1

Memphis

Image: Brian Wegman 🎃

We say Memphis, you probably think of Graceland and Elvis, right? But in Memphis, barbecue is big too. Famous for its pork dishes, Memphis-style BBQ revolves around slow-cooked shoulders, butts, and ribs, often served with a smoky tomato-based sauce or simply seasoned with a dry rub. Pulled pork sandwiches are a staple here, typically paired with tangy coleslaw.

Be warned, if you visit, don’t expect to pry the secret recipes for their rubs or sauces—those are guarded more tightly than gold.

2

Kansas City

Image: Ahmad

Kansas City barbecue is synonymous with variety. This region smokes everything from ribs and brisket to sausages and burnt ends. The hallmark of Kansas City-style BBQ is its sweet, thick sauce made with tomatoes, molasses, and brown sugar.

This style owes much of its legacy to Henry Perry, the "Father of Kansas City Barbecue" whose techniques were passed down to pitmasters like Arthur Bryant and Ollie Gates. Today, Kansas City’s barbecue joints remain legendary destinations.

3

North Carolina

Image: Leo_Visions

In North Carolina, barbecue loyalty is divided . The Eastern Style involves whole-pig barbecue smoked over wood coals and basted with a peppery vinegar sauce. Purists argue this method lets the meat’s natural flavors shine.

The Western Style (a.k.a. Lexington) is focused on pork shoulder, this style features a ketchup-based sauce that’s sweeter than its eastern counterpart. The addition of tomatoes reflects influences from Bavarian settlers in the area.

4

Texas

Image: Israel Albornoz

Texas takes it a step further and we can find multiple styles . At least, three!

On the one hand, Central Texas goes for a simple and straightforward beef brisket seasoned with salt and pepper, then smoked low and slow.

East Texas style features tender beef and pork, cooked until falling off the bone and often served in sandwiches with a thick, sweet sauce.

Now, as for South Texas, meats like cow’s head or goat are slowly smoked in underground pits and served with salsa and guacamole.

5

Alabama

Image: Ruthra Malai

Alabama’s claim to barbecue fame is its unique white sauce, made from mayonnaise, vinegar, and pepper. This creamy, tangy sauce is typically slathered on smoked chicken or ribs, offering a refreshing departure from traditional tomato-based options.

Cities like Birmingham have emerged as culinary destinations, they blend barbecue with Southern hospitality. Who wouldn’t want to try that out?

6

Georgia

Image: Ajeet Panesar

In Georgia, a barbecue is a social event as much as a culinary delight. Pork is the star, often accompanied by smoky brisket, sausages, and chicken. Georgia’s barbecue leans heavily on bold, smoky flavors and can be found in roadside shacks and upscale eateries alike. Each bite reflects the state’s rich culinary heritage.

7

Hawaii

Image: Z Grills Australia

Hawaii has stunning views, dreamy beaches, and delicious dishes too! Hawaiian barbecue is a celebration of its diverse cultural influences. And a result of its diverse climate too.

Kalua pork, cooked in underground ovens , is a staple at traditional luaus, while local BBQ plates often feature Korean-style ribs, Huli Huli chicken, or barbecued seafood. These dishes are served with rice and macaroni salad, a unique island twist to American barbecue.

8

Kentucky

Image: Sergio Arteaga

Kentucky’s barbecue scene is defined by its love of mutton , which is smoked over hickory wood and served with a peppery vinegar dip.

This lesser-known style also includes pork and turkey, which ultimately reflects the state’s agricultural diversity. The city of Owensboro is the epicenter of mutton barbecue. They host annual festivals dedicated to the dish. Even if you’re not big on BBQ, this annual event is worth visiting!

9

Virginia

Image: Carlitos Grill

Some argue that barbecue’s American roots trace back to Virginia, where Native American techniques and African influences merged.

Whether that’s the case or not, Virginia’s regional variations are great. They include sweet tomato-based sauces , tangy vinegar blends, and even sauces with hints of peanut butter. Each micro-region brings its spin, but they all uphold the state’s rich barbecue heritage.

10

South Carolina

Image: Davide Cantelli

South Carolina’s barbecue stands out with its signature mustard-base sauce, known as "Carolina Gold." Influenced by the state’s German settlers, this tangy sauce pairs perfectly with the region’s whole hog cooking.

South Carolina also offers other sauces, including vinegar-based and tomato-based varieties. In this state, you can’t really say there’s not a thing for every taste bud!

1

Winchester House (San Jose, California)

Starting in 1884, Sarah Winchester, the heir to the rifle fortune, spent almost four decades expanding her Victorian mansion into a behemoth 160-room maze of doors to nowhere, staircases into ceilings, and windows facing walls .

