"I thought it was just an unusually long bear," said the man to my right. I stood gazing through binoculars with fifty other people. We peered intently down the hillside to where an indistinct brownish-blackish blob moved. Much closer, three larger brown shapes were foraging in the grass, distinctly recognizable as a grizzly bear and her two cubs. But they were old news.

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Coney Island, New York,  is home to what is almost certainly the world’s most famous roller coaster, the Cyclone. Built in 1927, this classic wooden roller coaster may not have the gravity-defying loops or super high speeds of contemporary steel coasters, but it can’t be beat for character. And the Cyclone is no slouch in the thrills department. It boasts 12 drops, the first more than 80 ft. at a 60° angle; six 180° turns; and a top speed of 60 mph. Charles Lindbergh said that a ride on the Cyclone was more exciting than his historic first solo flight across the Atlantic. The Cyclone also made headlines in 1948 when Emilio Franco, a mute, reportedly regained his voice after riding it. His first words? “I feel sick.”

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Walking along the streets of Miami, it’s hard to ignore the sea of pastel buildings. These hot pinks, neon blues, and light greens are part of the history of Miami Florida’s Art Deco movement. The history of Art Deco goes back to the 1920s, when rich travelers vacationing in Miami built these homes to reflect the style of the day with their own Miami twist. As the population changed in the 1950s, some of the colorful hotels were transformed into retirement homes. The booming Miami real estate industry led to concern that the Art Deco buildings would soon be razed to build skyscraping hotels and condos. Preservationists brought together Miami businessmen, politicians, and residents to help restore the area’s unique architecture. In 1976, the Miami Design Preservation Center was formed in order to restore Miami beach’s historical buildings. In the 80s, Andy Warhol became one of many celebrity representatives to support the Center’s mission. Miami’s Art Deco neighborhoods were immortalized with the 1984 hit television series Miami Vice, which used many of these buildings for its action scenes.

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The Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado, is about to enter its 35th year. As the festival’s notoriety increases, so does the difficulty of finding tickets. Once you do score a ticket, you’ll have to worry about accommodations; Colorado hotel rates skyrocket as tourists swarm to the area. What’s a bluegrass-lover traveling to Colorado on a budget supposed to do?

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New York City is also known as the Big Apple. (Buenos Aires in Argentina goes by that nickname too, but we’ll leave that story for another post.) According to the New York Historical Society, the nickname originated in the 1920s, when John G. FitzGerald named his popular horseracing column “Around the Big Apple.” FitzGerald said he overheard African-American stablehands in New Orleans speaking of traveling to Gotham as the reward—the big “apple”—after years of serving on minor tracks. The term gained currency within the jazz community of Harlem, where the Big Apple Jazz Club adopted the name.

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In the Roadtripping USA pod before heading off to Montréal:

It isn't often that you get to both eat pizza and listen to the world's largest theater pipe organ, but such is possible at Organ Stop Pizza. The food is good, and the music is fabulous. Locals line up to order pizzas, then head to the cavernous dining-room-turned- performance-hall to sit at one of the long common tables and enjoy the show. The master organist's fingers fly across the mammoth 6-ft.-tall organ, jauntily playing soundtrack staples from Disney movie classics (with cascading bubbles), then smoothly transitioning into the haunting melodies of symphony masterpieces. The organ, an antique Wurlitzer, has since been restored and customized to its current 5500 pipes with turbines, visible from outside the building, providing the air needed to operate the instrument. Pizza is ready in two or three songs, and requests and dedications are accepted in a box at the edge of the stage. Don't be surprised when, at the organist's command, curtains rise, puppets dance, oowgah horns blow, and rows of lightbulbs flash in whimsical accompaniment.

Organ Stop Pizza, 1149 E. Southern Ave., Mesa (480-813-5700). Take the Stapley exit north off I-10. Turn left onto Southern Ave.; it's on your left. Open Su-Th 5-9pm, F-Sa 5-10pm; music starts 30min. after opening and continues until close.