Elk Horn, Iowa is one of the most Danish places in America: 43 percent of the town's 650 residents can claim Danish heritage. There are Danish flags lining the streets, two annual festivals celebrating Danish food and culture, and attractions like the Museum of Danish America. There's also a place to get a taste of Denmark: The Danish Table Hygge Kitchen...

Mike and I spend most of our weekends running in opposite directions (literally in my case, since I run seven miles on Saturday and three miles on Sunday). We use the weekends to catch up with friends, do chores, and work on hobbies and personal projects. After one too many weekends when the only significant chunk of time we spent together was grocery shopping, we realized that we needed to prioritize time with each other

I've eaten plenty of pizza on my travels, from classic coal-fired pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn to the Mountain Pie at Beau Jo's in Colorado. But on my recent trip to Kansas City, Kansas, I got to enjoy pizza in a whole new way: by making it myself at 1889 Pizza Napoletana.

I have a thing for small towns that lean hard into their European heritage, like German-tinged New Ulm, Minnesota, and New Glarus, Wisconsin (a.k.a. America's Little Switzerland). There's something touching and very American about preserving bits and pieces of the Old Country while settling wholeheartedly in the new one.

Iowa seems like an improbable destination for world-famous architecture. But Mason City, Iowa (about 30 miles south of the Minnesota border) is exactly that. The small town is home to the world's only remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel: the Historic Park Inn.

Although I haven't made it to Italy yet, I have eaten plenty of delicious pizza on my travels. I've tried the iconic coal-fired pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn and taken a pizza tour in Milwaukee . I...