Story form sample: large photo listicle

Photo by Stacy Spensley

The Twin Cities has some really amazing pie shops, but AtoZ Produce and Bakery, known as the Pizza Farm, is well worth the drive. Located about 80 miles from the heart of Minneapolis in Stockholm, Wisconsin, the Pizza Farm is home to some of the best darn pizza you'll taste in the Midwest. From beetza (beet pizza!) to Italian sausage, they've got incredible topping combinations made with veggies plucked right from the grounds and baked in a huge wood-fire oven. While you wait for that cheesy, gooey, farm-fresh pizza, you can set up camp on the grass and hang out or you can explore the area — from the greenhouse to the cows, there's plenty to check out. Just make sure you heed the can't-miss-it sign on your way in: No Dogs. Wear Shoes. Fences Zap. Word to the wise: This place is BYO everything, except your own booze. That means you'll need to pack up your picnic supplies, including blankets to plates, in order to feast on that glorious 'za. Buying your booze at the farm (they sell wine and beer for reasonable prices) means that you have an excuse to guzzle some of New Glarus's goods, which are only available in the Badger State. The Pizza Farm is only open on Tuesdays from 4:30 until 8 p.m., so plan your drive accordingly, but make sure you stick around for the sunset. There's nothing quite like beetza and beer while the sky is painted brilliant pinks and oranges.

Distance from Twin Cities: 90 minutes

Photo by Roy Luck

Who's afraid of the dark? If you are, you might not want to venture into Soudan Mine (same goes for the claustrophobic). But if you've got an adventurous streak in you, or if you're into My Bloody Valentine (the movie, not the band), then this is one place you should put on your greater Minnesota to-do list. Soudan Mine is actually a Minnesota State Park, home to the state's oldest iron-ore mine (opened in 1882). Now it's open to the public for tours. Put on your hard hat and get ready to go below the surface to the Cadillac of Mines. You'll descend a mile and a half beneath the ground with your tour group, first in a metal wire-cage elevator and then in a rail car to the deepest areas that were mined. Yes, iron ore might sound boring — there ain't no gold or sparkly stuff down there — but there is some dark matter at work. Literally. The mine is home to one of the coolest research stations exploring something you'll never see: dark matter. The U of M has an underground research facility dedicated to learning about particle physics that you can tour if you want to tap into your inner Neil deGrasse Tyson in the depths of a mine. Whether you play miner, scientist, or both, just remember to bring a sweater or a jacket, as you might be closer to the Earth's core, but it's chilly down there. Feel free to take wannabe-mole-people selfies, but don't bring your hiking gear along with you — there are no bags allowed.

Distance from the Twin Cities: 3 hours, 35 minutes

Photo by Brendan Riley

Distance from the Twin Cities: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Photo by Stacy Spensley

Wolves are the badasses of the forest. There's a reason that there are plenty of fairy tales that extoll their greatness — if only those meddling red-hooded girls, grandmothers, and house-building pigs would get out of their way, right? Just kidding. But it's pretty well-known by now that wolves are actually a positive force in nature, despite their rep. The International Wolf Center in Ely is out to prove just that while helping the world's wolf population thrive in the wild. Anything you ever wanted to know about wolves, they've got it covered (or they're researching it right now). Watch these incredible creatures at the center's live ambassador wolf exhibit and see how they hunt, communicate, and play. If you want to understand canis lupus even better, folks 18 years and older can register for a weekend of "Workin' for Wolves," assisting the staff with projects for the animals onsite. While you're in Ely, make sure you stop by the Dorothy Molter Museum, too. Molter (a.k.a. the Root Beer Lady) lived in the BWCAW for half a century as a nurse and resort owner before her cabins were transported into Ely as a museum. It's sort of a hokey little place, but it gives you a glimpse of wilderness living (as done by a pretty cool lady), and there's some amazing root beer. Fun fact: Julia Roberts visited Molter way back in the day when she was at Camp Birchwood.