Haunted (perhaps in more ways than one) by the deaths of those killed by Winchester rifles, it is said that she had the structure built nonstop day and night to thwart the spirits of those victims. Today, the house is a popular tourist attraction, with tours through secret passages included.

2

Whaley House (San Diego, California)

Built in 1857 on the site of San Diego’s old gallows, the Whaley House blended a family home, a store, and a courthouse under one roof. Soon after moving in, the Whaleys reported h eavy footsteps they believed belonged to James "Yankee Jim" Robinson, a tall outlaw hanged on the property years earlier .

Over time, the house became a museum and one of America´s most haunted homes, complete with official recognition as a historic site.

3

Amityville House (Amityville, New York)

This quiet Long Island house became infamous after a 1974 murder case in which the DeFeo family was killed by one of their own. A year later, new owners George and Kathy Lutz claimed they were driven out by violent paranormal activity , which, in turn, inspired the book The Amityville Horror and a popular movie that spawned a franchise.

Over time, lawyers and witnesses have called parts of the haunting story a hoax, and later, residents reported no supernatural trouble at all. But the fame of the house lives on.

4

Bissel Mansion (St. Louis, Missouri)

Built in the 1820s for Captain Lewis Bissel, this is believed to be the oldest brick house in St. Louis. Over the years, it has been a family home, a restaurant, and a murder-mystery dinner theater.

An episode of HGTV’s Scariest House in America highlighted its bricked-up cave entrance, which was once said to be a secret escape route, and its long history of odd happenings , such as ghostly children, a woman in white on the stairs, and items moving on their own.

5

William Westerfeld House (San Francisco, California)

Another Victorian building in our list, this house was built for a wealthy German baker in 1889. Over the years, it served as a Russian immigrant social club and brothel nicknamed "The Russian Embassy," a jazz-era boarding house, a 1960s hippie commune , and a rumored hub for occult-themed film shoots and rituals.

Today, this 28-room mansion is privately owned but remains a popular landmark, with a reputation as a haunted time capsule, surrounded by a mix of verified history and neighborhood lore about ghosts, secret rooms, and wild parties.

6

House of the Seven Gables (Salem, Massachusetts)

Captain John Turner built this waterfront house in 1668, and it was later owned by Susanna Ingersol, who welcomed her cousin Nathaniel Hawthorne. The legendary writer penned his famous novel, The House of the Seven Gables, inspired by the mansion .

In the early 1900s, the house was restored and reshaped as a museum, even adding a secret staircase to match the haunting mood of Hawthorne’s novel.

7

Biltmore Estate (Asheville, North Carolina)

Built between the years 1895 and 1898, George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore House is America’s largest private home, but its grand halls hide multiple secret doors and passageways. Concealed panels in the library and breakfast room allowed servants and guests to slip between rooms unseen .

Visitors on modern tours sometimes miss these disguised doors unless guides point them out. The effect is not unlike one of those mystery mansions where someone presses a bookshelf and a secret door opens.

8

Lizzie Borden House (Fall River, Massachusetts)

This modest home was the scene of a 1892 double murder in which Andrew and Abby Borden were killed with an axe. Their daughter Lizzie was tried and acquitted, but her notorious reputation lived on .

The house now functions as a museum and an overnight destination with carefully restored rooms and guides who walk tourists through evidence, theories, and reported ghost activity.

9

Octagon House (Washington, DC)

Despite its name, this mansion is not a perfect octagon, but its story is particularly unusual, to say the least. As it turns out, President James Madison and his wife briefly lived in it after the British burned down the White House in 1814.

Later, stories emerged of mysterious bells ringing long after the servant-call wires were cut, and ghostly figures appearing on the spiral staircase . The most famous legend claims that two girls died on those stairs, though there is no evidence that this actually happened.

10

Villa Montezuma (San Diego, California)

In 1887, spiritualist, pianist, and author Jesse Shepard moved into this mansion, filled with art glass, elaborate woodwork, and a music room specially designed for his dramatic concerts.

Over time, stories began to be told about Shepard’s performances, summoning more than just applause. The presence of ghosts in the towers and odd sounds in empty room s became common talk among the visitors. These days, the mansion can be visited, and the mysterious house can be explored by the curious and the fearless.

11

Montlake Spite House (Seattle, Washington)

So, "What is a spite house?" you might very reasonably ask. Wedged into Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood, this 1925 Spanish Revival cottage is about 15 feet wide at one end and just 55 inches at the other. The architectural equivalent of a wedge of cheese .

Local legend says that it was built by a scorned ex-wife who received a skinny strip of land in a divorce and used it to block her ex-husband’s view.

12

Alameda Spite House (Alameda, California)

Yes, another spite house. Around 1908, Charles Froling planned his dream home in Alameda, until the city used eminent domain to slice off most of his lot for a street, leaving a sliver of land .

