1

Grand Canyon Railway

Image: Kurt Hänel

Can you imagine looking at the Grand Canyon National Park from aboard a train? You can do this, by taking the Grand Canyon Railway, which departs from Williams, Arizona, 30 miles west of Flagstaff.

This train travels past forests of ponderosa pines and parts of the Sonoran Desert into the heart of Canyon country, where you’ll spend the day exploring and hiking before boarding your return trip—just in time for sunset.

2

The Rocky Mountaineer

Image: Taylor Brandon

The spectacular views of Western Canada, along with the red rock wonders of Colorado and Southern Utah can be fully appreciated through the nearly all-glass cabins of the Rocky Mountaineer.

This luxurious train takes passengers from Denver to Moab, Utah, where they are treated to fine dining and cocktails while enjoying the majestic views.

3

Amtrak California Zephyr

Image: Levi Meir Clancy

Travelers aboard the California Zephyr can enjoy a 51-hour journey from Chicago to San Francisco that traverses through the magnificent landscapes of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and northern California .

The ride passes through the Rocky Mountains, travels by the canyons of Colorado’s Western Slope, and spends an entire half-day on a trek through the Sierra Nevada, complete with views of Donner Lake and the Truckee River.

4

Cass Scenic Railroad

Image: Josh Nezon

The Cass Scenic Railroad was originally built in 1901 to transport lumber through the mountains of West Virginia . Today, it helps preserve the legacy of America’s locomotive history. The railroad offers two routes, including a four-and-a-half-hour round-trip journey to Bald Knob —the highest summit of Back Allegheny Mountain at 4,842 feet.

5

Amtrak Empire Builder

Image: Max Bender

The Empire Builder earns its name by traveling along major portions of the Lewis and Clark Trail. This 46-hour train departs daily from Chicago and traverses through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana , before concluding in either Seattle or Portland .

Passengers on this less-crowded route can enjoy views of the Mississippi River and the North Dakota plains, as well as the stunning scenery of Glacier National Park in Montana.

6

Amtrak Southwest Chief

Image: Ezra Jeffrey-Comeau

The long road from Chicago to Los Angeles can be traveled in great style and comfort aboard the Southwest Chief. The train traverses more than 2,000 miles, passing through Illinois farmlands, the Mississippi River, the red mesas of New Mexico, and the Mojave Desert .

This 40-hour ride can be taken in its entirety or partially, but no serious view collector should miss the most scenic stretch, which spans Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California, including Raton Pass—a National Historic Landmark along the Santa Fe Trail.

7

Cape Cod Central Railroad

Image: Melanie Hughes

This short, two-hour round trip is available only from May through October , immersing travelers in distinctive New England landscapes , including cranberry bogs, salt marshes, dunes, and woodlands.

The Cape Cod Excursion train offers an amazing sightseeing tour of the Cape’s natural attractions, including the charming Cape Cod Canal.

8

Amtrak Coast Starlight

Image: Lukas Robertson

This 35-hour journey between Los Angeles and Seattle departs daily and stops in some of the West Coast ’s greatest cities, including Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Portland .

The southern half of the route features long stretches of the Pacific Ocean shoreline before moving inland to the valleys of the state’s agricultural heart, eventually reaching the snow-covered peaks of the Cascade Mountains. The observation lounge on the train offers the best views in the house.

9

Amtrak Adirondack

Image: Robert Macleod

The final Amtrak train on this list is the Adirondack. This route runs from New York City to Montreal, departing from the new Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. The 10-hour ride takes its passengers along the Hudson River up to Albany then passes through Saratoga Springs and Lake Champlain before arriving in Canada .

It is highly recommended to take this route in the fall during peak foliage season to watch New England’s changing autumn colors pass by your window.

10

Napa Valley Wine Train

Image: Daniel Salgado

Imagine being able to drink wine from the beautiful wineries in Napa Valley without worrying about who is going to drive. That is exactly what passengers of the Napa Valley Wine Train can do.

