivian-salt-flat"> <strong>Uyuni Salt Flat in Daniel Campos, Bolivia</strong></a></h2>
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<p>The world's largest salt flat—4,000 square miles of blinding white hexagons. During rainy season, thin water transforms it into the world's largest mirror, reflecting perfect sky. For more inspiration, check out these beautiful <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/salt-flat-landscape-bolivia">photos</a> and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/satellite-calibration-salar-de-uyuni">satellite images</a>. Standing on these salt flats, where ground becomes sky and distance becomes meaningless, you understand that Earth still breaks every assumption about what's possible.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> December-April for mirror effect, May-October for hexagonal patterns.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>10.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/plitvi-ka-jezera-plitvice-lakes"> <strong>Plitvice Lakes in Plitvička Jezera, Croatia</strong></a></h2>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106226/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>Sixteen terraced lakes connected by waterfalls cascade through forested canyons in shifting shades of azure, green, and blue. Wooden walkways let you walk directly over crystal-clear waters.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> May-June or September for lush greenery and fewer crowds.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>11.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jigokudani-park-japan"> <strong>Jigokudani Monkey Park in Yamanouchi, Japan<br /></strong></a></h2>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106225/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>Wild Japanese macaques soak in natural hot springs with snow falling around them in "Hell's Valley." They look <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/welcome-to-the-monkey-park">hilariously human</a>—eyes closed in contentment, grooming each other. A hike through snowy forest leads to nature's most charming spa.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> December-March when snow creates dramatic contrast.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>12. <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/route-66">Route 66, USA</a><br /></strong></h2>
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<p>In 2026, the<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/route-66-highlights"> Mother Road</a> celebrates its 100th birthday. The 2,400-mile stretch from<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/beginning-end-historic-route-66-chicago"> Chicago</a> to<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/route-66-end-trail"> Santa Monica</a> retains vintage motels, neon signs, diners, and quirky attractions—pure Americana.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> April-May or September-October for mild weather across climate zones.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>13.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/root-bridges-cherrapungee"> <strong>Root Bridges in Cherrapunji, India</strong></a></h2>
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<p>In one of Earth's wettest places, the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/living-root-bridges-india">Khasi people - truly artisans - </a>grow bridges from rubber tree roots over 10-15 years. Some are 500+ years old and still strengthening. The double-decker bridge requires 3,000 steps but teaches that patience beats speed, that working with nature trumps dominating it, and the best solutions might take longer than a single lifetime.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> November-February (dry season) for safer paths.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>14.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/havasupai-falls"> <strong>Havasupai Falls in Supai, Arizona, USA</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106240/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>Hidden in the Grand Canyon, waterfalls pour into pools so turquoise they don't look real. Calcium carbonate creates desert-meets-Caribbean waters. Requires 10-mile hike and advance permits from the Havasupai Tribe.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> March-May or September-October for mild temperatures.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>15.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/socotra-island"> <strong>Socotra Island, Yemen</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Split from Africa millions of years ago, over a third of the plant species here exist nowhere else. Dragon's blood trees look like Dr. Seuss illustrations alongside desert roses and pink dunes. Standing among these otherworldly trees reminds you that isolation creates irreplaceable uniqueness worth protecting.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> November-March for comfortable temperatures.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>16.</strong> <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/hallstatt-austria"><strong>Hallstatt, Austria</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106236/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>An Alpine village so picturesque that<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hallstatt-china"> a Chinese mining company built a replica</a> to bring some Europe into Asia. The original Hallstatt - in Austria - is well-worth a visit. It features<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salzwelten"> ancient salt mines</a> and the<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hallstatt-charnel-house"> Charnel House</a> with painted skulls. And... maybe you'll get to the Chinese one next.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> May-June or September for smaller crowds.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>17.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ta-prohm"> Ta Prohm near Siem Reap, Cambodia</a></h2>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106237/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>This hidden temple near Angkor Wat is being slowly consumed by jungle. At Ta Prohm, massive tree roots cascade over 12th-century stone and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dinosaur-angkor-wat">curious carvings</a> stir controversy. Nature's patient reclamation—neither destroying nor preserving, but transforming—teaches that endings and beginnings are often the same thing. What could be viewed as overgrown has become beauty.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> November-February (dry, cool season).</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>18.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/marble-caves-of-chile-chico"> <strong>Marble Caves in Puerto Río Tranquilo, Chile</strong></a></h2>
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<p>Six thousand years of water carved swirling marble caverns reflecting Lake General Carrera's turquoise water in otherworldly blue. Best explored by kayak.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> December-February when glacial melt intensifies the blue.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>19.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/eduard-bohlen-shipwreck"> Eduard Bohlen Shipwreck in <strong>Skeleton Coast, Namibia<br /></strong></a></h2>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106217/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>Where the Namib Desert meets the Atlantic, rusted shipwrecks dot beaches alongside seal colonies and<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/namibia-lions-hunt-seals"> desert-adapted lions</a>. This coastline—where sailors once perished and wildlife now thrives—proves that what looks like desolation to some is home to others.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> May-October for wildlife viewing and cooler temperatures. And for adventure, you can even stay in a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shipwreck-lodge">"shipwreck."</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><strong>20.</strong><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/zhangye-national-geopark"> <strong>Zhangye National Geopark in Zhangye Shi, China<br /></strong></a></h2>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106216/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p>Rainbow mountains striped in red, yellow, orange, green, and blue—millions of years of mineral deposits creating nature's abstract painting. Best after it rains, when colors intensify.</p>
<p><strong>Best time to visit:</strong> June-September for vibrant colors after summer rains.</p>
<p data-start="498" data-end="812"> </p>
<p>Each of these destinations offer more than photo opportunities—they're invitations to see where humans and nature have collided and created extraordinary things. They’re invitations to pause and reflect. They're invitations to change and grow.</p>
<p>The world welcomes you for a transformative 2026. Let’s Go.</p>]]>
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      <title>Krenitsyn Volcano in Onekotan Island, Russia</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/krenitsyn-volcano</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/krenitsyn-volcano</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Krenitsyn Volcano" data-width="1143" data-height="643" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/OpMo8C9tlnnebmEuoxtZgsOvEDddaMnABvRjKZ7jjVI/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy82NGQ2/NTZiOC0zMDkxLTQ5/ZTUtYmVjOS1jMzBk/MmYyOWQ1ZGYyNjAx/OTJlMzRjZGVhMDc3/NTRf0J7Qt9C10YDQ/vl_QmtC-0LvRjNGG/0LXQstC-0LVfKNCe/0YHRgtGA0L7Qsl_Q/ntC90LXQutC-0YLQ/sNC9Ll_QmtGD0YDQ/uNC70YzRgdC60LjQ/tV_QvtGB0YLRgNC-/0LLQsCkuanBn.jpg" /></p> <p>Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Kuril Islands are among the most remote places on Earth, and one of the most stunning. Officially administered by Russia, the territory has been disputed with Japan since WWII. The islands are difficult to reach, and today only around 20,000 people call them a permanent home. </p>
<p>One of the highlights of the region is the Krenitsyn Volcano, located inside Kol'tsevoe Lake in the Tao-Rusyr Caldera on Onekotan Island. Historically, Onetokan was inhabited by the Ainu people, who were forcefully resettled off the island in 1884. Today, it is uninhabited.</p>
<p>Essentially, Krenitsyn is a volcano inside a larger volcano. While it is not the only nested volcano in the world, it might just be the most scenic and breathtaking of them all. The landscape was formed thanks to the eruption of the larger ancient volcano sometime between 5,550 and 9,400 years ago. The massive eruption left a giant caldera, which gradually filled with water. Eventually, the second smaller volcano was formed inside the lake. The inner volcano last erupted in 1952 and is still active to this day. </p>
<p>The caldera measures 7km across and the base of the inner volcano is 3.5km wide. The lake reaches a depth of 369 meters, and the peak of the inner volcano is at 1324 meters above sea level.</p>
<p>It is possible to visit and climb the volcano with experienced guides. Helicopter tours and other trips depart from the Kamchatka Peninsula. </p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/lakes">lakes</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/islands">islands</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/volcanoes">volcanoes</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Greenwich Tea Burning Monument in Greenwich, New Jersey</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Dec 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/greenwich-tea-burning-monument</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/greenwich-tea-burning-monument</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Three-quarters view from the right." data-width="1800" data-height="3196" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/qJ4AvfjuCWUDuA6IojTRsStYQUhyxJH9XuhVL8k8N2A/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/c:1800:1200:nowe:0:917/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy82MTE4/YjUyNC05Y2UxLTQx/ZWMtYmYzNS1iZWE4/MjQxMDk5ZTRkZGJm/MzdmOTY4Njc4OTRi/YmJfMjAyNDEwMDRf/MTYyNjAxLmpwZw.jpg" /></p> <p>As students in United States schools are taught, opposition to the Tea Act passed by the parliament of Great Britain escalated hostilities between Britain and American colonists, a precursor to the Revolutionary War. On December 16, 1773, seven months after royal assent of the act, 16 members of the loosely organized Sons of Liberty, disguised as Native Americans, threw 342 chests of imported tea from a docked ship into Boston Harbor. “No taxation without representation,” they cried. (This will be on the exam.)</p>
<p>However, the Boston Tea Party (as it came to be known) was only the first and most famous response to the Tea Act. Other documented resistance occurred in Charleston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere along the East Coast. The last and least known protest occurred on December 22, 1774 in Greenwich, New Jersey. East India Company tea, originally bound for Philadelphia and entrusted to a British loyalist in Greenwich, was confiscated and burned.</p>
<p>The revolutionary action in Greenwich (pronounced green-witch) has been a source of local pride ever since. At the centennial of the event, that pride began to focus on a proposal to erect a monument remembering the Greenwich conflagration.</p>
<p>It took several decades to secure funding, but the granite monument was completed in 1908 and is now the centerpiece of the hamlet. The classical façade consists of a carved inscription and drape, separated by a bronze relief illustrating the tea burning, and flanked by Corinthian pilasters. The 23 names in raised letters on the sides are those recalled and collected in the 1830s by Dr. Ebenezer Elmer, who himself took part in the event. However, Jonathan Wood, a former president of the Cumberland County Historical Society, has stated without reservation that some of the listed people “absolutely did not participate.”</p>
<p>The factual error is understandable. Elmer was in his 80s when he collated the list of participants, recollecting an event that occurred six decades earlier. His age notwithstanding, Elmer was duly respected as a source. He was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War and a Brigadier General during the War of 1812. Elmer served in the New Jersey state assembly and senate, as well as the United States House of Representatives. He wasn’t some old coot.</p>
<p>Further, the raid took place at night and the men were disguised. The disguises themselves are another matter of dispute. Oral history has it that the Greenwich raiders wore Native American costumes and reenactors have followed suit. However, a contemporary diary account says only, “Last night the tea was, by a number of persons in disguise, taken out of the house and consumed with fire.” Disguised how is not recorded. Has the oral history evolved so that what occurred in Greenwich replicates what happened a year earlier in Boston?</p>
<p>The tea burning took place after a meeting of prominent citizens at the Shiloh home of<span class="Apple-converted-space">  twin </span>brothers Richard and Lewis Howell. The Howells and others would be sued for the theft but with the shift in political sympathies, not indicted for the crime. Richard Howell would go on to be governor of New Jersey from 1793 to 1802 and to an earlier point, neither he nor his brother are named on the monument.</p>
<p>Other than the diary entry, there is only one other contemporary report, a brief account in a Philadelphia newspaper. The oral histories, later reified as fact, are controvertible. Who participated? How were they disguised? Was the tea seized from the loyalist’s cellar or from a shed? Was it taken to a field to be burned, or the market square, near where the monument now stands? Are some of the finer points merely semantic, a difference only in terminology?</p>
<p>What can be said for certain is that 16 months before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, residents of Cumberland County expressed their displeasure with British taxation by burning a cargo of tea and the historic event is a source of local pride, evidenced by a handsome monument in the township of Greenwich.</p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/protest">protest</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/taxes">taxes</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/american-revolution">american revolution</category>
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      <title>Puako Petroglyph Archaeological Preserve in Puako, Hawaii</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Dec 2025 10:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/puako-petroglyph-archaeological-preserve</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/puako-petroglyph-archaeological-preserve</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="A petroglyph at Puako Petroglyph Park." data-width="2560" data-height="1700" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/YqOYwjTLuJoHQrPgf6edd6oPoPQyfKS-4_ZB2w5nszY/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/c:2436:1624:nowe:124:76/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9mODcx/ZjQxNS05ZDU3LTQ3/MGItYjc3Ny0wZTll/N2ZiYmZhOTJiZTg3/NzA2ZDc1ZGE1ODAz/ZTlfcGV0cm9nbHlw/aHM2LkpQRw.jpg" /></p> <p>Although petroglyphs can be found among the various archipelagos spread across the Pacific Ocean, the largest concentrations of petroglyphs can be found on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, and the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological Preserve on the west coast (or Kona Coast) of the island features one of the largest concentrations of the Big Island’s petroglyphs.</p>
