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Located along the Great Smoky Mountains Arts & Crafts Community route, this iconic spot has been a local lunch favorite for more than three decades. The homey log-cabin interior spills out onto a dog-friendly patio surrounded by forest, where diners enjoy light, healthy fare like seasonal veggie platters, lobster pie, and a signature chicken salad. Inspired by Alpine teahouses in Austria and softened with Southern hospitality, the Wild Plum has proved a hit—advance (not same-day) reservations are highly recommended unless you want to wait for a table. Visitors should also note that the last seating of the day is at 2:40 p.m.

Also known as the High Test Deli & Sweet Shop, this local standby—situated just over the state line in Bryson City, North Carolina—has fueled hikers, area residents, and tourists for more than a decade. The signature Cuban is a best seller, but every sandwich is customizable, with more than a dozen bread varieties, nearly as many cheeses, and all the proteins you’d expect from a top-notch deli. Still, you wouldn’t be blamed for skipping the meats altogether and heading straight for the “frozen sandwich” section, where you can choose from a creative selection of ice cream sandwiches that will challenge even the most decisive sweet tooth.

Complete with an in-shop florist and white, honeycomb-tiled wall, this light-filled coffee shop is one of San Diego’s most Instagramworthy spaces. Luckily, it offers more than just good looks—the coffee comes from San Francisco’s Sightglass and the menu includes lavender-honey toast, chia pudding, and an assortment of croissants from Wayfarer Bread & Pastry. Owner Jen Byard is also the cofounder of San Diego’s popular Maker’s Arcade, a holiday market that takes place every December, so she has an eye for artisan items. Communal’s retail section is always stocked with tasteful finds like ceramic mugs and Mexican blankets.

Unlike the gussied-up lodges on the north flank of Yosemite Valley, Curry Village offers decidedly more casual fare, catering to the crowds in the campsites and tent cabins that sprawl along this side of the valley. The Pizza Deck has indoor and outdoor seating and, conveniently enough, shares space with the Curry Village Bar—a particularly popular place in nice weather. The Meadow Grill serves burgers and grilled sandwiches, while the Pavilion offers all-you-can-eat buffets for breakfast and dinner, including a salad bar, pasta bar, make-your-own taco station, and dessert table. Note: There are food options available from January through November.

The food at the Wawona Hotel is unfussy and satisfying, whether you choose dinner in the Victorian-era dining room, lunch on the veranda, or the summer Saturday barbecues on the big lawn. Dinner specialties range from smoked salmon cakes and cornmeal-crusted trout to flatiron steak and pot roast, while lunchtime fare includes tried-and-true favorites like chicken sandwiches, wedge salads, burgers, and pasta. For even more casual options, the bar-lounge offers bites like caramelized-onion-and-pear tarts, cheese samplers, and turkey-and-bacon sandwiches that you can enjoy on the terrace. Note: This restaurant is open seasonally.

This famous Vashon Island creamery maintains a toehold on the mainland in the Chophouse Row Building on Capitol Hill. It sells cheese, including the gooey bloomy-rinded Dinah’s treasured by top Northwest chefs. But all products pale beside the simple richness of Kurtwood Farms ice cream. Churned on-site in Seattle, it’s made with Jersey cream and milk, organic cane sugar, and pastured eggs. Yes, you can order farm-fresh flavors, like bay laurel, lemon verbena, and even Sungold tomato jam. But connoisseurs prefer the real deal, straight up. “The taste is pure Puget Sound, it’s the grass the cows are eating,” notes the Emerald City’s columnist-in-chief Dan Savage.

The smallest hotel on our list, Honor & Folly is the place to go if you want to avoid the crowds and feel as if you are visiting family. The second-story guesthouse features two rooms, perfect for couples traveling together or a small family looking for a quiet escape. Hardwood floors and exposed brick abound and guests are welcome to order a picnic basket to go or reserve artisanal groceries in advance.

This lovely contemporary-American eatery anchors the Ballard Public lofts. Chef Shaun McCrain shows off his time spent in the kitchen at New York City’s Per Se with reimagined classics like foie gras layered into a terrine with apple, black sesame, and a gelée of dashi (a Japanese broth). Even the cocktails are innovative—ask for the restaurant’s fresh take on a Pimm’s No. 1 cup. Reserve ahead for a leisurely dinner, or just belly up to the bar. And if you don’t have time for that nonsense, no worries! You can order a takeaway case with goodies like truffled deviled eggs, white bean spread, and lemon-thyme flatbread.