Originally built in 1865 by a local millionaire to transport visitors to a spa resort in Calistoga, the train now offers travelers the chance to sip local vintages from a luxurious railcar while passing vaunted vineyards on a three-hour round-trip journey .

1

Pictionary

Image: Kelly Sikkema

Who hasn’t played Pictionary at least once in their life? The whole gameplay boils down to drawing a picture so that others can guess what it is. It’s like "charades" with drawings instead of actions.

While this is a board game, the board itself is the least important part of the game. The only things that matter are the drawings and how people guess what they are. Anybody of any age can get into the game and have a good time.

2

Game of Life

Image: Jaciel Melnik

One of the most popular board games of all time, the Game of Life, was created in 1960. The idea is that you want to end the game with more assets than anyone else. The basic gameplay involves spinning the spinner and making a handful of key decisions at intersections. It is in those moments that you influence which way your "life" will turn out.

The whole game is, like life itself, very luck-driven and not very strategic. This game laid the groundwork for many modern, narrative-driven games.

3

Clue

Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya

Clue was the first mass-market game to make bluffing and deduction an explicit part of the game. During gameplay, you’re always trying to analyze your opponents’ moves and react accordingly.

A game that spawned a million more games, Clue takes its participants on a journey to solve a murder using a series of clues given throughout the session. Even if you never played it (and chances are that you have), you know it.

4

Chutes And Ladders

Image: Biao Xie

Chutes and Ladders was inspired by an ancient Indian board game that originated around the year 200 BC. The game is luck-driven; there is no strategic element to either the ancient or the modern version.

Just like in The Game of Life, the gameplay involves spinning a spinner and advancing the specified amount of spaces it indicates. Ladders move you up higher on the board, and chutes drop you down to lower spaces.

5

Risk

Image: Dave Photoz

Risk has one of the most recognizable boards of any board game, with its colorful map divided into strange countries. The focus is set on one of the oldest of human ambitions: to conquer the world.

It is not the kind of game you want to play if you only have a few minutes to spare, since the entire gameplay can take up to a few hours. But, if you have the time and at least one other player, it is well worth it.

6

Trivial Pursuit

Image: Claudia Wolff

If answering questions about different topics of general human knowledge is your thing, then Trivial Pursuit is definitely your game. The board itself is not the center of the game. It serves the purpose of marking which theme must be answered in each turn and where each player is in the gameplay.

Some prefer the questions about sports, while others hope to get the questions about culture. But there is always something for everyone.

7

Scrabble

Image: John Benitez

Another well-known board game, Scrabble is the foundation of just about every word-based tabletop game that has come since its first appearance in 1948. In this game, the pieces you work with are thrown into a bag and doled out by random chance.

You can make maneuvers to benefit yourself and to block others, but the real advantage is in the hands of those with a strong vocabulary and a good memory to recall the words at the right time.

8

Checkers

Image: Gabriel Meinert

A game so simple that it can be played and enjoyed by children, Checkers is a very straightforward strategy game, similar to Chess in some aspects (especially the board) but simpler in many others.

The gameplay, intended for two players, involves forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces.

9

Monopoly

Image: Joshua Hoehne

Another all-time modern classic, Monopoly shares a similar objective as the previously mentioned The Game of Life: finishing the game with the most properties and money possible.

Monopoly has many themed versions and variants, including popular culture themes, and digital versions. But the gist in all of them is: roll the dice, buy properties, pay rent to other players, and pray not to land on Boardwalk or Parkway Avenue, especially if there are hotels (unless you own those two).

10

Chess

Image: Randy Fath

Let us finish this list with the Game of Kings itself, Chess : the best-selling game of all time, played by countless generations across the globe. Learning the basic moves is simple; mastering them is something different altogether.

Whether you are an advanced player, an aficionado, or someone who is considering learning it, Chess is good for you. It provides excellent exercise for your brain, infinite hours of fun, and can be played at any age.

