Castor River Shut-Ins: Amidon Conservation Area, Madison County, Missouri

Where I wish I was today: floating in the clear water of the Castor River Shut-Ins, a series of eroded stone pools cradled by boulders of 1.5 billion-year-old pink granite. It's only a couple of hours' drive outside St. Louis, and afterward you can get pigtail fries and sweet tea with pebble ice at The Pig.