Distance from the Twin Cities: 4 hours

Photo by Pete Markham

Distance from the Twin Cities: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Forget about 200-year-old houses. The Jeffers Petroglyphs date back thousands of years. The 160-acre historic site features a series of mysterious carvings into the smooth Red Rock Ridge. Although the origin date of these works isn't completely known, it is believed that most were created between 3000 B.C. and A.D. 1700. So what do they mean? We're not entirely sure. Some carvings may have been used as directional tools for hunters and travelers, while the bears, dragonflies, shamans, thunderbirds, and other illustrations may have been used for storytelling, history preservation, ritual, and spiritual purposes. The visitor center is open May through September, offering hands-on activities, information on the flora and fauna to be found on the prairie, and more. The site also offers nature trails to explore, and some even still have wagon trail ruts still in the ground from when the site was well-traveled on by stage coaches making their way to or from New Ulm, Minnesota and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. —Jessica Armbruster

Distance from the Twin Cities: 2 hours, 28 minutes

Photo by Sharon Mollerus

Distance from the Twin Cities: 4 hours, 20 minutes

Photo by Joseph Kranak

How to describe House on the Rock? Kitsch heaven on Earth. But really, there's no doing justice to this insane landmark with words alone. This is seriously a destination that you need to see to believe. The place started out as (wait for it...) a house built on top of a rock, but over a few decades, owner Alex Jordan Jr. began to expand it into a veritable maze of rooms and hallways filled with memorabilia of every kind, including coin-operated orchestras, a huge Rube Goldberg machine, antique cars, suits of armor, an "infinity room," and a replica of an early 20th-century town, among thousands of other things. There's even a terrifying (and breath-taking — trust us, we couldn't breathe) life-sized model of a squid and a whale duking it out in the ocean. House on the Rock is also home to "the world's largest indoor carousel" — which, oddly enough, has not a single horse. (It's got pretty much every other creature, real or fake, crammed onto it, though.) Does this all sound familiar? Fans of Neil Gaiman might remember that House on the Rock makes an appearance in his 2001 novel American Gods. If you like Gaiman, you should definitely make the pilgrimage. There's so much stuff to see that there are three tour segments you can take, but our advice is to go all-out and do the whole thing. If you're intrigued enough to explore the place, you'd better do it whole-hog — but remember to bring some good walking shoes, because it's going to be a long trek. Lastly, since you're already going to Spring Green, Wisconsin, you might as well take a tour of the other house this city's famous for, too: Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen.

Distance from the Twin Cities: 4 hours, 15 minutes

NOAA Photo Library

Distance from the Twin Cities: 4 hours

Photo by rayb777

SPAM is the Twinkie of the meat world. How it's made and what it's made of may be a question best left to the imagination (according to SPAM lore, it's actually cooked in-can on the assembly line), but for many it's a treat that offers simple, salty delights once sliced up and served or added to things like hash browns. The folks at Hormel, makers of SPAM, obviously had a sense of humor when creating its homage to the notorious canned meat. "Few experiences in life are as meaningful and meaty-filled as those you'll have at the magnificent SPAM Museum," the website promises. "Referred to by some meat historians as the Guggenham, Porkopolis or M.O.M.A. (Museum Of Meat-Themed Awesomeness), the SPAM Museum is home to the world's most comprehensive collection of spiced pork artifacts." Those artifacts include awesomely campy vintage advertising, including Slammin' Spammy, a bomb-throwing, meat-schilling war-time mascot; SPAM cooking demonstrations featuring a variety of cuisines (SPAM is sold in over 40 countries, after all); an assembly line simulation that visitors are encouraged to partake in (who doesn't love simulated labor?); and exhibits exploring how the food industry has changed over the years. Yes, it's the ultimate ironic road trip, but it's rare that you find something that offers an experience this surreal. Be sure to pick up some cans in the gift store, and don't worry about the meat going bad on the ride home: SPAM doesn't require refrigeration, after all. —Jessica Armbruster