10405 Best Sights in USA

Tracings its origins to 1672, when a log-cabin church stood at the site, Christ Church received a brick replacement in 1772, coated with plaster, is notable for its biblical garden, planted with species mentioned in the scriptures. Port Republic School No. 7 is on the church's property. Since immediately after the Civil War the grounds have been a venue for jousting (Maryland's state sport) on the last Saturday in August.

George Washington was a parishoner in this Episcopal church, which remains in nearly original condition. (Washington paid quite a lot of money for pew 5—today's pews 59 and 60). Completed in 1773, it's a fine example of an English Georgian country-style church with its Palladian chancel window, interior balcony, and English wrought-brass-and-crystal chandelier. Docents give tours during visiting hours, during which visitors are invited to sit in Washington's box pew.

Weathered gravestones fill the resting place of five signers of the Declaration of Independence and other Colonial patriots. The best known is Benjamin Franklin; he lies alongside his wife, Deborah, and their son, Francis, who died at age four. According to local legend, throwing a penny onto Franklin's grave will bring you good luck. The burial ground is open to the public—except in January and February—for regular visits.

This modest yet beautiful gray clapboard structure was designed in 1761 by Peter Harrison, the first architect of note in the colonies (he designed King's Chapel). During the Revolution, members of its mostly Tory congregation fled for their lives. The organ was melted down for bullets and the building was used as a barracks during the Siege of Boston. (Step into the vestibule to look for the bullet hole left during the skirmish.) Today, the organ facade takes inspiration from the original 1762 gallery organ.

Martha Washington requested that the church reopen for services on New Year's Eve in 1775. The church's historical significance extends to the 20th century: Teddy Roosevelt was a Sunday-school teacher here (and famously fired because he remained Dutch Reformed rather than becoming an Episcopalian), and Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from the pulpit to announce his opposition to the Vietnam War.

The present-day English Gothic church, completed in 1887, has pitched gables, an architectural detail that prefigured the New Orleans Victorian style. Its congregation was actually established in 1805, however, making it the first non–Roman Catholic church in the Louisiana Purchase territory.

This was the first church—then Anglican—established in the Georgia colony in 1733. It is often called the "Mother Church of Georgia." George Washington attended services here when he visited the city in 1791 (although in the building prior to the current 1838 structure), as did Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. From its location on Johnson Square, an 1819 Revere & Son bell still chimes today in the imposing white-columned steeple.

Surrounded by moss-draped live oaks, dogwoods, and azaleas, this picturesque white-frame, Gothic-style church was built by shipwrights and consecrated in 1884 following an earlier structure's desecration by Union troops. The interior has beautiful stained-glass windows and several handmade pews. The congregation itself dates back to 1808 and is the second oldest Episcopal Church in the diocese of Georgia. In the adjacent cemetery grounds, you'll find the final resting place for Golden Isles historical fiction writer Eugenia Price.

If you look north toward Anvil Mountain, you'll see the Christ of the Mines Shrine, the centerpiece of which is a 12-ton statue of Jesus carved out of Italian marble. The shrine was erected in 1959 and has been credited with a handful of miracles over the subsequent years. A moderately strenuous 1-mile hike leads to the shrine, which has memorable views of the surrounding San Juan Mountains.

At the New York outpost of this famous auction house, you could easily spend an hour or more wandering the free, museumlike galleries filled with impressive works of art, estate jewelry, furniture, and other rarely displayed objects that are usually housed in (and, most likely, soon to be returned to) private collections. One of the first items to be auctioned here, when it opened in 2000, was the "Happy Birthday" dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang to President Kennedy (it sold for more than $1.2 million). Yes, the auction house has come a long way since James Christie launched his business in England by selling two chamber pots, among other household goods, in 1766. The lobby's abstract Sol LeWitt mural alone makes it worth visiting the 310,000-square-foot space. Hours vary by sale, so call ahead to confirm.

These two-tiered falls were named in honor of Christine Louise Van Trump, who climbed to the 10,000-foot level on Mt. Rainier in 1889 at the age of nine, even while coping with a disabling nervous-system disorder.

Christmas Tree Pass Road is a dirt road that provides a gorgeous drive through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area to an extensive petroglyph site in Grapevine Canyon. This side route runs 16 miles through a desert landscape sacred to several historical and modern native tribes. The pass cuts through the rough-cut Newberry Range near legendary Spirit Mountain, with several turnouts (but no designated hiking trails) before the Grapevine Canyon trail. It's the kind of drive you imagined when you bought your SUV, one that also should make sedan drivers extremely wary. Sedans can take a shorter, easier route to the Grapevine Canyon trail by instead approaching from the Laughlin side (U.S. 163), which reduces the dirt-and-gravel drive to two of its easier miles. The Grapevine trail has a parking lot with latrines (no running water) and a ¼-mile walk to the springs, which served as the central gathering point for Yuman- and Numic-speaking tribes, whose messages are etched on the canyon boulders. It's a more pleasant walk in the winter, when water is often channeling through the canyon. The trail around the springs also offers a chance to see desert wildflowers and blooming cacti in spring and early summer. The drive reconnects with U.S. 163 15 miles northwest of Laughlin.