<p>The main part of the site features an area of cracked but smooth orange-brown volcanic rock called pahoehoe that are covered in petroglyphs and that are encircled by a short trail.  The area has about 3000 petroglyphs in total.  Most of the readily visible petroglyphs are linear stick-figure like depictions of people, although depictions of animals and some other abstract figures can also be found in the area.</p>
<p>The exact purpose of these petroglyphs is unknown, but anthropologists and archaeologists have determined that ancient native Hawaiʻians chose Puako as a site for creating petroglyphs for two reasons.  First, the site is located at the boundary between the two major ancient ahupuaʻa (or land divisions) of Kohala and Kona, and it seems like these were locations that the native Hawaiʻians sought out when creating petroglyphs.  Second, the smooth pahoehoe in the area is an ideal surface for creating petroglyphs.  The petroglyph field is also near the ancient trail that ran the length of the Big Island’s western coastline, which probably made it a more convenient place to leave petroglyphs.</p>
<p>Although modern developments, including massive beachside resorts and extensive golf courses, have been constructed all along the Kona Coast, the area immediately around Puako Petroglyph Park itself has remained untouched.  Consequently, the park is an excellent place for visitors to escape the noise and the crowds of the tourist areas and to quietly experience part of Hawaiʻi’s prehistoric past.</p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/stone">stone</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/petroglyphs">petroglyphs</category>
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      <title>Bonnie and Clyde Death Site in Gibsland, Louisiana</title>
      <pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bonnie-and-clydes-death-site</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bonnie-and-clydes-death-site</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="" data-width="4131" data-height="5015" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/brOMHLjxbRz9L9EAozg1uZDUddM1wZ5czN1Lyl1fewU/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9iNGNj/NzFmZS0xNTQzLTRm/NjgtYWU5NS1kYjQx/NDkxYjRkMmY1OGQ1/YjRmYWRiZjQzMzYz/YTNfSU1HXzk4NTMu/anBlZw.jpg" /></p> <p data-start="264" data-end="503">This roadside marker in Bienville Parish, Louisiana marks the site where infamous outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed on May 23, 1934, bringing one of America’s most notorious crime sprees to an end.</p>
<p data-start="505" data-end="712">The quiet stretch of road contrasts sharply with the violent end that unfolded here, when law enforcement officers from Texas and Louisiana opened fire on the couple’s vehicle, killing both almost instantly.</p>
<p data-start="714" data-end="1040">The site lies only a short drive from the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bonnie-and-clyde-ambush-museum">Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum</a> in Gibsland, which offers additional context, artifacts, and exhibits related to the couple’s final days and legacy.</p>]]>
      </description>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/roadside-attractions">roadside attractions</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/americana">americana</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/gangsters">gangsters</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/death">death</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/history-culture">history &amp; culture</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/crime">crime</category>
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    <item>
      <title>The Atlas Obscura Audio Guide to Maine’s Wilderness</title>
      <dc:creator>Christy Margeson</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:25:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/forged-by-nature-audio-series</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/forged-by-nature-audio-series</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>In this <em>Atlas Obscura</em> series, we soak in the beauty of Maine’s wilderness. Join us in exploring its rugged coastline, lush forests, and craggy hills alongside locals who draw inspiration from these landscapes in their work—be it pottery, culinary experimentation, or guided coastal tours.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/2629f12a-0692-4d8d-894e-39abf43d0035?dark=true&amp;color=243222" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>First, we set sail with Captain Becky Sigwright on the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/admin/articles/forged-by-nature-audio-series/%20https:/www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-oldest-windjamme">oldest windjammer</a> in the United States: the Lewis R. French. Out on Penobscot Bay, we get an unbeatable view of the Maine coastline, sing sea shanties, and make a pit stop to eat some fresh lobster.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/1595947b-a822-42c0-9f18-e49719d86c8e?dark=true&amp;color=243222" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>Next, we <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-hanako-nakazato-pottery">check out the studio</a> of production potter Hanako Nakazato. Splitting her time between her native Japan and Maine, Hanako’s pottery combines the aesthetics of Japanese tableware with shapes and colors inspired by Maine’s rural beauty.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/979239b8-b163-4831-99e9-272c0d47e884?dark=true&amp;color=243222" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>On dry land, we wade through a field of wildflowers to The Well—a farm-to-table restaurant that’s literally on a farm. Chef Jason Williams <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/admin/articles/forged-by-nature-audio-series/%20https:/www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-the-well-maine">shows us</a> how he hand-picks the ingredients for each meal every day, letting the ever-changing Maine weather set the menu.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/4b4d8b66-62a8-494f-a4a1-1914bc95327f?dark=true&amp;color=243222" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>Row out with us to Wood Island, which is less than a square mile in size but has more than its fair share of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-wood-island-lighthouse-maine">larger-than-life stories</a>. The island has been home to a celebrity dog named Sailor and a famous pickpocketing incident, and is said by some to have an inexplicable ghostly presence.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/6df53283-8940-41b6-a063-01045b9017fd?dark=true&amp;color=243222" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>Finally, we visit a blueberry farm that honors an unusual tradition: <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-maine-s-burning-blueberry-fields">annually burning the crops</a> to rejuvenate the fields for the next year.</p>]]>
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      <title>Forged by Nature: The Farm-to-Table Restaurant on an Actual Farm</title>
      <dc:creator>The Podcast Team </dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 07:15:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-the-well-maine</link>
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<p class="item-body-text-graf"><strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Kelly McEvers: </strong>When Jason Williams was a kid in the ’80s, he had a favorite TV show. It wasn’t a cartoon. It was more like a documentary show. Like the educational kind.</p>
<p><strong>Jason Williams:</strong> I was obsessed with the show <em>Great Chefs Great Cities</em>, which was a program back on in the early, late ’80s, probably, where they’d go to different restaurant kitchens and make a dish.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Jason grew up on the East Coast in a small town. It was nice, but it was not the ideal place to learn to become a chef.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> I grew up in New Hampshire and didn’t have a lot of access to crazy ingredients.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> The closest bigger town was across the border in Maine. But when he went there as a kid, he wasn’t going for the food.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> So I’d come to Portland growing up as a kid. We used to come over here and skateboard and, you know, all that fun stuff and just kind of be in the city.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Back then, the big city of Portland, Maine wasn’t necessarily known for its food scene. It was not featured on <em>Great Chefs Great Cities</em>. But these days, Maine’s reputation in the food world is different. And Jason Williams, now Chef Jason Williams, is a big part of that.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> What drew me to Maine was just the accessibility we have, like the ocean right here, incredible cold water seafood. We’re two miles from the ocean and we’re on a 120-acre farm. The farmers are all approachable, the fishermen are all good people, you know, there’s so much abundance.</p>
<p>I’m Kelly McEvers, and this is <em>Atlas Obscura</em>, a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism. It’s Maine week on the show, so every day we are introducing you to someone from that great state: people who live and work in Maine and who fuel their creativity with its rugged beauty.</p>
<p>Today it’s all about eating well at Chef Jason’s hyper-local farm-to-table restaurant, The Well, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. And yeah, you probably have been to a farm-to-table restaurant before, but this one really is different. The food that was probably picked hours before the meal is growing right near where people sit down to dinner. Same with the flowers. Chef Jason really believes in what he’s doing. And it shows.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited transcript of the </em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast"><em>Atlas Obscura Podcast</em></a><em>: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on </em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=89027X1542228&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.7.1&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Farticles%2Fpodcast-montezuma-well&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-atlas-obscura-podcast%2Fid1555769970&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=300&amp;xuuid=f238828fc9c8f1386593b6f8b1d81e7b&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D"><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Okay, so let’s go back to how Jason got started. After he fell in love with <em>Great Chefs Great Cities</em>, he went to culinary school. He left New England to work in restaurants around the country, classy kitchens, high-end resorts, a renowned seafood restaurant on Maui, a winery in Napa Valley. But eventually he started to miss the Northeast.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> Thought about raising a family, and New England’s kind of the perfect place to raise kids, so we came here for vacation and just kind of fell back in love with it.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> It was about two decades ago, and Portland, Maine had changed after Jason left. He got a job working at a local restaurant, and one day he was driving around to farmers markets looking for ingredients when he found a special place.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> I just happened to drive up this road, and I had just a really cool feeling when I rounded the corner, and I’m like, wait a second, this is a farm? Wait a second, I could get all my shopping done right here? So I just pulled in. It is a 120-acre farm, about three miles from the ocean. A produce farm, it’s fourth generation.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>It’s called Jordan’s Farm, run by the Jordan family. It’s a few miles south of Portland in the town of Cape Elizabeth, which conveniently is also where Jason was living. So he started getting produce from Jordan’s Farm and bringing it back to the restaurant where he was working.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> They allowed me to kind of come out back and hand select produce and stuff like that, which is huge in my world.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Eventually, after a few years of shopping at the farm …</p>
<p><strong>Jason: </strong>I just pitched them the idea. I drew up a picture of a flatbed trailer and was like, what if we just did a food trailer here and I can work in your off hours? If it doesn’t work, we’ll wheel away and uh throw some grass seed down and it’ll be like it never happened.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>What Jason was proposing was to literally build a kitchen on the back of a flatbed trailer. That way, if the project was not a success, he would just tow it away and the Jordans could get back to business as usual. Jason was nervous. He’d never run a restaurant before, but the farm …</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> They went for it. They were like, great idea, and they were so supportive and just really let me make this happen.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Jason got the blessing of the chef where he was working and went out on his own, building out that kitchen trailer at Jordan’s farm.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> Busted out the graph paper. I was like, okay, well, you know, small dimensions, what can we actually do for equipment? Just a leap of faith, obviously. I tried to do it on a tight budget. I didn’t come out swinging with a huge space, a state-of-the-art kitchen. I just kind of built what was necessary for me to make nice food.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> He didn’t know how to run a restaurant. He did know how to make nice food. Every day, he would go into Jordan’s farm, see what looked best, and design a couple of dishes around what they had. He called his project The Well, as in eating well, also as in a watering hole, a place where people gather. And since he got to invent the menu every morning, he could get really specific.</p>
<p><strong>Jason: </strong>So you can really play on the weather, what’s fresh, just the mood. Everything changes. You know, Maine can be 80 degrees one day and 50 degrees the next day and rainy. If it’s cold, I might throw a soup on. I can just adapt to what’s around me.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>He started slow and simple.</p>
<p><strong>Jason: </strong>We didn’t have a dishwasher. I started off with just kind of compostable plates. I was just doing like a chalkboard menu with a couple items, and I had a suggested donation box here where people would just kind of come in, drop cash, and I really like people were kind of shocked by it, you know, it wasn’t something that you saw a lot, you know, 15 years ago, really, especially in this town.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Jason knew that was a gamble. The restaurant business is hard, and this was a restaurant on a farm stand. People were coming there to get produce to take home and cook for themselves. They weren’t necessarily looking to spend money on prepared food. Turns out, Jason was wrong.</p>
<p><strong>Jason: </strong>So people would start lining up an hour before I even opened, and then all of a sudden I would be out of food in like two hours, just ripping through 70 people. We’d put a little chalkboard menu up at the top of the thing that said “The Well is dry,” and “try again the next day.”</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> At that point, Jason knew he had to expand. He built out a bigger kitchen in a real building, no wheels underneath. He hired staff, started adding menu items, not just a few things written in chalk. He added more formal seating. Before it had been picnic tables, now there would be gazebos for private dining. He started sourcing stuff from other local producers, butchers, and growers. But the concept was the same: Whatever looked best that morning, that’s what he would use.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> And then I started introducing, probably like year seven or something, I started introducing a tasting menu, an option, just like, okay, if you want to, if you trust me, we can do a five-course tasting menu and see what happens.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>What happened was people did trust him. The tasting menu became a huge part of his business. And now that’s what The Well does. Every day he’s open, it’s five fresh courses chosen that morning.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> A veggie course, a fish course, a grain pasta course, and then kind of your fourth course protein and a dessert. It’s really nice because I can just grab totes and walk up to the farm stand, which is like 50 yards away, and hand select whatever I need for the night.</p>
<p>I can just adapt to what’s around me, the weather, and just new stuff that looks incredible up there. The seasons are so dramatic here in Maine. You know, things happen so quick. It’s really nice to be able to just capture that and be able to use those things that they’re hiding and put them right into play.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> A wood-grilled lamb loin with local corn and housemade barbecue sauce. A homemade brioche donut and vanilla ice cream with peaches picked that morning.</p>
