If you walk the woodland trails at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York, this year, you’ll run into six enormous wooden trolls hiding among the pines. They’re part of TROLLS: Save the Humans, a touring exhibit by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, on view June 1 through October 31, 2026, and it’s the first…
Old Town Warrenton’s Antique Row: A Walking Guide to Fauquier County’s Best Vintage Finds
Old Town Warrenton’s antique shopping isn’t one single “row” of storefronts — it’s a cluster of historic-district boutiques on Main and Third Streets plus a pair of anchor antique malls a short drive away on West Shirley Avenue. Together they make up Fauquier County’s best-known vintage hunting ground, and you can cover most of it…
The Fairy Trail at Bullington Gardens: Hendersonville’s Secret Woodland Village
NOTE TO THE ADVENTURER: This guide is meant to spark curiosity for what lies beyond the horizon — not to serve as a guarantee. Roads fall into disrepair, buildings are torn down and rebuilt, and properties change hands; 'tis your responsibility to do your own research before setting out. Always heed local and regional law,…
Biking the W&OD Trail from Purcellville: A Flat, Scenic Ride Through Wine Country
Biking the W&OD Trail from Purcellville means starting at the highest, quietest end of a 45-mile paved rail trail and coasting gently downhill through Loudoun County’s vineyards, farmland, and small towns. The grade is easy enough for a casual rider, the scenery is some of the prettiest in Northern Virginia, and you can turn around…
The Woodland Faerie Trail: Austin’s Hidden Fairy Neighborhood at Zilker Garden
The Woodland Faerie Trail is a free-to-view, seasonal exhibit at Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Texas, where dozens of tiny handmade fairy houses appear along a shaded garden path each spring and summer. Local families, school groups, and artists build the miniature homes out of natural materials like twigs, moss, and shells, and the whole…
Vint Hill Farms Station: The Cold War Spy Base Turned Antique Shopping Village
Vint Hill Farms Station is a former top-secret U.S. Army and NSA signals intelligence base in Fauquier County, Virginia, that operated from 1942 to 1997 and has since been redeveloped into a mixed-use community with a winery, brewery, museum, and antique shops housed in the old military buildings. If you’re looking for a day trip…
Guardians of the Seeds: Boothbay’s Troll Hunt Hides a Fairy Village, Too
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay is home to two very different bits of magic tucked into the same stretch of coastal woods: a shoreline Fairy House Village built from twigs and stone, and five towering wooden trolls called the Guardians of the Seeds. You can chase both in a single visit, but budget most…
Sky Meadows State Park: Warrenton’s Closest Blue Ridge View Hike
If you live anywhere near Warrenton and want a real Blue Ridge Mountain view without driving to Shenandoah National Park, Sky Meadows State Park is your answer. It sits about 30 minutes from Warrenton in Delaplane, Virginia, and its Piedmont Overlook Trail climbs through open pasture to a ridge with sweeping views of the valley…
The Trolls of Detroit Lakes: Minnesota’s Giant Wooden Treasure Hunt
The trolls of Detroit Lakes are five giant wooden sculptures by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, hidden across Detroit Lakes and nearby Frazee, Minnesota, along with a sixth “villain,” the Golden Rabbit, hidden somewhere in between. You follow riddles from troll to troll, decoding symbols as you go, on a real-life scavenger hunt that can eat…
Lucy the Elephant: Walking Inside Margate’s Six-Story Elephant-Shaped Landmark
Lucy the Elephant is a six-story, elephant-shaped wooden building in Margate City, New Jersey, standing 65 feet tall and covered in sheet tin. Built in 1881 as a real estate promotion, she’s now a National Historic Landmark and the oldest surviving roadside attraction in America, and you can actually walk up a spiral staircase inside…