Hungry for travel?
More than 80 percent of Americans are expected to take a road trip this summer, according to a survey conducted by the auto club AAA.
Road trips have always been the perfect opportunity for a little quirky out-of-the-way adventure. World’s biggest rubber band ball? Don’t mind if I do!
But what’s out there specifically for the foodie?
Surely, we’ve visited towns for their unique cuisines — New Orleans, Maine, Texas — but what about towns named after cuisine?
You don’t have to be a culinary expert to enjoy visiting these appetite-inducing American towns. Their quirky names make traveling to far-flung corners of the country an adventure for all eating enthusiasts. Enjoy these delicious destination:
Breakfast fans might like to start their day in Two Egg, Florida, then head on up to Toast, North Carolina and Bacon, Washington. Hot Coffee, Mississippi is a can’t miss, but don’t forget the Cream, Wisconsin. Or maybe you’d like to keep things lighter with Cereal, Pennsylvania or Oatmeal, Texas.
So many American cities take their names from local fruit harvests. It’s worth paying a bit of respect to these tiny town for their contributions to our diets, even if they no longer produce. Cranberry, Pennsylvania and Strawberry, South Carolina will give travelers a taste.
Lunch lovers can’t miss Sandwich, Massachusetts on Rye, New Hampshire.
Your dinner driving menu can include Chicken, Alaska with Burnt Corn, Alabama and Beans, Tennessee.
And what’s a road trip without junk food? We’d all love a stop at Popcorn, Indiana. And finally, Cookietown, Oklahoma and Pie Town, New Mexico would taste great served with Tea, South Dakota.
Cheers!
Two Egg, Florida
The tiny, quaint town is located in Jackson County, Florida, northwest of Tallahassee. The name originated from a time during the Great Depression when residents traded farm commodities — including lots of eggs — for goods from a local store. The town is also the childhood home of Academy Award winning actress Faye Dunaway.
Toast, North Carolina
You’ll find Toast in the northwest corner of the state. The carb-inspired name was bestowed on the small city of 1,900 by the Post Office Department in 1929.
Bacon, Washington
Bacon is an unincorporated community in central Washington. Railroad builders are credited with naming the town in 1900, and they called it Bacon, purely for their own entertainment.
Hot Coffee, Mississippi
Folklore tells us the town was named for a local resident who set up an inn around 1870 and served coffee to travelers passing through town.
Cream, Wisconsin
Cream is a small community situated on the westernmost edge of the state. No word on whether they have the best ice cream in the state, but they should work to claim that title out of principle.
Cereal, Pennsylvania
The Jersey Cereal Food Co. was set-up in the area in 1903 to produce and distribute a breakfast cereal called “Jersey Flake.” The township became a 20th-century leader in manufacturing corn and wheat flakes with a three-story brick building erected, producing the flakes, the town became known as it’s most famous export.
Oatmeal, Texas
The town name is either an alteration of the name of a Mr. Othneil, who owned the first gristmill in the area, or a supposed translation of the name Habermill (Haber is a German dialect word for Hafer, “oats”). The first Oatmeal post office was established in 1853.
Cranberry, Pennsylvania
The large town in the Southwestern corner of the state, derived its name in 1804 from the wild cranberries that used to grow along the town’s major water source. The berries attracted deer, and the deer attracted hunters who sometimes settled. George Washington also reportedly traveled through Cranberry Township prior to the French and Indian War.
Strawberry, South Carolina
Strawberry post office was established in 1879 and remained in operation in 1936. The town’s name was originally the name of the nearby plantation.
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Sandwich was founded almost 150 years before the American Revolution making it Cape Cod and Massachusetts’ oldest town, but also, one of the oldest towns in America. About 20,000 people live in Sandwich today.
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is picturesque, coastal town in the southeastern corner of New Hampshire. About 5,000 people live here year-round. Notable residents include Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, and actress Liv Tyler.
Chicken, Alaska
This rural Alaskan town had been known as “Ptarmigan” — the Alaskan state bird — for years. The bird was commonly eaten by gold miners in the late 1800s, but the name was too difficult to spell, and the town was renamed Chicken. Chicken is one of the few surviving gold rush towns in Alaska, but the 2010 Census reported a population of 7.
Burnt Corn, Alabama
Burnt Corn is possibly named after the 1813 Battle of Burnt Corn that started the Creek War of 1813 and 1814, but a few local legends compete for the title — all of them involving burnt corn in some way, of course. The town website maintains that Andrew Jackson and his troops moved through the town in 1814 in defense against the British. Today, the town has many historical building and a cotton gin from the late 19th-century that please tourists.
Beans, Tennessee
Beans was established as a frontier outpost in the late 1780s by the sons of William Bean, one of Tennessee’s earliest settlers. It was located at the criss-cross of two paths, one north-south and the other east-west, which made the outpost an important stopover for early travelers. Today, the Easter Tennessee community is home to about 3,000 people.
Cookietown, Oklahoma
Cookietown coined this sweet moniker after a mercantile at the crossroads owned by Marvin Cornelius in 1928. The storeowner was known for handing out cookies to the local children.
Pie Town, New Mexico
Pie Town takes its name from a WWI veteran who began making dried apple pies at his outpost along a highway (that later became U.S. Rt. 60). Word of his pies traveled fast and people pointed others looking to purchase his desserts to “Pie Town.”
Today, Pie Town celebrates its unusual name with the Annual Pie Festival, where locals compete in, what else, but a pie baking contest.
Popcorn, Indiana
Popcorn, Indiana is home to the popcorn brand by the same name. With loads of flavors — original kettle corn, wasabi flavored, cheddar, buffalo wing, dark fudge sea salt caramel — there’s obviously one sure stop you need to make when you roll into town.
Tea, South Dakota
The name “Tea” was reportedly selected on account of its brevity, but today, the town celebrates its unusual name with the annual Teapot Days, held over three days each June. The event features carnival rides, fireworks, food vendors and more.
Also see, T.S.A. starts screening snacks and passengers aren’t happy.