<p><strong>Jason: </strong>I’m not throwing a bunch of weird ingredients at you, but everything’s got to be seasoned well, cooked, executed well. So I’m really focused on those details, those small things. The fundamentals: seasoning, balance, flow of a whole tasting menu.</p>
<p>People get so pigeonholed into what they’re comfortable ordering or eating, and maybe they’ll find out that they actually do like carrots or zucchini now, and it’s not how they remembered it from their grandmother’s mushy peas or whatever.</p>
<p>I get inspired by like I see these farmers working crazy, so it’s nice. I really want to do my best to kind of make them proud. I want them to know that their product is first and foremost, and that I’m doing it justice.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> The Well at Jordan’s Farm has become one of the Portland area’s most popular restaurants. These days, there are a lot of great restaurants in Maine. In recent years, the state’s food scene has grown. And just like at the well, it brings together so much of what makes Maine Maine. The independence, the seasonality, the creativity. And now The Well has been part of that community for 15 years.</p>
<p><strong>Jason:</strong> It’s really refreshing here that things are still chef-owned, smaller scale, a lot of integrity. I feel super proud of it now, 15 years later, you know, it’s been a labor of love. I worked so—I’ve never worked so hard at anything in my life, really. But it’s been—it feels good now, you know. People are celebrating years and years and years of anniversaries, of birthdays. Yeah, it feels great. I mean, what more can you ask for? In the hospitality business, you know, to feel that love back. It’s really nice.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Who knows? If there’s a reboot of <em>Great Chefs Great Cities</em>, Jason and the other restaurants that have sprung up in and around Portland, Maine might make the cut this time.</p>
<p><strong><em>Listen and subscribe on</em></strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970"> <strong><em>Apple Podcasts</em></strong></a><strong><em>,</em></strong><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"> <strong><em>Spotify</em></strong></a><strong><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></strong></p>
<p><em>This episode was produced by Katie Thornton. Our podcast is a co-production of Atlas Obscura and Sirius XM Podcasts. The people who make our show include Dylan Thuras, Doug Baldinger, Kameel Stanley, Johanna Mayer, Manolo Morales, Amanda McGowan, Casey Holford, and Luz Fleming. Our theme music is by Sam Tyndall.</em></p>]]>
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      <title>Forged by Nature: How Maine Shapes This Artist’s Pottery</title>
      <dc:creator>The Podcast Team </dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 07:15:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-hanako-nakazato-pottery</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-hanako-nakazato-pottery</guid>
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<p class="&lt;iframe">&gt;<strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Kelly McEvers:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Hanako Nakazato says, when she was a kid, she didn’t want to work in pottery.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako Nakazato:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I grew up in Karatsu, which is known for history of pottery. So when I was younger, I wasn’t interested in pottery. It was too close to home.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Karatsu is in southern Japan. It’s been a hub of pottery making for hundreds of years. Hanako comes from a family of renowned potters. So, at first, she wanted to try something different. But, after she moved to the United States at 16, slowly that started to change.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> As I spent many years away from home, I started to appreciate my own cultural heritage.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">It started with food, sort of.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I love food, and I realized the Japanese dining experience is very unique. Not just the ingredients, but the table setting is very unique—the presentation of the food—and pottery plays a big role in that.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> So, Hanako knew what she had to do next.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I wanted to create a tool to enjoy food, and that was the start. European style, everything is unified, and it’s very clean. But if you go to a Japanese restaurant, repetition is often avoided. So, you would have different kinds of pottery on the table. It’s not just white things and the round things. You might start seeing something white or clean, but then next might be something in wood or bamboo or metal or glass. Texture is different, material might be different.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">To Hanako, there was something beautiful about all these different variations. Something that to her had a deeper meaning.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">We mix all different kinds of materials and shapes and heights, and it’s creating something balanced or unified out of chaotic situations.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since 2010, Hanako has been living and practicing in both Japan and in rural Midcoast Maine. She says Maine’s environment is like the Japanese diningware she came to love. Varied, messy even, but also cohesive and balanced. Craggy, rocky hills next to placid blue lakes, dense forests near the wide open ocean. It’s all there, she says, and it all inspires Hanako and other artists like her.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Maine has the beauty and inspires people, artistic people, to create something beautiful. To be independent and to create your own beautiful life because of the beautiful nature. That’s what I appreciate, Maine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m Kelly McEvers, and this is </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Atlas Obscura</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism. It’s Maine week on the show, so every day we are introducing you to someone from that great state. People who live and work and get inspired by Maine’s rugged beauty.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today is all about the pottery of Hanako Nakazato and the philosophy she brings to it. It’s a philosophy that perfectly unites the two places she spends her time: Karatsu, Japan, and the 2000-person town of Union, Maine. Two places that inspire artists with their sense of community and the beauty of nature.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is an edited transcript of the </span></em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Atlas Obscura Podcast</span></em></a><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on </span></em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=89027X1542228&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.7.1&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Farticles%2Fpodcast-montezuma-well&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-atlas-obscura-podcast%2Fid1555769970&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=300&amp;xuuid=f238828fc9c8f1386593b6f8b1d81e7b&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Apple Podcasts</span></em></a><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span></em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotify</span></em></a><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and all major podcast apps.</span></em></p>
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<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Maine, it’s not New York City. You see a lot of greens, sometimes I see turkeys in traffic. Yeah, we’re living in the countryside of mid-coast Maine. I love it.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> If you know much about Maine, you know it can be quiet and peaceful, but you also probably know that it gets pretty rugged. Being in rural Maine is a physical experience, and that resonates with Hanako. Because, so is throwing pottery on a wheel.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I used to be a serious athlete, and I like to understand the world in a physical way. And pottery is very—it requires a certain level of aestheticism.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can see that in the way Hanako makes work. She starts by taking a big piece of clay and tossing it onto a table over and over, kneading it to soften it up. Then …</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> You put the chunk of clay on the wheelhead.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then she pounds the sides of that chunk, centering it and guiding it upward as she does. On the top portion of the spinning mound of clay, she begins to shape a bowl or a cup. Then she uses a traditional tool that’s used in Karatsu.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">A special rib, special tool, throwing tool, called gyubera.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">The gyubera kind of looks like a cow’s tongue. She uses it to press the walls of the cup or bowl against her outside hand and shape the pottery. Then she slices the bowl off the top of the spinning mound and begins forging another one from the clay that remains. And another and another. In her home studio with white walls and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the main wilderness, Hanako does this work almost like meditation as the light shifts outside.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I’m a production potter, so I can make a couple hundred pieces a day. If I decide to make a cup, I make 50, or hundreds of them. Just to get in a flow. I love working in a flow, because I let go of myself and just work on the wheel, spinning, and it’s all physical. You’re not even thinking. I usually listen to house music and it’s all about the rhythm and then just doing the repetition.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Hanako says the key is letting her mind get out of the way.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s when the true beauty comes out. Pottery as a clay, as a material, it’s very responsive to the touch or the movement, and you have to work with intuition, you have to use senses. You can’t really think too hard.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Hanako wants her art to be used: bowls, plates, cups, and carafts, but there’s always something unique about each one. An unexpected angle, a sloping edge. And since moving to Maine, the local landscape has found its way into her work too.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I often find my shape is influenced by what I see in nature. I love being in Maine because it has the ocean, the blueberry field, and the woods, and light. Light is magical here. I used to make black or white or something monotone pottery because I was more into creating shapes. But since I moved to Maine, I started making something more colorful or blue. And I think I was influenced by Maine, ocean or sky, or dark night. Yeah, definitely have a different color palette since I lived in Maine. </span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hanako’s style is rooted in Japan too. One of her guiding philosophies to lead with your heart and your body rather than your mind doesn’t just show up in her process. It’s embedded in the name of her studio, Mono Hanako.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “Mono” means “thing” in Japanese. “Pottery” in Japanese is called “yakimono.” “Yaki” is “fired,” “mono” is “thing.” But I want my pottery to be versatile. If you call this a mug, it limits the usage function as a drinking vessel, maybe just for coffee or tea. But if you call it a thing, you could use it for soup, or you could use it for ice cream, dessert bowl, or you could put, you know, a bouquet of herbs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So it will open up the other possibilities of usage. So I want to call my pottery a thing, rather than giving a special name like a soup bowl or a dessert bowl or you know, ramen bowl. Because beyond that, people cannot really think about it. You know, oh, you have to use for ramen only. The pottery might be the same, but if you put different things, this will look differently. And I like the continuous change.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Trying to avoid the limiting confines of your thinking mind, staying away from perfection, celebrating and embracing variety, like the variety found in the tableware in a traditional Japanese meal. All this is baked into Hanukkah’s philosophy, not just in art, but in life.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I think there is a Zen influence. Perfection is often avoided in Zen philosophy.</span></p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">And in Maine, that variety, that ruggedness, that beautiful imperfection is all around her.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hanako:</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Nature is not trying to be perfect. It just—it’s there.</span></p>
<p><strong><em>Listen and subscribe on</em></strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970"> <strong><em>Apple Podcasts</em></strong></a><strong><em>,</em></strong><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"> <strong><em>Spotify</em></strong></a><strong><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></strong></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This episode was produced by Katie Thornton. Our podcast is a co-production of Atlas Obscura and Sirius XM Podcasts. The people who make our show include Dylan Thuras, Doug Baldinger, Kameel Stanley, Johanna Mayer, Manolo Morales, Amanda McGowan, Casey Holford, and Luz Flemming. Our theme music is by Sam Tyndall.</span></em></p>]]>
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      <title>Forged by Nature: The Oldest Windjammer in the United States</title>
      <dc:creator>The Podcast Team </dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:15:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-oldest-windjammer</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-oldest-windjammer</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<div>
<p><strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></p>
<strong>Kelly McEvers: </strong>Becky Sigwright did not grow up on the water.</div>
<p><strong>Becky Sigwright: </strong>I grew up in New Hampshire. My mom is a commercial janitor. My dad is a forester. So very not boat-related.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> But every year growing up, she would visit the coast, and something would happen to her.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>I’d come up for about a week in the summer to visit my grandmother in Duthbe, right on the water. And just something just always felt right about being in Maine. We’d open the windows as far as they would go as we were going by the clam flats and just soak it in. Because just the salt air, the feeling, the people here, it just feels right.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Becky loved coming to Maine. And over time, what she realized she really loved was boats.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>When I was a teenager, I started reading a lot of books about sailing and sailing history. I read the books, devoured them.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>And then …</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> When I was 17, I got my first job on a boat. I remember the first moment that I stepped on board and I wrote down in my journal that night, I’m on a ship. I’m on a ship. I can’t believe I’m on a ship.</p>
