Not bad: Done nearly all that.
Ever been to Cambodia, N. Viet Nam, Laos in the bad old days?
Have you driven: Zanvoort; Spa; Magne Cours; Nurburgring; Hockenheimring; Monza; NHIS; Sear's Point; Indy; Daytona; Laguna Seca, etc.?
Flown an F 14 under the GG Bridge; an F 18 below the rims of the Grand Canyon with burners on; landed on a CVAN?
When I was a kid I spent nearly 12 years in the the USN - last 4 1/2 as LCDR.
Now live in MX, speak Spanish and don't miss a single thing about Dallas and the US,
Don't eat hot dogs, lol.
M

I think the point of this is a listing of things that make america special for americans. it is not meant to imply that you cannot replicate the experience anywhere else in the world.

I can have an english tea in NYC, go to a british pub in spain, go line dancing in london, listen to country music in a country/western bar in thailand. so what?

i do agree that some people do not realise what is truly unique to america and this goes both ways...they assume some things are everywhere in the world and they are not (the prom, cheerleaders, striving for an "american dream" -like lifestyle, etc) and other things are unique to america and they are not("country life", true freedom and democracy, open spaces, immigrants who come there seeking a better life, etc).

ttt

Four most important:

Lexington and Concord

Viewing original Declaration of Independence/Constitution

Lincoln Memorial

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Eaten Dolly Varden brook trout cooked over an open fire by the Montana stream in which you caught it.

Attended a Native American powwow.
It's amazing to read this list and see all the things I have done...and haven't don. Time to get busy, I guess.

Waited for what seemed like hours for Old Faithful

Driven the extent of Highway 1.

Flown into Boston on the Fourth of July at 9 pm.

Toured the horse farms in Lexington Ky.

Been in the midst of thousands of dolphins following your boat off of Santa Barbara.

Climbed a redwood tree.

Skiied KT-22 at Squaw Valley.

River rafting the Snake River.

Getting splashed by Shamu.

Seeing Tinkerbell during the Disneyland fireworks.

Ascending the Space Needle.

Having a buffalo put his head in your car in Yellowstone.

Waiting in customs at O'Hare.

Downtown Denver in the winter time.

Dude ranch in Colorado.

Grand Wailea Spa - terme' baths.

Sedona vortex climb.

Stuck in rush hour traffic on the 405 on your way to a flight from LAX to Zurich (with your 3 kids...ugh)

Eating clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf.

Catching a rainbow trout in the Sierras.

Trying Not to Repeat -

Have you ever shared when you didn't have much to share?

Have you ever jumped on a trampoline?

Have you ever gone whitewater rafting?

Have you ever bought Girl Scout cookies?

Have you ever shaken hands with a President?

Have you ever watched your team win the Super Bowl?

Have you ever won the lottery?

Have you ever had a policeman approach you and compliment you on your parallel driving?

Have you ever taken over a hundred pictures per day on a vacation?

Have you ever taken a hard landing as you washed up to shore at the beach? lost your raft? lost your snorkeling mask?

Have you ever lost your car in a parking lot?

Has your scoop of ice cream ever fallen off your cone?

Have you ever taken over your child's science project, barely allowing his/her participation? Did you ever feel guilty afterwords?

Have you ever cried when your child did or said just the right thing?

Have you ever laughed so hard that you cried? Have you done it with others or your significant other?

Two more: Have you ever stayed up all night watching election results when it was close?

Have you ever cried over election results?

bookmarking

That is SO corny Claire.

gone to Tijuana, then come back to the U.S. to have a margarita at Chile's
gone to a baseball game just to eat the hot dogs
pulled a calf when the mother was struggling
had part of a saguaro cactus stuck in your leg
burst into tears because the security screeners at airport are nicer than anyone you've enounctered on 3-week trip abroad
eaten an "Elvis:" pb, banana, bacon, honey mayo sandwich

Best things in my life relating to travel:

Stayed as an Innkeeper for a week at the New Dungeness Lighthouse in Sequim, WA

Awakened in Morrocco at dawn to hear the chanting

Best weeks spent at remote Hawaii - Lanai - no t-shirt shops! You don't even need a car! As Hawaii was 50 years ago

Travelled down the Yantzee River in China before they flooded the dam

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Canyon

Yosemite National Park

Sequoa National Park

Tibet and how they live today with China taking over

Going Home...wherever it is....

ttt

Once again the most American I've seen-

Watching 1.75 million people hold a ticker tape for the World Series team coming home with a trophy not won in nearly 100 years- seeing those boys come down the canyon of LaSalle St. with people literally hanging out of sky scrappers; buses, els, sanitation workers- cabbies- men in $300 suits and jogging outfits- all stopped and all hugging each other and standing in paper "snow" up to over our knees. I will never forget it.

I hope it's not too late to add to the "only in America" list? Have you ever:

Sailed on a skipjack in the Chesapeake Bay?

Seen both crocs and alligators together in the same waterway (in the Everglades)?

Partied in the infield at the Preakness?

Marched on Washington?

Riden a ferry named after a Confederate General from Virginia to Maryland?

Whitewater rafted on the Gauley River?

Seen a blessing of the fleet in the Gulf of Mexico?

Hidden your food from the horses while you camped in the dunes on Assateague Island?

Eaten crabcakes at a baseball game in Baltimore?

Attended all 6 volunteer fire company fairs in your county in one summer?

Watched the fireworks displays all down the coast as you flew home from Boston on the 4th of July?

Attended a bluegrass festival?

I love this thread!
My list of things to do in life is getting longer just reading it!

Of the original list I have done 14
and have just a few to add that I thought were pretty cool.

Walked the length of Duval St in Kw just to touch 2 oceans in one day.

Visited the ORIGINAL MCDONALDS and
Hamburger Univ. in Des Plaines, IL

Saw Jimmy Buffett at Wrigley Field

Thrown Tea into the Boston Harbor and
walked the Freedom Trail during the Bicentennial (thanks Mom & Dad...I really appeciate even more it now)

Parasailed over the Florida Keys at Sunset.

Saw the Grateful Dead in Soldiers Field.

Bet on the Sausage Race at Miller Park in Milwaukee while eating a Brat.

Watched the start and finish of the Chicago Marathon.

Climbed 80 floors (1643 stairs) to the top of the 2nd tallest building in Chicago for charity (Aon building)

Strolled down Venice Beach.......

Hamburger U is in Oakbrook, IL :-)

Jumped off the train bridge over the Pearl River
Ate crawfish fresh out of the boiling pot
Skinny dipped at Hickory Hollow
Watched the Golden Girls marching into Death Valley
Caught a gar in Injun Bayou
Watched crabs come back to life after they thawed from the freezer

Thanks you are correct...
Original Mc'D' in Des Plaines and the U is in Oakbrook. Was there many many (sigh) years ago on a field trip...must have been 2 trips!
Funny how it all blends together. :)

My mom used to work for McDonald's Corp, so I spent more than a few school vacation days in her office!