1

Pecan pie: the South’s nutty masterpiece

Image: Keighla Exum

This rich, sticky dessert has deep Southern roots. French settlers in New Orleans encountered Native Americans who introduced them to pecans, and that’s when the magic began. Texas cookbooks helped spread the word, and Karo syrup sealed the deal in the 1930s with its bottle-side recipes. Today, pecan pie is a holiday must-have.

2

The California roll’s West Coast switch-up

Image: Ben Lei

Sushi purists may scoff, but the California roll is what got a lot of Americans eating sushi. Well, kind of. Created in Los Angeles (though Vancouver, Canada, also claims the credit), this roll swapped raw tuna for avocado and imitation crab, making sushi less scary and way more approachable.

3

Fajitas, from cattle hands to cast iron

Image: Nadine Primeau

Back in the day, ranch workers along the Texas-Mexico border made the most of tough skirt steak by grilling it and tossing it into tortillas. That no-frills meal eventually became the sizzling skillet spectacle we now call fajitas. Toss in onions, peppers, and a dollop of guac, and boom! Tex-Mex gold.

4

Corn dogs and the mystery on a stick

Image: Taylor

A hot dog on a stick sounds simple—we know—but getting to the modern corn dog took some trial and error. Patents were filed, batter recipes tweaked, and somewhere between a beach shack in Illinois and a fairground in Texas or Oregon, the corn dog was born. One thing’s for sure: once Americans figured out how to deep-fry a hot dog in cornmeal, there was no going back!

5

S’mores and the sweet tooth showdown

Image: Jonathan Taylor

Did you know the Girl Scouts have such a legacy? Their 1927 handbook gave us the first printed recipe for s’mores, and we’ve been hooked ever since. Roast a marshmallow, squish it between graham crackers and chocolate, and try not to eat five. Campfire memories wouldn’t be the same without this gooey, finger-sticky treat. And yes, of course—they stand for "some more."

6

The Caesar salad’s border-crossing fame

Image: Frames For Your Heart

Italian chef Caesar Cardini whipped up this leafy dish not in Rome, but in Tijuana. During the Prohibition era, Americans sneaked over the border for a legal drink and left raving about the crunchy, garlicky salad. It may have Mexican birth papers, but with Hollywood stars singing its praises and the dressing later patented in the US, the Caesar salad became a true celebrity.

7

Philly cheesesteaks: city of hoagie love

Image: Syed F Hashemi

Philadelphia's most famous sandwich started with a hot dog stand and a hunk of beef! Pat Olivieri slapped some steak on a roll, later added cheese, and boom—the cheesesteak was born, and the rest is history. Locals still argue over where to get the best one, but everyone agrees it’s a sandwich worth standing in line for.

8

Spaghetti and meatballs, made the American way

Image: Ivy Farm

If you order spaghetti and meatballs in Italy, they’ll look at you funny. Why? Because this comfort food classic was created by Italian immigrants in New York. Meat was cheaper here, sauce was plentiful, and suddenly, Sunday dinner had a new star. It’s Italian by ancestry but all-American in execution.

9

Chocolate chip cookies, thanks to a happy accident

Image: SJ 📸

Sometimes the best things happen by mistake. Here’s an example: Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn, wanted to make chocolate cookies but didn’t melt the chocolate—and voilà, the chocolate chip cookie was born. Nestlé acquired the recipe, and now it’s printed on every bag of chips. Homemade, store-bought, or eaten straight from the dough, this cookie is as American as it gets.

10

Jambalaya and its melting pot roots

Image: Kalyani Akella

Let’s close things out with a burst of flavor: Jambalaya may have a European passport, but it earned its American green card in Louisiana. Spanish paella, West African jollof rice, and French seasonings all came together in New Orleans, where rice, meat, and veggies came together to create one exquisite dish for everyone to enjoy!