<p>I’m Kelly McEvers, and this is <em>Atlas Obscura</em>, a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism. It’s Maine week on the show, so each day we are introducing you to a person from that great state: people who live and work in Maine and who fuel their creativity with its rugged beauty. Today, it’s Becky Sigwright, who now captains a wind-powered boat that has been sailing around Maine since before the invention of the telephone.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited transcript of the </em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast"><em>Atlas Obscura Podcast</em></a><em>: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on </em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=89027X1542228&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.7.1&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Farticles%2Fpodcast-montezuma-well&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-atlas-obscura-podcast%2Fid1555769970&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=300&amp;xuuid=f238828fc9c8f1386593b6f8b1d81e7b&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D"><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></p>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106205/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>After that first job on a ship at 17, Becky trained and trained until she made captain. Now she captains the country’s oldest windjammer. That’s a sailing ship powered only by the wind. It’s called the Lewis R. French. It was built in 1871 in South Bristol, Maine, and has been active ever since. Originally it was a freighter carrying cargo. Today it carries human cargo around the coast.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> These days, the Lewis R. French stays busy sailing out of Camden Harbor on three-, four-, five-, and six-night cruises. We can take up to 21 guests. We have a crew of five. We have a cook, a deckhand, two deckhands actually, a first mate, and the captain, usually me.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>The Lewis R. French is 65 feet long with six huge sails. By the way, that is a lot bigger than your normal sailboat. A large wheel, like a classic pirate ship wheel, steers the boat. And because it’s a windjammer, there’s no inboard motor. Becky guides this thing to where the wind takes her.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>We just go wherever makes the most sense for the weather that we have and for the people that we have on board. Every time we go sailing, it’s always an adventure. It’s always something new. There’s so many peninsulas and islands and places you just can’t get to by car.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Which means it’s a really cool way to see the rugged parts of Maine.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>Everything that we can think of that’s Maine, we try to distill it into this experience: sitting on a beach eating lobster from a schooner is about as main as you can get.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>And passengers can help sail the ship.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> Like helping to raise the sails, raise the anchor, furl the sails. Alright, so what we do is we throw our weight forward, okay, and then we fall back in the line, and then we pull down, push the pit. All in one smooth motion. Yep. Forward, back, back, again, forward, back, come on, forward.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Boats have been a huge part of Maine’s economy for a long time. Back in the day, there was a big lumber industry in Maine, and a ton of that lumber was used to build ships, which could then be sent all over the world.</p>
<p>Plus, for centuries, of course, fishing and lobstering by boat have been a major part of the economy in Maine. And then there was just shipping of all kinds of stuff, things like fabrics. The East Coast, from New York to Boston and up to Nova Scotia, was where a lot of transatlantic cargo docked in the 19th and early 20th century. In other words, Maine’s ports were vital and full of boats like Becky’s.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>So schooners like this were absolutely the lifeblood of Maine. There was a lighthouse keeper into Penobscot Bay in the 1890s, I believe. He kept a tally of all of the schooners that he saw going by the lighthouse carrying cargo. And in that year, he tallied 16,000.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>It’s not impossible that the Lewis R. French, Becky’s boat, was among that 16,000 tallied by the lighthouse keeper. In the French’s early years, the boat hauled freight. Then, as Becky says, she went fishing, working in the seafood trade. But in 1929, the boat caught fire. This, unfortunately, was common back then.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> There used to be thousands and thousands of these boats, and they weren’t expected to last very long. At a certain point, it was cheaper to just build a new one than to try to maintain and rebuild the existing boat.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>The French didn’t burn away completely. Much of its bones were still there.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> She was rebuilt to be a sardine carrier, and she moved down east a little further. And she did that for about 50 years. And then in the 1970s, this guy, Captain John Foss, bought the French and rebuilt it and restored her back as closely as he could, back to what she’d been when she was built.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Captain Foss kept the boat historically accurate, but made it more functional and more comfortable. At this point, rehabbing the ship to carry cargo didn’t make sense. It was the 1970s, and internal combustion engines had become the norm on industrial ships. Relying on the wind was a bit of a novelty. And a lot of those old wind-powered ships had been allowed to break down or burn or were just taken off the water.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> Boats like this aren’t really around. They’re in museums behind glass. The oldest windjammer is a pretty neat distinction because she’s not part of a museum. You know, the people that come on board can touch things, can be a part of things.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>So when John Foss fixed up the French in the 1970s, he did it with the goal of making it a passenger boat. At that time, the tourism industry was growing in Maine, and windjamming—going out on these old sail-driven cargo ships—was getting a reputation as a powerful experience among people who did not mind doing some hard work while they were on vacation. But Becky says windjamming as a tourist attraction did not take off right away.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> The windjamming industry was invented in 1936. This guy, Frank Swift, worked as a deckhand on a cargo-carrying windjammer. And then the next summer, he thought it was an awful lot of fun, so he chartered one and tried to get people to come up and go sailing with him for fun—because it was just such an incredible experience—along the coast of Maine. The very first people that he got to come sailing was a pair of schoolteachers from Boston, and they came onboard and saw the accommodations and walked right off.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Becky says things have changed a lot since then. Today, passengers on her windjammer have toilets, comfortable beds, outlets, and potable water in their bathrooms. It’s not a luxury vacation, but no one is forced to help out on deck. That said, most people do like to help Becky draw up the anchor, raise the sails, or steer the sailboat. When they actually have a particularly repetitive task, Captain Becky even leads her temporary deck hands in a sea shanty.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> Well, a lobster on the beach wouldn’t do us any harm. No, a lobster on the beach wouldn’t do us any harm. The lobster on the beach wouldn’t do us any harm, for we’ll all hang on behind. And we’ll roll the old chariot along. We’ll roll the old chariot along. And we’ll all hang on behind.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Becky says she does take comfort seriously, even if that comfort is a little retro. The French has an old-fashioned wood stove on board.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>It’s always warm, it’s always dry in there. No matter how nasty and wet and windy and cold and rainy and foggy and gross it may be to be outside, there’s always a warm, cozy, comfortable place to be. It wouldn’t be like that if it was a propane stove. It wouldn’t have the same ambiance, it wouldn’t have the same feeling. It’s important to do hard things, and it’s important to be out in the rough weather and all of that, but it’s just as important to have a comfortable, dry, warm place to be when it’s done.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> So you’re all warm and dry and cozy on the boat, but then you get to get off the boat and see places along hundreds of miles of Maine’s coast that many people just don’t get to see.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> The actual layout of the land here is very conducive to sailing. Penobscot Bay, where we do probably 90 percent of our sailing trips, it’s surrounded on three and a half sides by islands. And the islands are in a large part open to the public. The Maine Island Trail Association maintains hundreds of islands along the coast, and they welcome us to come visit.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>A lot of the islands up there are technically private land, but many of the landowners have agreed to open the islands to visitors.</p>
<p><strong>Becky: </strong>There’s just so many unique places for us to stop, and there’s lots and lots of options for good anchorages and safe harbors for us when it’s time to stop at the end of the day.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> If you’ve been there, you know the coast of Maine is beautiful. Becky says seeing it by boat is amazing.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> Seeing the main coastline from the water is very, very different than seeing it from land. Seeing it from land, it’s very pretty, but from the water you get the whole big picture. You see it differently. The coast of Maine has thousands and thousands of islands, and many of them don’t have bridges. But a lot of the coast is just not accessible. Most people don’t have boats. So we’re kind of their avenue to explore.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>These days there are about 10 boats in Maine’s wind jamming tourist fleet. Lewis R. French, of course, is the oldest. And even though it’s hard sometimes, Captain Becky still loves being at sea. Doing the work, doing things the patient way.</p>
<p><strong>Becky:</strong> Being the captain has—it can be very demanding. You need to be a good decision maker. Um, kind of have a plan A and a plan B and a plan D. Honestly, it requires some guts. Boats absolutely have souls. I don’t know if it’s a product of the people that have been on the boat and have kind of left a piece of themselves in it, or if it’s just something that the boat starts with. But either way, the French 100 percent has a soul. She has—yeah, she has opinions.</p>
<p>I’m absolutely a romantic. Just the idea of being away from land, away from the modern world. It’s the hard way to do things in a lot of ways. Like we don’t use winches, but it’s part of the fun. It’s soothing, it’s healing, it’s healthy, it’s rejuvenating, peaceful. And just the feeling of moving through the water, moving through the air with nothing propelling you except for the wind is amazing. It’s incre—I can’t say enough. But as soon as we get the sails up, everything just is quiet. Everything just kind of clicks into place and it feels right. It’s like taking a deep breath.</p>
<p><strong><em>Listen and subscribe on</em></strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970"> <strong><em>Apple Podcasts</em></strong></a><strong><em>,</em></strong><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"> <strong><em>Spotify</em></strong></a><strong><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Our podcast is a co-production of Atlas Obscura and Sirius XM podcasts. The people who make our show include Dylan Thuras, Doug Baldinger, Kameel Stanley, Johanna Mayer, Manolo Morales, Amanda McGowan, Casey Holford, and Luz Fleming. Our theme music is by Sam Tyndall.</em></p>]]>
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      <title>Kitchen Dispatch: A Quest to Create the Perfect Pawpaw Ice Cream</title>
      <dc:creator>Sam O'Brien</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 10:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kitchen-dispatch-a-quest-to-create-the-perfect-pawpaw-ice-cream</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kitchen-dispatch-a-quest-to-create-the-perfect-pawpaw-ice-cream</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><em>Join Gastro Obscura's Sam O'Brien each week for Kitchen Dispatch as she tests new recipes and explores wondrous foods from her home kitchen. <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/newsletters/gastro-obscura">Subscribe to get it in the Gastro newsletter</a>.</em></p>
<p>As the weather got colder last week, I decided it was the perfect time to make <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/pawpaw-fruit">pawpaw</a> ice cream. It’s not that I needed a frozen treat; with Thanksgiving in the rearview, I wanted to bid a proper goodbye to fall. And, for me, there’s no better symbol of the ephemeral beauty of the season than the pawpaw.</p>
<p>I first wrote about this fruit, which grows wild across the Eastern United States, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-forage-for-pawpaw-recipes">last year</a>. I tested several recipes I thought would work well with the fruit’s flavor—a mix of banana, mango, and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/durian-smelly-fruit">durian</a>. Ice cream was the clear winner, a fine showcase for the pawpaw’s natural creaminess and tropical flavors.</p>
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<p>I chose a simple ice cream recipe, a mixture of pawpaw puree, sugar, cream, and milk. It was delicious, but I couldn’t help thinking I could make a version that further emphasized the fruit’s custard-like texture. I mulled this over for the past year, and when pawpaw season rolled around again in September, I noticed my local ice cream shop, <a href="https://franklinfountain.com/">Franklin Fountain</a>, was serving a pawpaw flavor with a custard base. After one taste, I knew this ultra-creamy approach was the way to go. I just needed pawpaws.</p>
<p><strong><em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-bread-that-almost-broke-me">KITCHEN DISPATCH: THE BREAD THAT ALMOST BROKE ME</a></em></strong></p>
<p>Since pawpaws are notoriously difficult to cultivate, foraging is the best way to obtain a large amount. But by the time I got out to my nearest pawpaw grove, the area had been picked clean. I called nearby farmers and produce markets, but no luck. I’d ordered <a href="https://integrationacres.com/product/frozen-pawpaw-pulp/">frozen pulp</a> just in case, but I really wanted to track down fresh fruit. Then something serendipitous happened.</p>
<p>In October, Atlas Obscura asked me to help shoot a video in the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-shawangunk-mountains">Shawangunk Mountains</a>. I agreed, partially because the Gunks are beautiful. But if I’m being honest, it was because I heard that pawpaws were still growing plentifully in upstate New York. Driving up, I stopped at a Catskills nursery on a whim and struck gold: Sitting beside the register was a giant basketful of little green orbs. I bought nearly the whole lot, then filled my hotel room’s mini fridge. They’d keep in there for a few days, so I could prep them after the trip.</p>
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<p>With pawpaws in hand, I pureed and froze the pulp, then started researching my recipe. Although I loved Franklin Fountain’s variety, I wanted more pawpaw flavor. So I tweaked a traditional vanilla custard ice cream recipe to add 1.5 cups of pawpaw puree and ribbons of pawpaw-flavored caramel. The result was almost perfect: A tropical, delicately floral flavor was front and center, with notes of vanilla lurking behind it. And the custard base made the texture delightfully smooth and creamy.</p>
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<p>I say it was <em>almost </em>perfect because even though the caramel provided some buttery sweetness, most of the pawpaw flavor cooked off. I thought I’d waited long enough after I took the caramel off the heat and added the cream, but next time, I’ll let the mixture cool more before adding the fruit puree. Overall, I’m pleased with my ice cream. I’m planning on introducing it to my family as the new à la mode ice cream of choice for our Christmas pies.</p>
<p><em><strong>Can't get enough of the pawpaw? We have more:</strong></em></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-forage-for-pawpaw-recipes">Foraging for America's Forgotten Fruit</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-looking-for-pawpaws">Podcast: Looking for Pawpaws</a></li>
</ul>]]>
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      <title>Kīlauea Won't Stop Erupting</title>
      <dc:creator>Atlas Obscura</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 13:25:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/untold-earth-107-kilauea-hawaii</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/untold-earth-107-kilauea-hawaii</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><em>This is a transcript of an episode of Untold Earth, a series from <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/untold-earth/">Atlas Obscura</a> in partnership with Nature and PBS Digital Studios, which explores the seeming impossibilities behind our planet’s strangest, most unique natural wonders. From fragile, untouched ecosystems to familiar but unexplained occurrences in our own backyards, Untold Earth chases insight into natural phenomena through the voices of those who know them best.</em></p>
<p><strong>Stacey Torigoe:</strong> Pelehonuamea, she is she who creates and destroys. She is the volcano goddess. She's a living force on this landscape.</p>
<p><strong>Patricia Nadeau:</strong> Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.</p>
<p><strong>Ashton Flinders:</strong> It's a puzzling, complicated system that only makes itself more complicated by how active it is.</p>
<p><strong>Stacey:</strong> Without volcanoes, we wouldn't have Hawaii. Volcanoes are the foundation of our islands.</p>
<p><strong>Narrator: </strong>For the last 40 years, Kīlauea has been in a state of near constant eruption, providing researchers with a uniquely reliable setting to study one of our planet's most unpredictable and destructive forces.</p>
<p>In a time of climate panic and tangible ecological destruction, what can we learn about the survival of our planet from one of the harshest environments on Earth?</p>
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<p><strong>Stacey:</strong> Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is 350,000 acres, which stretches from the coast all the way up to 14,000 feet at the summit of Mauna Loa.</p>