You might have to share a bench in this tiny park with George Segal's life-size sculptures of a lesbian couple: titled Gay Liberation, the white-painted bronzes were cast in 1980 but not installed until 1992. Standing next to them is a gay male couple, captured mid-chat.

Two miles east of Middleburg is the Chrysalis Vineyard, a 412-acre-and-growing vineyard dedicated to producing both old- and new-world varieties of wine and hoping to revive interest in the fabled Norton, a grape native to Virginia. The owner maintains she'd rather grow the world's best Norton than the 400th best cabernet. Wine tastings here emphasize the educational experience, as volunteers present each wine in detail to tasters. The entire experience takes about 45 minutes. Afterward, buy a bottle of wine and snag a picnic table near the tasting tents. Grills are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Chrysalis is also host to a number of music festivals throughout the year, including a jazz festival in May and the Norton Wine & Bluegrass Festival the first weekend in October.

By any standard, the Chrysler Museum of Art downtown qualifies as one of America's major art museums. The permanent collection includes works by Rubens, Gainsborough, Renoir, Picasso, Cézanne, Matisse, Warhol, and Pollock—a list that suggests the breadth available here. Classical and pre-Columbian civilizations are also represented. The decorative-arts collection includes exquisite English porcelain and art nouveau furnishings. The Chrysler is home to one of the most important glass collections in America, with objects from the 6th century BC to the present and particularly strong holdings in Tiffany, French art glass, and English cameo, as well as artifacts from ancient Rome and the Near and Far East.

East of Cold Spring, in Carmel, the largest indoor statue of the Buddha in the Western Hemisphere resides at the Chuang Yen Monastery. Standing 37 feet tall, it is surrounded by 10,000 Buddha figurines on a lotus terrace in Great Buddha Hall.

Chucalissa Archaeological Museum is a reconstruction of a Native American village that existed from AD 1000 to AD 1500. Skilled Choctaw craftspeople fashion jewelry, weapons, and pottery outside the C. H. Nash Museum, which houses historic originals of the same articles.

Informative tours and tastings are offered at this celebrated downtown distillery that's garnered dozens of awards for its botanical-infused gin, sweet whiskey, and Krampus herbal liqueur. The distillery's bi-level Penny Farthing Bar & Restaurant is open from mid-afternoon through dinner and serves well-crafted cocktails and Spanish-inspired tapas. 

Sprawling east of Chugach State Park, the Chugach National Forest encompasses nearly 6 million acres. The forest covers most of the Kenai Peninsula and parts of Prince William Sound and is the second-largest national forest in the United States, exceeded in size only by the Tongass in Southeast Alaska. The forest has abundant recreational opportunities: hiking, camping, backpacking, fishing, boating, mountain biking, horseback riding, hunting, and flightseeing. Southcentral Alaska is not the best terrain for rock climbing (aside from Denali), as the rock is predominantly composed of hardened ocean sediments that are weak and crumbly. There are, however, some places for great bouldering, and in the wintertime ice climbing is quite popular, as are snowshoeing, skiing, snowmachining, and dog mushing. Hiking trails offer easy access into the heart of the forest. You can spend a day hiking or looking for wildlife, or you can embark on a multi-day backpacking excursion. At all but the most popular trailheads, a five-minute stroll down a wooded trail can introduce you to the sights, smells, and tranquility of backcountry Alaska.

Be prepared to be self-sufficient when entering the Chugach Forest. Trailheads typically offer nothing more than a place to park and perhaps an outhouse. Running water, trail maps, and other amenities are not available. Also, be "bear aware" whenever you travel in bear country—and all of Alaska is bear country.