Annoyed with both the city and an unhelpful neighbor, Charles responded by building a two-story house, only about 10 feet deep but 54 feet long along the remaining strip . The narrow revenge house still stands at Broadway and Crist, and its peculiar proportions can be viewed by anyone passing by.

1

The Situation Room

Tucked into the West Wing basement, the Situation Room is the White House crisis headquarters . President Kennedy ordered it built in 1961, after the Bay of Pigs fiasco left him frustrated by slow, jumbled intelligence. It's a complex of rooms, staffed around the clock. The famous 2011 photo of Obama's team watching the bin Laden raid was taken there. A $50 million, year-long gut renovation finished in 2023; the previous one was in 2007.

2

The PEOC

Deep beneath the East Wing sat the PEOC, short for Presidential Emergency Operations Center . FDR had the bomb shelter built in 1942, disguised as an office wing, and Truman's early-1950s rebuild expanded it. Military staff ran it around the clock.

Vice President Cheney was rushed inside on 9/11, and Trump sheltered there in May 2020. The East Wing was demolished in 2025, and they are digging a bigger, secret replacement.

3

The Map Room

Before the Situation Room, there was the Map Room, on the residence's ground floor. During World War II, FDR used it to follow the fighting, with maps, pins, and secret messages handled by Army and Navy officers. It was off-limits to nearly everyone.

The Truman rebuild of 1949–52 paneled it, and it was last redecorated in 1994. Today it's a sitting room that still shows off a few maps.

4

The Family Theater

This 42-seat movie theater began in 1942 as a cloakroom nicknamed the "Hat Box," when the White House needed a screening room. Eisenhower added the plush front-row armchairs, Reagan's team redid it in 1982–83, and Laura Bush gave it "movie-palace red" in 2005.

Carter reportedly watched about 480 films there in four years, and Kennedy's last movie there was reportedly the James Bond flick From Russia With Love , in the fall of 1963. The theater was demolished in October 2025 for the new ballroom.

5

The Press Briefing Room

You've seen it on TV, but the secret is underneath. In 1933, FDR got an indoor pool here to ease his polio pain. Nixon, who preferred bowling, covered it in 1970 and built the press room on top , reportedly insisting it could be restored. The pool still sits under the floor.

Renamed for James Brady in 2000, the room was renovated and reopened in 2007; the press secretary holds court there.

6

The Bowling Alley

The first White House bowling alley arrived in 1947, a two-lane birthday gift for Truman from Missouri friends. Staffers formed a league in 1950, but the lanes were moved out in 1955. Then, in 1969, friends funded a one-lane alley for Nixon , hidden beneath the North Portico driveway. He and Pat bowled there often, and his best reported score was 232. It's still down there, closed to the public.

7

The Solarium

Perched on the third floor over the South Portico, the Solarium is a sunny family hangout . Pre-AC, President Taft had a rough sleeping porch up there for hot summer nights, and the real room came in 1927, when Coolidge added the third floor. Grace Coolidge called it her "Sky Parlor."

After World War II, it became more of a family rec room. Mamie Eisenhower hosted card games there, while Ike grilled steaks outside.

8

The Lincoln Bedroom

Despite the name, Lincoln never slept in that bed. In the southeast corner of the second floor, the room was his office and Cabinet room, and he signed the Emancipation Proclamation there on January 1, 1863. Mary Todd Lincoln bought the famous rosewood bed in 1861, but the space became a bedroom only in the Truman years.

Today it's a guest room, famously used for overnight guests during the Clinton years.

9

The Medical Clinic

It's less "hospital" and more "doctor's office." A small exam room sits on the ground floor, near the Map Room, backed by the White House Medical Unit: about two dozen military doctors, nurses and aides, with offices in the next-door Eisenhower building. They're on call around the clock for the president, the VP, staff, and even tourists . Full-time presidential doctors date to McKinley, and a formal 24-hour rule came in the 1990s.

10

The Treaty Room

On the second floor, the Treaty Room was the Cabinet Room from 1865 to 1902. On August 12, 1898, President McKinley witnessed the peace protocol ending the Spanish-American War being signed there. Jackie Kennedy's restoration gave it its name in the early 1960s , and JFK signed the 1963 nuclear test ban treaty there. Obama used it as a main office. Today it's a presidential study, with drapes modeled on Lincoln-era designs.

11

The Flower Shop

Yes, the White House has its own flower shop, tucked beneath the North Portico. A Chief Floral Designer and a staff of florists create arrangements for the public and private rooms, matched to each room's color scheme . First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy established the Office of the White House Florist in the early 1960s.

Flowers have been a White House habit far longer, though: a conservatory supplied blooms through the 1800s.