<p><strong>Ku'ulei Kanahele: </strong>We are in the Kīlauea area, and Kīlauea means to spew lava. And so even if you've never been here but you understand that's what the name means, you know what to expect.</p>
<p><strong>Patricia: </strong>Kīlauea is a little bit different from sort of the stereotypical pointy cone volcano because it's called a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes form when lava is extra runny and can go really far from the vent where it comes out. Right now it's not erupting, but from 1983 to 2018, that was 35 years of near-continuous eruption.</p>
<p>And then in 2018, we had a huge eruption and we had what's called caldera collapse. The summit of Kīlauea, in chunks, sort of collapsed in on itself and dropped down about 500 meters, which is about as tall as the Empire State Building.</p>
<p><strong>Ashton:</strong> In 2018, large, large sections of this road actually fell into the caldera. The fact that it just one day decided to open up and swallow a huge section of road, and then the parts that are still remaining, you know, throw around like just like little, you know, uh tinker toys. Talk about the, you know, kind of the awe-inspiring force that the volcano has.</p>
<p><strong>Patricia: </strong>Now that we're in 2023, we've had three eruptions in one year so far. And now we're waiting for the next one. Volcanic gases are one of the main reasons we have volcanic eruptions in the first place.</p>
<p>So if you think about a bottle of soda and those explosions that you get if you shake it up too much, those are all driven by those gas bubbles dissolved in the soda. Eruptions are driven by gas bubbles dissolved in magma. We measure sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.</p>
<p>And mostly the sulfur dioxide comes out during eruptions, but the carbon dioxide comes out before eruptions. So if we can track that, that can help give us clues about whether or not the volcano is refilling with magma. We want to make sure we're watching the gases and all of the other data all over the volcano because it's not just the summit that's active.</p>
<p>Working on an active volcano like Kīlauea and always monitoring it is almost like being a doctor because the land here really does seem almost alive.</p>
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<p><strong>Ashton: </strong>You know, if you thought about a volcano as a living, breathing entity and body, gravity is the body mass index. So I use gravity meters or gravimeters to study variations in the acceleration of gravity or the force of gravity that are measurable on the surface, but that are being caused by changes in the volcanic system.</p>
<p>And gravimetry is the only way to extract that data. It's the only way we have of measuring changes in mass.</p>
<p>That first one was 16. That's it's pretty good. It's pretty stable.</p>
<p>These instruments can measure one one billionth of the force of gravity that we feel every day. So unbelievably precise.</p>
<p>And can I use that as a precursory signal for warning? Can I say, hey, look, we saw a change in gravity right now, and then 20 minutes later the volcano erupted.</p>
<p>It's still cutting edge, so the question is, I still don't know. But we're we're trying. The idea is to get to a measurement that is solely unique and is something that tells us about how much actual magma is moving into or out of the system.</p>
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<p><strong>Ku'ulei</strong>: The chants are hundreds and thousands of years of empirical data. Our ancestors saw an eruption and they noted how the ground opens up. They noted how the flow came, if it was a fast-moving flow and a slow-moving flow.</p>
<p>And we've been fortunate lately to have a partnership with Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and Hawaii Observatories because I think we're telling the same story. We're telling it through chant and narrative, and they're telling it through their scientific record.</p>
<p>For a long time, our language and our culture was seen as just fable. And now that we show that our chants and our stories are not just cute little fairy tales, there's value in it. There's lessons in it that we can extract from all of those chants and stories.</p>
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<p><strong>Stacey: </strong>To start to try to understand how a native Hawaiian forest is constructed over time. That's something that you can find only here at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. I was born and raised on this island about 40 miles away from the park, and I always felt like working in Hawaii was much more meaningful and making a difference in this landscape that is super special.</p>
<p>This is Nahuku lava tube. It was formed about 550 years ago by a river of lava. The top part of the lava flow cooled, but the river of lava continued to flow underneath it.</p>
<p>The ōhi'a are actually reaching their roots down through the little cracks in the roof of the lava tube, and eventually they'll widen those cracks out. They're breaking down the rock into soil. Eventually they'll transform this lava tube into a forest floor.</p>
<p>On an active volcanic landscape, there's cycles of destruction, and then there's rebirth following that. The ōhi'a is the catalyst for the rebirth of the forest. Ōhi'a trees are adapted to disperse across the landscape, find little tiny cracks and crevices in the rocks.</p>
<p>Ōhi'a trees will actually hold their breath when sulfuric acid is in the air to protect themselves.</p>
<p><strong>Ku'ulei:</strong> Not only is it the first pioneer plant on lava beds, it helps to break down this rock, but it collects water for our islands and gives us freshwater, spring waters. That's the importance of ōhi'a to us.</p>
<p><strong>Patricia: </strong>We're always gonna live with volcanoes, whether it's here in Hawaii or the Pacific Northwest, like Mount St. Helens, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand. We have to understand them to better live with them. And using that information for forecasting eruption and hazard mitigation.</p>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106186/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p><strong>Ashton: </strong>Kilauea is anywhere from 200 to 300,000 years old. And that's actually pretty young geologically speaking. We're about as old as Kīlauea, as a species. And while we have this long history of observation here, we've just kind of scratched the surface of what we've observed, both scientifically, but then also, you know, kind of culturally.</p>
<p>The most potential for discovery are in the most inhospitable environments. Because those are the places that are the hardest to study.</p>
<p><strong>Stacey: </strong>To be in this place where Pele is very present and alive, to be here is a privilege. You're always subject to the whims of a volcano. You never know when she's going to decide to totally change the landscape on you. This isn't the end of the story. It's an ongoing story with Pele and her dance on the landscape.</p>
<p> </p>
<figure class="  "><img class="article-image  " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106193/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>]]>
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>Atlas Obscura's Explorer Holiday Gift Guide</title>
      <dc:creator>Emma Patti</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/travel-holiday-gifts-2025</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/travel-holiday-gifts-2025</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p data-start="302" data-end="588">Explorers come in many forms. Some collect passport stamps; others collect obscure facts, or quest to see roadside oddities or try new snacks from far-flung corners of the world. What they share is curiosity, and the compulsion to look a little closer, at maps, at landscapes, at stories that don’t always make the brochures.</p>
<p data-start="590" data-end="998">This year’s Atlas Obscura gift guide brings together ideas for the curious explorer in your life, whether they are in the dreaming phase or actively planning a trip. It's for those who love the thrill of discovery, whether that means testing their geography chops, planning a national park visit or finally upgrading the gear they keep meaning to replace. You’ll find practical tools for travelers, clever challenges for the puzzle-minded and a few ways to bring a bit of global curiosity into everyday life at home. You'll also find personal recs from our AO team of seasoned adventurers on their must-have travel essentials.</p>
<p data-start="1000" data-end="1205">From books and journals to water filters, task cards and snack boxes that travel the world without leaving the kitchen, these gifts are designed for anyone the wonder-seekers on your gift list this year.</p>
<p data-start="1207" data-end="1230" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">Let the browsing begin.</p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="1207" data-end="1230"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/unique-gifts/inventing-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For the curious kid</a></h2>
<p><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106180/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></p>
<p>Dive into our latest Atlas Obscura book, a globe-spanning journey through the world’s coolest inventions and discoveries, from the spark of fire in ancient caves to space-age lasers and supersonic cars. <strong>Executive editor, Emma Patti,</strong> says the book is <em>"7-year-old boy approved. My son looks at the brilliant illustrations and information in this book for hours."</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/unique-gifts/inventing-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="1043" data-end="1088"><a href="https://www.homefrontinteriors.co.uk/product/cork-massage-ball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="1047" data-end="1086">For the active adventurer</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106196/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p data-start="1089" data-end="1397">Take it from <strong data-start="1102" data-end="1163">Lauren Johnston, our Chief Product Transformation Officer</strong>: “<em data-start="1166" data-end="1299">I always travel with this cork massage ball… it’s great if you’re knotted up after a redeye or a tough hike or a questionable hotel pillow.</em>” Simple, lightweight, and easy to pack, it’s the kind of tool you don’t realize you need until you do.</p>
<p data-start="1089" data-end="1397"><a href="https://www.homefrontinteriors.co.uk/product/cork-massage-ball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For the wilderness ready</a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106199/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p><strong>Louise Story</strong>, our CEO, writes that nothing is more important in life than fun experiences. For her friends and family, she likes to urge them out into the wilderness and likes to give gift cards to HipCamp.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt; </a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="828" data-end="868"><a href="https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/maps-quiz-book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="832" data-end="868">For the geography geek</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106194/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p data-start="869" data-end="1144"><em data-start="869" data-end="896">In the best possible way. </em>With hundreds of map-based puzzles and brainteasers, this book is a satisfying test of place-name recall, border-shape memory, and global awareness. A great companion for travelers, trivia lovers, and anyone who sees a blank map as an adventure.</p>
<p data-start="869" data-end="1144"><a href="https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/maps-quiz-book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="849" data-end="881"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LB7REBE?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;titleSource=true&amp;badgeInsights=insights&amp;th=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="853" data-end="879">For the redeye regular</strong></a></h2>
<p><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106184/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></p>
<p data-start="882" data-end="1103">A favorite of <strong data-start="896" data-end="930">Natalie Moore, our Head of Product</strong>, this travel pillow offers structured support without bulk. It’s the kind of small, smart tool that makes the difference between a miserable overnight and a manageable one.</p>
<p data-start="882" data-end="1103"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LB7REBE?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_5TH4APJM9EA9Q98FF8GX&amp;titleSource=true&amp;badgeInsights=insights&amp;th=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="363" data-end="403"><a href="https://www.universalyums.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="367" data-end="401">For the curious snacker</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106197/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p data-start="404" data-end="594">What if you could sample snacks from across the globe without a passport? Universal Yums sends you a rotating mix of treats that tell stories about different cultures — one bite at a time.</p>
<p data-start="404" data-end="594"><a href="https://www.universalyums.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="481" data-end="541"><a href="https://www.osprey.com/farpoint-70-travel-pack-farpont70f22-550?size=O%2FS&amp;color=Black" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="485" data-end="539">For the one-bag wanderer</strong></a></h2>
<p><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106183/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></p>
<p data-start="542" data-end="768">The Osprey Farpoint 70’s secret strength is its detachable daypack, a grab-and-go companion for everything from museum stops to market runs. The larger pack handles the journey; the smaller one handles wherever curiosity leads next.</p>
<p data-start="1207" data-end="1230" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><a href="https://www.osprey.com/farpoint-70-travel-pack-farpont70f22-550?size=O%2FS&amp;color=Black" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="193" data-end="263"><a href="https://www.hoka.com/en/us/women-hiking/kaha-3-gtx/197634762302.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="197" data-end="261">For the all-day hiker</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106198/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p data-start="264" data-end="596">Recommended by the wife of <strong data-start="291" data-end="353">Doug Baldinger, Chief Content Officer for AO Entertainment</strong>, who logged 15,000+ steps a day in Iceland without missing a beat. The HOKA Kaha 3 GTX is built for serious comfort on long days, rugged terrain, and unpredictable weather, the kind of shoe that keeps up when the adventure doesn’t slow down.</p>
<p data-start="264" data-end="596"><a href="https://www.hoka.com/en/us/women-hiking/kaha-3-gtx/197634762302.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="119" data-end="177"><a href="https://www.worldmarket.com/p/challenge-accepted-travel-tasks-card-deck-637126.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="123" data-end="175">For the spontaneous explorer</strong></a></h2>
<p><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106182/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></p>
<p data-start="178" data-end="400">A deck of travel challenges that turns every trip—whether across town or across continents, into a playground of discovery. These cards coax you off the beaten path, nudging you toward curious corners and memorable detours.</p>
<p data-start="178" data-end="400"><a href="https://www.worldmarket.com/p/challenge-accepted-travel-tasks-card-deck-637126.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="197" data-end="234"><a href="https://www.rei.com/product/193199/fjallraven-expedition-x-latt-insulated-jacket-mens?sku=1931990012&amp;store=&amp;CAWELAID=120217890012395864&amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;CAAGID=101844280286&amp;CATCI=pla-346839785748&amp;cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C21700000001700551_1931990012%7C346839785748%7Cbrand_flag%7C10023999066&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=10023999066&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAwqHIBhAEEiwAx9cTecD-LjKKtRvoTeVshhh3yFKCIRemjTX5G5bsRoeKk5Md2BmFOB-w_hoCU4IQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="201" data-end="232">For the layering master</strong></a></h2>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106195/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p data-start="235" data-end="560">Recommended by <strong data-start="250" data-end="301">Andreas Rekdal, Atlas Obscura’s Managing Editor</strong>, this lightweight insulated jacket works on its own or under a rain shell for added wind and water resistance. It packs down smaller than a hoodie or fleece, making it a versatile, space-saving layer for travelers who like to be prepared without overpacking.</p>
