1. Let hunger guide you. Indulge in authentic, local dishes a few towns over using Roadfood.com, a massive database of nearly 2,000 hidden culinary gems.

2. Walk it out. Download the AllTrails app and choose from more than 50,000 hiking routes.

3. Camp (and actually enjoy it). If you don't want to hike with a portable stove on your back, try car camping. At most state campgrounds, you can park within feet of your tent, the perfect way to get away—but not too far away—from it all.

4. Ride in a hot air balloon. Because...why not? Find an operator near you at 800soaring.com.

5. Pick berries, get buzzed. Spend a day gathering berries (find a farm at pickyourown.org), then use the fruits of your labor to make wine-infused frozen treats. Puree 5 cups fruit with ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water, mix in 1 cup wine, pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

6. Transform your porch. Make it more than a repository for muddy shoes, with a plush rug, oversize pillows and a spare crate to hold your drink.

7. Check out a shad run already. The annual spawning ritual of these überdetermined upstream swimmers takes place in rivers with saltwater access. Inspiration for all impossible-dreamers.

8. Learn a few phrases for your next trip abroad. Let the site Busuu.com be your weekend tutor.

9. Do some good. You don't need a whole spring break to lend a hand with Habitat for Humanity. Help for a weekend through the not-for-profit's A Brush with Kindness program, which pairs volunteers with families whose homes need a little exterior TLC, like painting or replacing loose siding.

10. Host a guac-off. Everyone has their way of spicing up this classic avocado dip. Put your friends' concoctions (bacon guac!) to a blind taste test.

11. Stage a backyard Olympics. In honor of the real thing in August, improvise your own roster of games: Beer pong in place of table tennis, bocce instead of shot put.

12. Be nude. Just remember to pull the shades!

13. Enjoy the customs of the county. Where can you find a Tilt-A-Whirl, a funnel cake, a pink-cheeked 4-H'er and her equally pink pig and a butter sculpture of Marilyn Monroe? Nowhere but the county fair, that perennial beacon of quintessentially American fun.

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