Where in St. Louis can you… …picnic at a radioactive waste dump? …learn what West County Center’s famous dove really represents? …visit the grave of the man who burned Atlanta? …join a nudist resort? …view a cube comprised of a million dollar bills? …see a piece from New York’s Twin Towers? …find out exactly what a Billiken is? Whether you are piloting a simulated barge on the Mississippi River, exploring the hidden history of Abraham Lincoln’s bizarre swordfight in St. Charles County or eating a ten-pound apple-pie in Kimmswick inspired by the Great Flood of 1993, it is hard to get bored with a copy of Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. By turns wistful and whimsical, this is a book which answers the questions you never knew you had about St. Louis while taking readers on a whirlwind tour through 97 unique but often little-known spaces and places that can’t be found anywhere else. A tourist handbook for people who thought they never needed one, “Secret St. Louis” provides a scavenger hunt of hidden gems traversing the somber, strange, surprising and silly locales which define the culture and history that make St. Louis such a diverse and amazing place to call home. From Weldon Spring to Wildwood, from Overland to O’Fallon, from Bellefontaine to Bridgeton, this is an exploration of St. Louis’s odds and ends like no other.

You could call Jacksonville the secret city of Florida because even many natives have a tough time pinning down its defining features and best spots. But for anyone willing to dig beneath the surface, there’s no shortage of incredible sights, hidden histories and unusual relics just waiting to be discovered. Want to see the world’s largest Native American woodcarving, chart the roots of Southern rock, or eat curly fries at the barbecue joint that claims to have invented them? Secret Jacksonville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure is dedicated to telling the stories behind forgotten, mysterious and just plain interesting spots across Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, and the surrounding communities. Here you’ll find out where you can see a long forgotten Florida waterfall with connections to Jacksonville’s founder, and learn why there’s a tombstone in the middle of a neighborhood sidewalk. You’ll hear the stories behind local delicacies like Jacksonville-style garlic crabs, datil peppers, Mayport shrimp, and camel rider sandwiches. And of course, you’ll learn what exactly is up with that orange roadside dinosaur everyone’s always talking about. Jacksonville writer Bill Delaney has a deep passion for his hometown and a keen interest in underrepresented stories. From folklore to history and everything in between, join him to explore a side of the Bold City you can only find by leaving the welltrodden path.

Did you know that there’s a Connecticut hotel room with a real helicopter inside? Can you guess who inspired the character of Indiana Jones, who was president before George Washington, and who flew before the Wright Brothers? Find the state’s most interesting and offbeat stories in Secret Connecticut: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Are you interested in taking a safari or racing a chariot? Had you ever heard that Martin Luther King Jr. spent two summers in Connecticut? Included are more than eighty engaging stories that provide insight into one of America’s oldest states. Inside are tales of pirates, an underground prison, and a possessed doll. Aren’t you curious about the spectacular stained glass church that was unknowingly built in the shape of a fish by a famous architect? From the world’s smallest Native American reservation to professionally coiffed cows and a replica of Marie Antoinette’s palace, you’ll find intrigue around every corner of this small but surprising state. Author Anastasia Mills Healy brings to life the long history of intriguing people, places, and events that will fascinate even life long residents of Connecticut.

How do you step into a live fairytale with aerial dancers, opera singers, and a huge rabbit? Where can you walk on a beach covered with broken pottery? What is the Institute for Abnormal Arts? Who will show you evidence Bigfoot is real? Find the answers to these questions and many more in Secret California: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. This is a book for travelers who love to meet quirky characters, discover oddities, and experience littleknown aspects of the Golden State. Learn the fascinating tales behind all the points of interest and discover some new places to look for adventure. Learn where to spend a night in a museum, explore an underground city, and watch silent movies in the same theater where Charlie Chaplin premiered The Tramp. Find out about the country’s only perfume museum, how a wall became covered in frogs, and why a colorful garden will not grow. Whether it’s an ancient society’s crypt or the second city underneath the capital, this guide leaves no stone unturned. Author Ruth Carlson uses her years of experience as a Californian to fill you in on the hilarious, the bizarre, and the beautiful in this unusual guidebook so you can experience the hidden treasures locals would like to keep to themselves—if only they knew about them!

The St. Louis bucket list has an official handbook! In this second edition of the best-selling guide, you’ll find one hundred purely local ways to connect to the city, from holding your breath during the high-wire act at Circus Flora to finding the story of our town’s earliest days among the headstones at local cemeteries. Check out Frank Lloyd Wright’s contribution to Kirkwood, bike the Riverfront Trail from the graffiti wall to the Chain of Rocks bridge, or catch the thrill of the “clang, clang, clan g” on The Loop’s new trolley. Authentic experiences from the iconic to the little-known await in this candid insider’s guide to St. Louis. Make planning even easier with seasonal and themed itinerary suggestions for many interests: you’ll be turning your “must dos” into “dones” in no time! Perfect for residents and out-of-towners alike, 100 Things to Do in St. Louis Before You Die is the original volume that launched a nationwide series...check out your other favorite cities after you’ve explored STL!

Did you know the first mobile phone was used in St. Louis? Or that a St. Louis businessman changed the course of war in the Pacific during World War II? Or that a St. Louisan ended the Cold War? After talking about St. Louis and its people every weekday for the past 25 years, Charlie Brennan has gathered the greatest and most incredible St. Louis stories in celebration of the city's 250th birthday. Brennan divulges how St. Louisans gave the world rock and roll, the cocktail party, the city of Chicago, the musical Cats, and more! That's Amazing St. Louis even explains how St. Louis is home to the first city in America. Brennan also shares some of the world's strangest oddities and curiosities that just happened to take place in the Gateway to the West. Packed with hundreds of almost unknown facts about the people and events of St. Louis, this book is ideal for lovers of this great American city and its rich history.

How did Omaha get its nickname, “The Gateway to the West” and where can you gawk at the footsteps of the first human to walk in space? Just scratch the surface of a city best known for Warren Buffett, college baseball, and a great zoo and find far more than meets the eye. And Secret Omaha: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure is just the book you’ll need to uncover all the stories of Nebraska’s lone metropolis. Omaha rises up out of the low broken bluffs along the west bank of the Missouri River and sprawls west across what was once the prairie grasslands of the Great Plains. The buffalo wallows have been replaced by a more urban mix of grit and gentrification, with tree-lined avenues, boulevards, and varied communities that hold on to their heritage for generations. There’s a giant fork in Little Italy and stories told in stone around what was the world’s largest livestock market. There’s an old blues song by Big Joe Williams about an Omaha intersection that’s now on the National Register, and Irish Nationalists erected a grand monument to the Fenian who invaded Canada twice. Anyone in Omaha can take a gander at Goose Hollow or visit a haven for herons, but now author and Omaha enthusiast Ryan Roenfeld takes you on your own behind-the-scenes tour of the Big O. With his book as your guide, you’ll discover a whole new side to the city that’s inspired him for years.