<p data-start="235" data-end="560"><a href="https://www.rei.com/product/193199/fjallraven-expedition-x-latt-insulated-jacket-mens?sku=1931990012&amp;store=&amp;CAWELAID=120217890012395864&amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;CAAGID=101844280286&amp;CATCI=pla-346839785748&amp;cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C21700000001700551_1931990012%7C346839785748%7Cbrand_flag%7C10023999066&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=10023999066&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAwqHIBhAEEiwAx9cTecD-LjKKtRvoTeVshhh3yFKCIRemjTX5G5bsRoeKk5Md2BmFOB-w_hoCU4IQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt; </a></p>
<h2 class="article-subheading-pre-rd" data-start="463" data-end="503"><a href="https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/travel-the-world-in-365-days-qr-mug" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong data-start="467" data-end="501">For the kitchen-table traveler</strong></a></h2>
<p><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106181/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></p>
<p data-start="504" data-end="666">Sip, scan, and discover: this mug turns any kitchen table into a global portal. Perfect for travelers who daydream of distant places while brewing their next cup.</p>
<p data-start="668" data-end="763" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><a href="https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/travel-the-world-in-365-days-qr-mug" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BUY HERE &gt;</a></p>]]>
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>The Women Who Saved the Fasnacht Festival</title>
      <dc:creator>The Podcast Team </dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:01:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-fasnacht-west-virginia</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-fasnacht-west-virginia</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<div>
<p class="item-body-text-graf"><strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></p>
</div>
<hr class="baseline-grid-hr" />
<p><strong>Kelly McEvers:</strong> It’s a chilly day in a tiny town in West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Winter is almost over. In the middle of town is this little wooden dance hall that was built in 1910. Inside there are fiddles playing and feet stomping on the floorboards.</p>
<p><strong>Clara Lehmann:</strong> And then the sun starts to go down and the doors of the dance hall open. And all of these characters wearing huge papier-mâché masks come parading out. You know, people dress up as frightening things, whimsical, scary-looking beasts, or it might be something very beautiful. I’ve seen masks that have streamers of color coming out and very vibrant colors.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> This parade of beasts and aliens and flowers and suns and moons makes its way into a field. They’re holding lanterns. And as the sun gets lower and it gets darker outside, the light from the lanterns makes everything seem strange and unreal.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>The way that the sounds echo when you’re in the mask are very fascinating because you’re having a great time. There’s music, people want your picture and they want to talk to you, and you can’t quite hear them. So it’s kind of this lovely, confusing experience. It allows you to be something else for the day and be an observer and observed.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> I’m Kelly McEvers, and this is <em>Atlas Obscura</em>, a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This episode is brought to you in partnership with West Virginia Tourism.</p>
<p>And today we’re going to Fasnacht. It’s a day of celebration, revelry, and a little bit of mischief to celebrate the end of winter. A tradition that has been around for a long time, but was almost lost in West Virginia until two local women saved it.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited transcript of the </em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast"><em>Atlas Obscura Podcast</em></a><em>: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on </em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=89027X1542228&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.7.1&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Farticles%2Fpodcast-montezuma-well&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-atlas-obscura-podcast%2Fid1555769970&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=300&amp;xuuid=f238828fc9c8f1386593b6f8b1d81e7b&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D"><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></p>
<figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/106174/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Fasnacht is the signature event in a town called Helvetia. It’s close to the very center of West Virginia, high in the Allegheny Mountains, one of the more rugged parts of the Appalachian Mountain chain. Helvetia is not easy to get to.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>You end up driving at least an hour to get to Helvetia on very windy roads. It is the middle of winter, often very cold. Sometimes we have a couple feet of snow.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>This is Clara Lehmann. She’s a filmmaker who lives in Helvetia and grew up there. And today she’s the director of the Fasnacht Festival.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> People feel like they are paused for a moment when they go to Helvetia. There’s no cell phone service. It’s quiet. There are no highways. You’re definitely driving on winding roads. And the community, while we’re small, is very welcoming and warm and wants to have you here.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Small, meaning a population of around 60. But at the end of every winter, when the annual celebration of Fasnacht comes around, the town grows to 20 times its size.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> This is not a modern tradition. It’s very, very old.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> The story of Fasnacht in Helvetia goes back to the founding of the town in 1869. That’s when five Swiss families moved to Helvetia from Brooklyn. The mountains, they said, reminded them of home.</p>
<p>One of the earliest recorded celebrations of Fasnacht was in the 14th century in Basel, Switzerland. It probably goes even further back than that, to a pre-Christian ritual that marks the coming of spring.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>Fasnacht, interestingly, is German for “fasting night.” “Fas” meaning fasting, “nacht” meaning night. But more recognizably, Fasnacht is Mardi Gras. It’s supposed to fall on Fat Tuesday because you would eat all your fatty foods on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday you begin Lent.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> The big party of Fat Tuesday or Fasnacht is supposed to get you through the next 40 days of fasting. This fasting, of course, comes from religious traditions, but Clara says it’s practical, too.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>In the time that my ancestors came from Switzerland, a lot of them were farmers, and so they’re that — you are reliant on the land. They have harsh winters, and you oftentimes had to put a lot of resources away in order to make it through winter. And this was the one day in that winter time that you were allowed to really let go, be like, I’m gonna have a drink. Oh wait, I’m gonna eat that extra potato. I don’t know.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Indulging in that one potato led to other forms of indulgence. Over the years, Fasnacht and other Mardi Gras traditions became associated with masquerades, parades, music, and mischief.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> That’s a very important element to Fasnacht. It allows a community to get together, be a little bit curious and odd, and play different roles or poke fun at neighbors or politics in a way that is safe.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>But while Fasnacht celebrations in Switzerland are these big carnivals, Clara says the early Fasnacht in Helvetia were very different.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>Originally, a lot of our community members celebrated this privately in their homes. You bring the homemade wine, I’ll bring a homemade dish, we’ll make some rosettes, which are a fatty, fried, like a donut or like a funnel cake, but it’s in the shape of a beautiful flower. And then we’ll share and we share food together and we play music and we sing.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> So that was how it was originally done in Helvetia. But then things changed after World War I and World War II.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> In the 1940s and ’50s, there were anti-German sentiments that were still hanging over Helvetia, and that was due to the world wars. And so there was a lot of antagonism that was happening, and so the community started to shun its Swiss identity in order to protect itself.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>During this period, Fasnacht was almost lost. But then two local women got involved. Their names were Eleanor Mailloux and Dolores Baggerly, and they ran a restaurant together. Eleanor was Clara’s grandmother. Clara sometimes calls her Mueter, the Swiss German word for mother. And Clara remembers trying to get a look at her grandmother’s Fasnacht mask in the back of the restaurant.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> And I would sneak back into the winter part where she would have her mask drying by the wood stove and see what she — I thought she was building. You know, it’d be very rudimentary early on, so you wouldn’t know.</p>
<p>It’d be like, oh, I wonder if it’s gonna be gruesome or pretty, and she usually leaned gruesome. So in the 1960s, ’70s, the community was having struggles economically, with retention, with upkeep, you know.</p>
<p>Mueter and Dolores were like, man, we really need to figure out ways to remind people that this identity is special. And also, how can we make sure that the little restaurant and the little post office in the library can survive?</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>So Dolores and Mueter Eleanor started decorating their restaurant with Swiss folk art and making traditional foods. And they decided to make Fasnacht a public celebration.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>And so that first few years, it was Dolores and my grandmother dressing up in masks only. There were maybe two or three masks. Eleanor Mailloux wore a mask with big antlers. She made it out of papier-mâché, and then a lot of folks hunt in our area, so she had some antlers laying around and attached them and became some kind of beast of the woods. There are stories of children remembering that year because they were scared of both of these women.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> It wasn’t until the 1990s, though, that the festival really took off. That’s when a local psychology professor at West Virginia University named Rogers McAvoy encouraged his students to go to Fasnacht and to mask up.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>And sometimes they were the more masked participants than even our local individuals.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Today, masking is a huge part of the Fasnacht Festival in Helvetia. Usually, people make the masks out of papier-mâché and work on them for weeks or months.</p>
<p>Some are more gruesome, like Eleanor’s, to scare away Old Man Winter. Others are more about welcoming spring with flowers and suns. And some are just weird.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> People really put themselves into these masks. They’re pieces of art. I’ve seen a group of possums, that was adorable. I remember one year there was a mask that had a battery pack in it with a mouse running in a wheel placed inside, as if it was a part of the brain.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Sometimes the masks are a commentary on things that have happened in town during the year.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>One year we had a couple who dressed up as a cow and a milkmaid, and that was to poke fun at the fact that someone in our community had tried to have dairy and it didn’t work out. And so there were things that you can laugh about and release. It’s letting you release something that maybe you have been holding on to, and it’s like, hey, let it go and let’s move on.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Letting go and moving on is a big part of Fasnacht. First, you eat the rosettes and the other fried food, then you jam and dance in the dance hall, then you parade out into that field in your costumes. And then it’s time to say goodbye to Old Man Winter.</p>
<p><strong>Clara:</strong> We untether Old Man Winter, who we have propped up inside our gazebo. It is papier-mâché or a mixed media. It’s a human form of an Old Man Winter, and we take him across the little footbridge and down the road to a large bonfire, toss him on the bonfire, and then we have a nice big square dance in the community hall after that.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>These days, about a thousand people come to Fasnacht every year, and that’s a big deal. When you remember, the town usually has only 60 people living in it.</p>
<p>One reason the festival has grown over the last few years is actually a video game. It’s called <em>Fallout 76</em>, and it’s a post-apocalyptic survival role-playing game. One popular update lets you wander around a virtual Helvetia and participate in a virtual Fasnacht.</p>
<p>Clara says people in town love it because the more people hear about Fasnacht and come to Fasnacht, the more strange it gets.</p>
<p><strong>Clara: </strong>This is a little weird, and I will admit it’s weird. Seeing a thousand masks or, you know, people dressed oddly is strange in the middle of Appalachia, but it’s really special. And I think that sometimes people come away from it with a spiritual experience, and that can be religious, it can be catharsis, it can be slightly just healing.</p>
<p>And I think that’s a point is to bring community together and celebrate who we are, wherever we are, and however we are, and then allow ourselves to make it through the last little bit of winter before spring comes and heals us even more and lets us get back together uh in warmth.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> The date of Fasnacht changes every year with the Easter calendar, just like Mardi Gras. Check the episode description for more details.</p>
<p><em><strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></em></p>]]>
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      <title>The Nostalgic Snack Shop Hidden in the Trees</title>
      <dc:creator>The Podcast Team </dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2025 14:13:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-coqui-snacks</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-coqui-snacks</guid>
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<p class="item-body-text-graf"><strong><em>This is an edited transcript of the </em><em>Atlas Obscura Podcast: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places</em><em>. This episode was produced in partnership with Experience Kissimmee as part of a special series about Kissimmee’s Latin Culinary Trail. <a href="https://kissimmee-latin-culinary-trail.atlasobscura.com/">Click here to learn more</a>.</em></strong></p>
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<p><strong>Kelly McEvers:</strong> Okay, so let’s say it’s a hot day in Central Florida, like usual, and you’re in a city called Kissimmee. There’s a place you can go to cool off, get a drink and a snack, but it is not easy to find.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar Mercado:</strong> It’s in a cul-de-sac, so nobody will go there unless you had to. It is hidden away.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Down that cul-de-sac next to a daycare center, there’s a yellow sign in front of what looks like a bunch of trees. Follow the path next to the sign, and it will take you back to this little yellow bungalow with rocking chairs on a front porch, surrounded by tropical plants.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>You’ll know you’re in the right place because of what it sounds like. We have the sound of the coquí frog on the outside of the store.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>That sound is playing over outdoor speakers.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> It’s named coqui because that’s the sound it makes. It literally sings “coqui, coqui, coqui,” all night long. And when it’s raining, it sings that all night long.</p>
<p>You either love it or it drives you crazy. But most Puerto Ricans love it. My mother hates it, but most Puerto Ricans love it.</p>
<p>So when people come in, they hear the sound, and that’s also very emotional for us Puerto Ricans to hear that sound. Sometimes they sit on the rocking chairs and they’re like, this is what I used to do at my grandmother’s house, and listen to the coquí, and they just break down crying, which is sweet. It’s very sweet.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>I’m Kelly McCovers, and this is <em>Atlas Obscura</em>, a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Experience Kissimmee.</p>
<p>The sound of the coquí frog is something that comforts people. And it makes sense that this snack shop, Coquí Snacks, is all about comfort foods. For 16 years, owner Dorimar Mercado has been sharing the snacks and sounds of her childhood in Puerto Rico with people who come to her shop.</p>