Seattle’s most iconic restaurant has earned its laurels, reinterpreting Pacific Northwest classics like bonito with chrysanthemum and sea bean caper, and ricotta dumplings with mustard, rapini, and stinging nettles. in 2015, a young hotshot took the helm: Brady Williams, formerly from the two-Michelin-star Blanca in Brooklyn, New York. He ditched his goal of playing professional hockey to cook—and, boy, has it paid off! Among other distinctions, he was anointed a finalist for Rising Star Chef of 2017 by the James Beard Foundation (the year it won “Best Wine Program”). Reserve ahead and break out the grown-up clothes to check out his masterpieces, served high on Queen Anne hill overlooking the seaplanes and sailboats gliding on Lake Union.

Chef Julia Sullivan grew up in Music City before moving away to study at the Culinary Institute of America and work at restaurants like New York’s Per Se and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. When she returned home, she opened Henrietta Red with sommelier Allie Poindexter in the culinary hotbed of Germantown. The women bring a strong oyster game to landlocked Tennessee as well as options like wood-roasted pork sausage with broccoli rabe and rhubarb mostarda. Diners can take a seat at the long marble bar for natural wines and craft cocktails or settle into the dining room, where white walls and wood tables create a bright, homey feel.

The first Taiwanese restaurant to earn a fancy-pants Michelin star, this steamed dumpling and noodle chain gets rave reviews from Seattleites and reviewers alike. Long a staple of nearby Bellevue, Din Tai Fung has finally crossed Lake Washington to establish a Seattle outpost and and added a second option at Pacific Place shopping center (600 Pine Street). Go for the scrumptious, pillowy xiao long bao (Chinese soup dumplings), of course, but don’t neglect the rest of the menu. Standouts include sweet taro buns, vinegar-laced wood ear mushrooms, and sautéed mustard greens with shredded ginger, along with the red bean sticky rice wraps for dessert.

Rooftop bars are a dime a dozen in New York and many of them offer great views of the city’s skyscrapers. For now, at least, none is taller than Bar 54, which sits atop the Hyatt Times Square on the 54th floor. There are aspects of the decor that scream “chain hotel bar” but who’s paying attention? The view is what it’s all about here, especially at sunset. And the drinks, developed by Julie Reiner, owner of the popular Brooklyn cocktail lounge, Clover Club, are attention grabbing, too. Try the Cucumber Jewel, with gin, Lillet Blanc, Cappeletti, pampelmousse, lemon, and cucumber.

One of the world’s most epic drives, the Hana Highway connects Kahului with Hana in eastern Maui. The scenic stretch is just 64 miles long but can take up to three hours to drive, thanks to 62 twists in the road as it winds through rain forests and past waterfalls, natural pools, and seascapes. Plan at least a half day to properly experience the drive, or slow it way down and spend a night in Hana so you can linger at places like Twin Falls, the Keanae Peninsula, the Garden of Eden arboretum, and the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park. Sun worshippers should also budget plenty of time for stops at Hamoa Beach and Ho’okipa Beach Park Beach Park.

Take a riverboat up the Wailua—which translates as the “river of the great sacred spirit"—fed by the Mount Waialeale shield volcano, one of the wettest spots on the planet. Seven temples once stood along Hawaii’s longest and only navigable freshwater passage. Today, the remains of four are still visible, alongside petroglyphs and rocks where the island’s alii (royalty) would give birth. Stretch your legs at the stunning Fern Grotto: Verdant plants blanket the roof of the volcanic-rock cave there. Smith’s offers 80-minute tours there on open-air boats, which include the songs and stories of ancient Hawai’I, plus a bonus hula lesson (smithskauai.com).

Latitudes is the acclaimed restaurant at the Sunset Key Cottages, on Sunset Key, a small private island accessible only by boat. Take the ferry across the Key West Harbor—your scheduled ferry time is your reservation time. The dreamy ride across the gulf waters sets the tone for the rest of the evening. While most restaurants in Key West have flexible dress codes, if any, Latitudes is a place you should break out the nice clothes. If the weather’s nice, ask to eat on the patio, which is decorated with twinkling lights wrapped around the green palms that surround the courtyard, and features tables set with white cloths and candles.