A commoner dines at Fried Green Tomatoes, Galena, Ill.

When Midwesterners are looking for a romantic weekend getaway, Galena, Ill., often makes the short list of ideas.  Wedged in the northwestern tip of Illinois, Galena offers a superb blend of history (the town is full of sites related to its most famous resident, Ulysses S. Grant), shopping, outdoor activities and small-town charm.  With the surrounding area being unusually scenic and hilly for Illinois, Galena tends to be more popular in the fall and winter months (the only ski resort I know of in the state is nearby), but it truly is a year-round destination. 

It should be no surprise, then, that Punky and I try to make a trip to Galena every year at a minimum.  And whenever we go, we rarely miss an opportunity to dine at one of our favorite restaurants in the downtown area.  Its menu and décor might make you think of a modern Tuscan-style trattoria, but its namesake dish is a classic southern appetizer – Fried Green Tomatoes.

Driving the Road To Nowhere – Kansas and a pair of panhandles

I started my third day driving on “The Road to Nowhere” with fairly low expectations for what I’d find south of North Platte, Neb. 

For the most part, Kansas proved those expectations were warranted.

Doing the Hilton timeshare hustle

Poolside at the Hilton Las Palmeras Vacation Resort, Orlando, Fla.

It can happen to anyone on vacation.  No matter your level of travel experience, you’ve let your guard down, and now you’re cornered by someone I like to call the “pitch person.”

He or she may look like they’re acting in some official capacity for a tourism bureau or visitor’s center or maybe the place you’re staying, but they’re real job is to sell you something … and it’s very pricy.  It may start innocently with a question like: “Are you enjoying your stay here?”  “Have you seen this attraction or that site yet?”  “Would you like to come back?”

Then the pitch person hits you with the offer.  And it seems like it’s worth it at the time.  Maybe you’re offered free tickets to an attraction, or free dinner vouchers, or free points added to your hotel chain’s rewards program.  Perhaps it’s even a combination of freebies.  All you have to do is one thing – sit through a timeshare presentation. 

Driving the Road To Nowhere – Nebraska

After navigating a lengthy section of "deconstructed" highway, followed by a quick drive through the Rosebud Tribe reservation (including a rather impressive and seemingly out of place casino on the South Dakota-Nebraska state line), it was mid-afternoon on one of my longest days of driving down the “Road To Nowhere.”  And I still had one of the loneliest stretches of U.S. 83 ahead of me before day’s end – the sandhills of west-central Nebraska. 

Before that, however, I wisely made a rest stop at the first sign of civilization just nine miles past the South Dakota border.  And it turned to be a very worthwhile stop in lovely Valentine, Neb.