<p>And those snacks include a frozen treat with a surprising connection to the aviator, Charles Lindbergh. That’s coming up after this.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited transcript of the </em><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast"><em>Atlas Obscura Podcast</em></a><em>: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on </em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=89027X1542228&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.7.1&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Farticles%2Fpodcast-montezuma-well&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-atlas-obscura-podcast%2Fid1555769970&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=300&amp;xuuid=f238828fc9c8f1386593b6f8b1d81e7b&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D"><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT"><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, and all major podcast apps.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>So, when you think about Orlando, Florida, and the area around it, you might think about a certain cartoon mouse. But in the last decade, the area has become a center of Latin American culture and food. Brazilian barbecue, Cuban sandwiches, sushi with Dominican flavors.</p>
<p>And if you go to Kissimmee, about a 20-minute drive from Disney World, you will find this place called Coquí Snacks. You might think you just walked into the backyard of someone’s grandparents’ house in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> The vibe is very nostalgic. The actual building, I made it look like a little Puerto Rican country house, like a wooden country house. That’s what it looks like.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> This is Dorimar Mercado, the founder of Coquí Snacks.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>It’s small and cozy, and it has an area with rocking chairs, and it just gives you that Caribbean vibe.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Today, if you go to Coquí, you’ll find people hanging out on the front porch, sitting in the rocking chairs, many of them having the house specialty.</p>
<p>It looks a little bit like a frozen ice pop in a cup. It’s a classic Puerto Rican snack called limbers, which have a surprising backstory. The name limber actually comes from Lindbergh, as in Charles Lindbergh, the aviator. He visited Puerto Rico back in 1928, flying his famous airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis.</p>
<p>According to some versions of the story, Lindbergh arrived on a super hot day. Someone offered him a popsicle. He loved it. The name kind of stuck. But in other versions of the story …</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> Puerto Ricans felt that he was a very aloof man. He didn’t show emotions that much. So he was very cold to the Puerto Rican people. And so Puerto Ricans started calling these desserts that probably were being called something like a little ice cream or something. And then we started calling them limber because they were as cold as Charles Lindbergh.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> So, whichever version of the story is true, limbers were what you had as a kid. Like when Dorimar was growing up.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> In Puerto Rico, usually limbers were something that housewives made for a little extra cash, and they sold them from their houses, from their freezers. As a child, you would go to the lady that sold limbers, and then the lady would come out, usually in a bad mood.</p>
<p>I never met a limber lady that was in a good mood because the kids were always bothering her somehow. You know, she was doing something or watching her telenovelas, and the kids were, you know, interrupting her. So she was like, “Yes?” you know, like, “Que?”</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> Lucky for her, Dorimar had a better source for limber.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>In my grandmother’s backyard, she had coconut palm trees. So I would ask for a coconut limber, and she would just go to her backyard and throw rocks at the coconuts. The coconuts would fall, and she would make me limbers of coconuts. And so things like that, and that’s how limbers became a thing in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Then around 2008, Dorimar was living in the U.S. and working as a business journalist, but she started to worry about the future of newspapers and thought about trying something different. She ended up buying a kit online to make mini donuts and started selling them at fairs and events around Kissimmee. And it worked. By 2009, she was ready to open a shop. Kissimmee seemed like the perfect spot.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> Kissimmee specifically, we have a large Puerto Rican community here.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Some say this started in the early ’70s when Disney World opened. The park needed workers, and at the time there was an economic downturn in Puerto Rico. Then, after Hurricane Maria in 2017, a lot of Puerto Ricans relocated to Central Florida. And now more than half the city’s population of 85,000 identifies as Puerto Rican. This was on Dorimar’s mind when she was thinking about how to expand her menu in the new location.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>I was looking for things that I couldn’t find here as a Puerto Rican. And I thought of the limbers.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> At first, she started with traditional flavors coconut, pineapple, sour sap, mantecado, or vanilla cream. But over the years …</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>We start getting more creative. At some point, I had them made out of different candy bars, like Snickers bars, Twix bars. And now, for example, Bad Bunny, the singer with his old residency in Puerto Rico and his new album, he has a song that’s called Cafe Con Ron. So we made a limber of Cafe Con Ron, a coffee and rum limber, and people love it.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> In the beginning, Coquí Snacks was all about sweets, but Dorimar says after customers started asking her for more savory options, she hit up her mom for recipes and learned some new ones on YouTube. So, today you can find fried fritters with all kinds of different fillings.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>The crowd favorite for the frituras has always been the alcapurria de massa, which is the one made out of the green plantains with ground beef. People love the one that we make. That’s our number one bestseller, is that, and the empanadilla de pizza. The pizza empanada was a classic that all Puerto Rican kids grew up in.</p>
<p>When I was going to school in Puerto Rico in the ’80s, they would have like a little kiosk with sweets and fried foods for the children. For a dollar, you could get a Coke icy and a pizza empanada.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Dorimar also has some of her own inventions. Like she took a traditional sandwich called a tripleta made with three different kinds of meats and stuffed it into an empanada.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar: </strong>Yeah, we tried to make new combinations. I would have new staff members come and say, hey, in my neighborhood, they used to make them out of this. And I say, well, okay, let’s try that and let’s see how we can change it and make it our own.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly:</strong> When Dorimar opened Coquí Snacks back in 2009, her oldest daughter was four, and she was pregnant with her youngest.</p>
<p><strong>Dorimar:</strong> It was important to me as a mom to these two girls that were born here in the States to also get a little bit of their culture, you know, of where I come from. I’ve noticed that with a lot of parents also, that they love to bring their children and teach them, you know, this is what I used to eat when I was a child, you know, and now I had kids that used to come in with their parents, and because we’ve been over for 16 years, now they’re bringing their own babies, you know.</p>
<p>So, other than making me feel old, it makes me feel proud also. I love, you know, that when you go to different places, you know, Italians keep some of their foods and, or the Irish, you know, that we’re all Americans, but we bring that deliciousness from all our countries. It’s all these traditions, all these little things that um we used to enjoy over there, and bringing it over here and teaching it to a new generation.</p>
<p><strong>Kelly: </strong>Coquí snacks is open daily. Check out their hours online, and you can order on their website if you’re in the Kissimmee area. The shop is in a cul-de-sac. Look for the yellow sign. You know you’re getting close when you hear the sound, “coquí.”</p>
<p>And if you’re looking for more places to eat while you’re in town, check out the <a href="https://kissimmee-latin-culinary-trail.atlasobscura.com/">Kissimmee Latin Culinary Trail</a>. There are 40 restaurants in there with a huge variety of Latin American cuisines, including Puerto Rican, Mexican, Colombian, Venezuelan, and Argentinian, to name a few. We will post a link to an interactive map in the episode description.</p>
<p><em><strong>Listen and subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/id1555769970">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT">Spotify</a>, and all major podcast apps.</strong></em></p>]]>
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      <title>Kitchen Dispatch: The Bread That Almost Broke Me</title>
      <dc:creator>Sam O'Brien</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-bread-that-almost-broke-me</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-bread-that-almost-broke-me</guid>
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<p class="item-body-text-graf"><em>Join Gastro Obscura Senior Editor Sam O'Brien each week for Kitchen Dispatch as she test drives new recipes and recreates the world's most wondrous foods right in her home kitchen. <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/newsletters/gastro-obscura">Subscribe to read it first in the Gastro Obscura newsletter</a>. </em></p>
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<p>One morning in September, I awoke to the smell of stinky feet and rotting garbage. I was elated.</p>
<p>Normally, this might signify a problem. But that day I was making a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/salt-rising-bread">salt-rising bread</a> starter. That terrible aroma was the sign I’d succeeded. After a few hours of mixing, rising, kneading, and baking, it would be transformed into a cheese-flavored loaf with a tender crumb.</p>
<p>It had taken me weeks to get there. I’d tested myriad recipes, only to stare at one failed starter after another. I knew this might happen. Salt-rising bread (SRB) is notoriously challenging. While the microbes in, say, a sourdough starter are plentiful and predictable, those in an SRB starter are fickle little divas. The ingredients and steps are simple enough; it’s cultivating the elusively specific conditions required by these microbes that can flummox even the most experienced baker. The great James Beard includes a disclaimer before his own recipe in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JHYSAI?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_digi_asin_title_351_1"><em>Beard on Bread</em></a><em>: </em>“It is unpredictable…I am including it in this collection because it is a worthy recipe, but I do so with a warning that you may be disappointed.”</p>
<p>No kidding. I tried starters with cornmeal and potatoes, flour and milk; I placed jars atop warmed ovens, behind refrigerators, in humming water baths. Each time, I’d set the starter out to ferment overnight, only to awake to a lackluster result. I’d started to wonder why I embarked on this quest in the first place.</p>
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<p>I’d been fascinated by SRB ever since I edited Natalie Zarrelli’s article, “<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-make-salt-rising-bread">The Forgotten Baking Technique That Turns Bacteria Into Delicious, Cheesy Bread</a>,” in 2022 . When I began writing the Bread chapter of the forthcoming <em>The Gastro Obscura Cookbook </em>(my current project)<em>, </em>I knew SRB needed to be among its recipes. It was just a matter of mastering it.</p>
<p>For her article, Zarrelli had interviewed Jenny Bardwell and Susan Brown, coauthors of <a href="http://saltrisingbread.net/"><em>Salt-Rising Bread: Recipes and Heartfelt Stories of a Nearly Lost Appalachian Tradition</em></a>. The book, a combination of recipes and oral histories, traces SRB back to Appalachia at the turn of the 19th century. While the exact science was centuries away, pioneer women knew that pouring scalded milk or boiling water over cornmeal and/or potatoes, then leaving the mixture in a warm place overnight would yield a leaven. Yes, it smelled, but it also created something delicious (TIP: You'll find the Bardwell <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-make-salt-rising-bread">SRB recipe here,</a> and mine comes later in the book!)</p>
<p>The root of SRB’s’s odor and the secret to its rise is a bacteria known as <em>Clostridium perfringens.</em> You read that right: This is a bread that relies on bacteria, rather than yeast to rise. And cultivating that bacteria is a tall order; a degree too hot and they’ll die, a degree too cool and they won’t wake up at all. Hence, my recent struggles.</p>
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<p>Faced with my umpteenth failed starter this fall, I reached out to Bardwell myself. I’d take any advice, try any superstitious ritual (and there are plenty when it comes to SRB).</p>
<p>The answer was surprising: chickpea flour.</p>
<p>While not a traditional ingredient in salt-rising bread, chickpea flour is crucial in other bacteria-risen breads from <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/turkey">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/greece">Greece</a>, and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/cyprus">Cyprus</a>. Willing to try anything, I added some chickpea flour to my starter recipe, fired up my sous vide, and went to bed.</p>
<p>When I woke up, the kitchen smelled terrible. I grabbed my jar, which had a frothy head and pungent odor, and showed it to my dog, Hoagie. He took one whiff and fled. Success!</p>
<p>After making the sponge, then the dough, then baking, I had two glorious, bacteria-risen loaves. The terrible smell gave way to a delightful, asiago-like aroma. It was savory and satisfying when toasted with a bit of butter; and its cheesy notes made it the perfect breakfast sandwich bread. I’ve been hooked ever since.</p>
<p>I’m still tinkering with the recipe and trying out some variations. I’ve made salt-rising bread croutons (amazing sprinkled on tomato soup) and plan to try out a pizza dough recipe soon.</p>
<p>Was mastering SRB a maddening challenge? Yes. But Beard was right. It is certainly a “worthy recipe.”</p>]]>
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      <title>Nectar Soda</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/nectar-soda</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/nectar-soda</guid>