Comprising nearly a half million acres, Chugach State Park is the third-largest state park in the United States. On the edge of Anchorage, the park is Alaska's most accessible wilderness, with nearly 30 trails for hikers of all abilities. Totaling more than 150 miles, the hiking trails range in length from 2 miles to 30 miles. Although Chugach, connected as it is to Alaska's largest city, is technically an urban park, this is far from being a typical urban setting. Hardly tame, this is real wilderness, home to Dall sheep, mountain goats, brown and black bears, moose, and several packs of wolves. Miners who sought the easiest means of traversing the mountain peaks and passes initially blazed most of the park's trails. Today they are restored every spring and maintained by park rangers and various volunteer groups. Hiking in the park is free whether you're here for an afternoon or a week, though a $7 daily parking fee is charged at several popular trailheads. The park serves up some truly intoxicating views, and, depending on what perch you're looking down from, you can see across the bay to the looming white mountains of the Alaska Range, the great tides of Cook Inlet, and, on clear days, Denali in all its glory. One of the best and most easily accessible places to seek out such a view is from Flattop Mountain, on the park's western edge. The peak is the most popular destination within Chugach Park. A 1-mile hike leads to the top, and hikers of all abilities make the trek, but be aware it is strenuous, particularly toward the top.

Just south of Santa Ynez on the Chumash Indian Reservation lies this Las Vegas–style casino with 2,300 slot machines, three restaurants and a food court, a spa, and a 12-story upscale hotel with a rooftop pool.

In this angular 1980s building just west of Temple Square, you can view artifacts and works of art relating to the history and doctrine of the Mormon faith, including personal belongings of church leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. There are also samples of Mormon coins and scrip used as standard currency in Utah during the 1800s and beautiful examples of quilting, embroidery, and other handicrafts. Upstairs galleries exhibit religious and secular works by Mormon artists from all over the world. In the courtyard out front, you can visit the Deuel Cabin, an 1847 pine structure that's one of two surviving homes built by Salt Lake City's earliest pioneers. The courtyard also has access to the church's Family History Library, where anyone is welcome to research their genealogy. 

Completed in 2000, this massive center features a 21,000-seat auditorium with a 7,000-pipe organ and a 850-seat theater. Equally impressive are the rooftop gardens landscaped with native plants and streams to mirror the surrounding mountains. Visitors can see the center on 45-minute tours; all guests must be accompanied by a guide. The Center is home to the biannual General Conference and regular concerts by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

The Church of San Geronimo, or St. Jerome (the patron saint of Taos Pueblo), was completed in 1850 and is the fourth church to stand at Taos Pueblo. The original church, built in 1627, was destroyed in 1640 by the Pueblo people in protest of Spanish attempts to missionize them. After this, the Taos people left their village and did not return until 1660, when they were persuaded by Governor Lopez de Mendizibal to come back. The second church was then built, but it was destroyed in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt when Pueblo Natives throughout the region united in a successful effort to force the Spanish to leave the area. A third church was begun by Spanish Franciscans after they returned to Taos twelve years later. This church, finished by 1726, stood until 1847. At that point, during the Taos Rebellion (aka Taos Revolt), U.S. soldiers attacked what they believed were the men who had killed Governor Bent and other Americans. In reality, most of these men had fled to the mountains and the people inside the church were mainly women and children. The ruins of this third church can be seen today, and have become a cemetery site to the left of the Pueblo’s public entrance. The fourth church that stands today on the Pueblo’s plaza was built in 1850. With its smooth symmetry, stepped portal, and twin bell towers, the church is a popular subject for photographers and artists.

This 1867 Gothic Revival church, a National Historic Landmark at the corner of Newbury and Berkeley streets, has one of the largest collections of liturgical windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the country. It's crowned by a 236-foot-tall steeple—the tallest in Boston—that Oliver Wendell Holmes called "absolutely perfect." Inside, a 14-foot-high Tiffany lantern hangs from a breathtaking 100-foot ceiling. The church is now Presbyterian and United Church of Christ.

Standing together along the highway are seven houses of worship with primarily Native Hawaiian congregations. Notice the unadorned, boxlike architecture so similar to missionary homes.

A small urban block originally earmarked for yet another Downtown skyscraper has been repurposed into a delightful little pocket park that offers organized arts, music, and fitness programs for children and adults throughout the week.

The streets of Athens are lined with many gorgeous old homes, some of which are open to the public. Most prominent among them is the Federal-style Church-Waddel-Brumby House. Built in 1820, it is the town's oldest surviving residence. The museum is home to the Historic Athens Welcome Center, where you can pick up information and arrange for tours.

A wraparound mural inspired by the colorful garden that fronts the Culinary Institute of America's Oxbow District facility brightens its facade. Check out the ground floor's well-curated culinary shop, nearby Vintners Hall of Fame wall, and self-serve wine stations—then head upstairs to the Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum. Named for the Williams-Sonoma kitchenwares founder, it holds an eye-popping collection of cooking, baking, and other food-related tools, tableware, gizmos, and gadgets, some dating back more than a century.

On Monroe, near State Street, the ornate CIBC Theatre (formerly the Bank of America Theatre and before that the LaSalle Bank Theatre and the Shubert Theatre) stages major Broadway plays and musicals. It was the tallest building in Chicago when it opened in 1906.