Here's a marvelous reason to admire America.

There is more along Route 66 than just strip malls and chain restaurants. It turns out, there are actually more museums in the United States-a lot more-than there are places to order a Non-fat Mocha or Big Mac.

From the largest cities to most rural towns, you can find 35,000 museums scattered across America, while Starbucks has only 11,000 locations, and McDonald's just 14,000.

In fact, the number of museums doubled since the 1990s, according to the Institute of Museum and Library services.

Los Angeles has the most, with 681, followed by New York (with 414). Chicago, Washington, DC and San Diego round out the top five.

In small towns and rural counties that might be too small to attract a Starbucks or McDonald's, you are likely to find museums set up by local historic societies. For instance, Storey County, Nevada, with fewer than 4,000 people, has 11 different options-including the Firemen's Museum, Radio Museum, the Way It Was Museum, and even a Gambling Museum.

(READ more in the Washington Post) – Photo credit: Erase, CC