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        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="An Aglamesis nectar soda." data-width="4344" data-height="4043" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/gLqA8RaTQNIL0MupnRjPCWB4QRxXZdJs1eCFvMqaXY8/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy80YTQw/MzA1NC04MjBhLTQw/MmEtYmU5My1iYWZi/YWU5ZGViNDc5Y2Rk/YjY1YjA4NGY1MmFm/YzRfQWdsYW1lc2lz/IG5lY3RhciBzb2Rh/IG9uIHRhYmxlIDIu/anBn.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though Cincinnati is best known for breweries, another effervescent beverage has a long history in the Queen City: the nectar soda.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Home to the oldest pharmacy college in the U.S. west of the Alleghenies, the</span><a href="https://lloydlibrary.org/research/archives/eclectic-medicine/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Eclectic Medical Institute</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (1845-1952), and</span><a href="https://lloydlibrary.org/about/a-brief-history-of-the-lloyd-library-and-museum/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Cincinnati was long on the forefront of the pharmaceutical industry. The city had a number of apothecaries with soda fountains, as well as confectioners serving countless carbonated concoctions—some claiming to cure a variety of ailments, and others simply providing customers with something sweet and refreshing to drink.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enter the nectar soda. The flavor is a combination of vanilla and bitter almond, and the drink is pastel pink in color—a nod to the hue of almond flowers, according to </span><a href="https://dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dann Woellert</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a Cincinnati food historian, etymologist, and the author of </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cincinnati-Candy-History-American-Palate/dp/1467137952"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cincinnati Candy: A Sweet History</span></em></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Nicknamed the “</span><a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/august-2-1942-page-55-108/docview/1882746511/sem-2?accountid=39387"><span style="font-weight: 400;">drink of the gods</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” the bitter almond flavor of nectar soda balances out what would otherwise be overly sweet vanilla, creating an addictive taste that grows on you with each sip. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nectar sodas have been served in Cincinnati since at least the late 1870s, though, like many iconic foods and beverages, its precise origins are murky. The only other U.S. city to embrace nectar sodas was New Orleans, but unlike Cincinnati, the tradition fizzled out in the Big Easy in the mid-20th century. Plus, Woellert says that the Queen City popularized them first. “They were served in Cincinnati nearly a decade before New Orleans,” he says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the Cincinnati nectar soda has multiple origin stories, each crediting a different pharmacist or confectioner, Woellert has concluded that </span><a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/april-13-1947-page-98-151/docview/1882885311/sem-2?accountid=39387"><span style="font-weight: 400;">John Mullane</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> created the flavor after traveling to Quebec City to learn the art of confectionery from a prominent Canadian candymaker. He began serving nectar sodas in his confectionery shop in downtown Cincinnati in the late 1870s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, why did the nectar soda end up in Cincinnati and New Orleans, of all places? Wollert suspects that the bitter almond and vanilla flavor was used by the French Acadians who settled in both Quebec City and New Orleans.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though nectar sodas aren’t as common as they were in the early 20th century, when they could be found at countless confectioneries and pharmacy soda fountains across Cincinnati, they’re still served at establishments throughout the city and the surrounding area. Nectar sodas have been on the menu at ice cream and chocolate shop </span><a href="https://www.aglamesis.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aglamesis Brothers</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> since it opened in Cincinnati in 1908, if not shortly thereafter. That’s according to company president and CEO Randy Young, who is also a third-generation family member. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s unclear when nectar sodas were added to the </span><a href="https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll32/id/2220/rec/19"><span style="font-weight: 400;">menu</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at </span><a href="https://www.graeters.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Graeter’s</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a Cincinnati ice cream and chocolate shop that opened in 1870 and now has locations throughout the city and the Midwest, but Chip Graeter, chief of retail operations and a fourth-generation family member, says that they were especially popular throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a </span><a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/january-28-1947-page-2-26/docview/1882876222/sem-2?accountid=39387"><span style="font-weight: 400;">January 28, 1947 article</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cincinnati Enquirer</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Tom Moore, the head of the soda department at Dow Drug Store—which operated 32 soda fountains throughout the metropolitan area at that time—said that “nectar is one of the most popular flavors in all of their stores, and has been for many years.” Five years prior, </span><a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/august-16-1942-page-63-99/docview/1882739776/sem-2?accountid=39387"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dow ran an ad</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the same newspaper which read: “Be glad you live in Cincinnati, the only place in the country where you can enjoy a Dow double-dip nectar soda.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Originally, nectar syrup was made by combining half-and-half or milk with water, bitter almond extract, vanilla extract and red food coloring. While Aglamesis eventually switched to a dairy-free shelf-stable syrup, Graeter's recipe has never changed—it still contains milk and needs to be refrigerated. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both Aglamesis and Graeter’s make nectar soda by mixing nectar syrup with a dollop of whipped cream, adding a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, then topping it off with some soda water and more whipped cream.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though Young says that nectar sodas are most popular with older adults, they’re also a hit with members of younger generations who try them. “People who grew up with them still love them today,” Graeter says. “We still make them in all of our stores, but they're not nearly as popular today as they once were, simply because milkshakes and smoothies have taken over.”  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Young, there is a commercially available descendant of </span><a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/barq-s"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nectar soda</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “Commercial soda companies like Barqs and others came out with their version of cream soda—a bright pink soda—which got its flavoring from nectar soda,” he explains.</span></p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/soda">soda</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/drinks">drinks</category>
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    <item>
      <title>Tiquira</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 2024 19:17:00 -0400</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/tiquira</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/tiquira</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="" data-width="5456" data-height="3632" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/AVz4e7Gut8Wj5dEAKjG4GdVeQ-Naog6rw3iXhMFXb0k/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy9mMjk5/MWM1Mi05NDFkLTRk/ODYtYjMxZC0xZTU1/OTI0ZjI2M2Q3MDUx/Mzk4NTM2MTc1YzZh/ZDhfRFNDMDk5MTUu/SlBH.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Indigenous Brazilians have fermented alcoholic beverages from the cassava root for thousands of years. These beer-like beverages go by names like </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">cauim</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">caxiri</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">tarubá</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Fermentation is an important step in cassava processing—the raw root has chemicals that can turn into cyanide in the human body. Native peoples found that a bit of human saliva and some naturally occurring yeast could eliminate these toxins and improve the nutritious value of the tuber. When the technology of distillation arrived to the Munim River region (now in Maranhão), locals who already drank lightly alcoholic cassava beverages began to distill them. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tiquira</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was born. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The name <em>tiquira</em> is likely derived from the Tupi word </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">tykyre </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">meaning "to drip." But it is a curiosity that the spirit has flourished in only one Brazilian state, Maranhão. Margot Stinglwagner, founder of </span><a href="https://www.guaajatiquira.com/en/index.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guaaja Tiquira</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the first modern brand to produce the spirit starting in 2016, says “It’s a spirit that is also unknown in Brazil. A few people have heard about tiquira—but usually only people who have gone to Maranhão once.” Accordingly, the state moved to declare the spirit as a piece of Cultural and Intangible Heritage </span><a href="https://www.al.ma.leg.br/noticias/48515"><span style="font-weight: 400;">in September 2023</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Part of the reason that tiquira has remained so isolated is that cachaça, Brazil’s rum, is far easier to produce. Because the rum comes from sugarcane, the sugar for fermentation is already there. “With cassava, you don’t have sugar,” Stinglwagner explains. “You must first transform the carbohydrates into sugar and then you can ferment and distill it.” To achieve this end, Guaaja Tiquira uses food enzymes instead of the traditional human saliva. Guaaja also differs from other distillers because they use full cassava roots where most tiquira moonshiners rely on processed </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">farinha de mandioca</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or cassava flour. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The majority of people produce it illegally,” laughs Stinglwagner. “The state does nothing about it.” Outside of the urban center, tiquira is invariably a homemade product. Generally, tiquira makers don’t separate the "heads" (the first drops of liquor from a distillation, which contain harsher alcohols including toxic methanol and other pungent and volatile flavor compounds) from the "tails" (the final liquid produced from distillation, which has a low alcohol content and can have unwelcome bitter flavors), meaning the spirit is stronger and may contain more toxins and impurities. Some even macerate marijuana into the combined spirit to produce the doubly-illicit <em>tiquiconha</em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maranhenses believe that you cannot get wet or bathe after drinking tiquira, lest you become faint or dizzy. Zelinda Machado de Castro e Lima, one of the great chroniclers of folk culture in Maranhão, has recorded other traditions surrounding the drink. Firstly, it is typical to pierce a cashew with a toothpick and soak it in a glass of tiquira for several hours. It is then sucked as a sort of boozy lollipop. She also writes about the belief that those drinking coffee should avoid tiquira, while locals say that fishermen on the coast used the liquor to sanitize wounds incurred on the job. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, there is the curious question of the color of tiquira. In the tourist markets of São Luís, the spirit is always blushing a translucent violet. “They say that the color of tiquira is from tangerine leaves, but we tried to do it and the color from the leaves is not stable,” says Stinglwagner. “It is also not a strong color. The norms and laws for tiquira prohibit the addition of the leaves.” The violet color may be artificial (perhaps from food dyes), but some tiquiras do have a citrusy flavor. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tiquira today is still largely relegated to the world of moonshining, but with the government’s recognition of the spirit and new legitimate ventures like that of Guaaja Tiquira, Brazil could be seeing more of the cassava liquor outside of its home in Maranhão. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“All the people say to me, ‘What is this new spirit?,’” says Stinglwagner. “I say, ‘It’s not a new spirit, it’s the oldest spirit from Brazil.’”</span></p>
<p><strong>Know Before You Go</strong></p>
<p>Tiquira is widely available in the downtown markets of São Luís, Maranhão. Both the local Mercado Central and touristic Mercado das Tulhas have many vendors selling tiquira. The commercial brand, Guaaja Tiquira, is also available in São Luís at Empório Fribal, in addition to Copacabana Palace and Fairmont Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, and Mocotó Bar e Restaurante in São Paulo. </p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/distillery">distillery</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/colorful-consumables">colorful consumables</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/alcohol">alcohol</category>
      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/drinks">drinks</category>
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      <title>Maultaschen</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2024 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/maultaschen</link>
      <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/maultaschen</guid>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p><img alt="Maultaschen can contain a number of different fillings. " data-width="2500" data-height="1875" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/ra2_Vn6gdr9tweWqKKQljzyxXDXHA_0H-9IkiLmOorM/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy8zYzNl/ZTFjZi0wMDRmLTQ3/NGUtYTVmMS0yY2My/ZjQxZDFhOWVmZjJh/YTFkNTcxYzIwNmJl/MjdfTWF1bHRhc2No/ZW5fMi5qcGc.jpg" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The origins of Germany’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maultaschen</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are deliciously devious. Legend has it that, in the late Middle Ages, a lay brother named Jakob invented the stuffed pasta dumplings at the Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1147 by Cistercian monks in southwest Germany.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One direct translation of Maultaschen is “mouth pockets,” though “Maul” could just as easily refer to Maulbronn. Maultaschen are usually square dumplings (though sometimes they're rolled) and can be fried in a pan or served in broth. Commonly described as Germany’s version of Italian ravioli, they allegedly emerged as a way to use up an unexpected bounty of meat that Brother Jakob stumbled upon in the forest outside the monastery walls.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The twist? Although they abhorred waste, these monks weren’t allowed to eat the meat of four-legged animals, especially during the Catholic fasting period of Lent in the spring. So Brother Jakob minced the meat with herbs and onions and wrapped everything inside pasta dough, hiding the forbidden flesh from the eyes of his fellow monks—and even from the eyes of God.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Swabia, the region encompassing much of Baden-Württemberg and part of Bavaria where Maultaschen originated, one of the colloquial names for the food references this deception directly: </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Herrgottsbescheißerle</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> means “little God-cheaters.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everyone in Swabia has their version of the legend with more or less embellishment. Ludwig Nestler holds a master’s degree in heritage conservation and works for the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg, a government organization that oversees monuments like Maulbronn Monastery. His version of the tale includes a sack of stolen meat dropped in the woods by a fleeing thief, which inspires Brother Jakob’s trickery in the kitchen. But he acknowledges that there’s no undisputed “historically correct version” of how Maultaschen came to be. Similarly, everyone in Swabia has their own Maultaschen recipe, with unique ingredients for the minced filling, called </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brät</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Traditionally the Brät is made from pork mixed with herbs, onions, and occasionally bread crumbs for texture and stability,” says Nestler. Swabia, however, “was a rather poor region with limited amounts of meat due to rather unfertile land, so being adaptive and innovative has always been a part of the people’s nature.” As Maultaschen became popular, fish and seasonal vegetables like spinach, carrots, beets, and mushrooms became common inclusions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, the European Union ties Maultaschen to Swabia with a </span><a href="https://www.tmdn.org/giview/gi/EUGI00000013631"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Protected Geographical Indication</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which lists required ingredients the authentic product should feature, but even the necessary inclusions are pretty loose, such as “pork and/or beef and/or veal” for meat Brät and “typical regional vegetables” for meat-free Brät. It speaks to the way the dumplings developed as subsistence food, used to stretch leftovers and reduce food waste.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, Germans throughout the country enjoy Maultaschen in dozens of flavors in all seasons thanks to grocery stores that stock packaged varieties made by companies like Ditzingen-based Bürger, whose mascot, </span><a href="https://www.buerger.de/buerger-welt/erwin/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Erwin</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, is a </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maultasche</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (the singular form of the plural Maultaschen).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But the dumplings remain most popular in southern Germany. Maulbronn Monastery offers a special tour that pairs Maultaschen with wine from the monastery’s vineyards. And many locals, including Nestler’s family, still make them from scratch on special occasions—even during Lent, when meat might otherwise be off the menu. There’s no telling if it’s a fraud good enough to fool God, but it’s worth a shot.</span></p>]]>
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      <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/lent-food">lent food</category>
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