10405 Best Sights in USA

Located on Wadmalaw Island in idyllic countryside 40 minutes from downtown Charleston, Deep Water's 48-acre property grows native muscadine grapes. A tasting of their core wines costs $15 per person, and you leave with a stemless wine glass. Beyond its core wines, the owners also bottle seasonal fruit wines, mead, nonalcoholic juices, and mixers. Wine slushies made on-site cut the heat during the summer. Pair your drink of choice with a picnic from home and relax under the site's canopy of live oaks.

This tiny museum documents Stonington's quarrying tradition. The museum's centerpiece is a working model of quarrying operations on Crotch Island and the town of Stonington at the turn of the last century. Granite was quarried here for Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and for the John F. Kennedy Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, among other well-known structures.

This 6-mile round-trip trek to the top of 10,083-foot Deer Mountain is a great way for hikers who don't mind a bit of a climb to enjoy the views from the summit of a more manageable peak. You'll gain more than 1,000 feet in elevation as you follow the switchbacking trail through ponderosa pine, aspen, and fir trees. The reward at the top is a panoramic view of the park's eastern mountains. Difficult.

Any visit to Arizona requires a viewing of petroglyphs, and this site provides the best glimpse in the metro Phoenix area. Some 1,500 of the cryptic symbols are here, left behind by Native American cultures that lived in or passed through the Valley during the last 1,000 years. The self-guided tour follows a ¼-mile path and includes a free audio guide. Telescopes point to some of the most skillful petroglyphs, ranging from animal forms to abstract figures.

You can reach this officially designated Urban Wilderness Area only by boat on the weekends. The coastal hammock island contains a mangrove swamp that provides a critical habitat for manatees, gopher tortoises, gray foxes, raccoons, and armadillos. County-operated free boat shuttles run on the hour from 10 am to 3 pm Friday and weekends. The last shuttle departs for the mainland at 4 pm. The ride is five minutes each way. Amenities within the 53.3-acre park include nature trails, a butterfly garden, kayaks and paddleboards, and picnic areas. Pets and fishing are prohibited on the island.

Winemaker Robert Rex of Deerfield produces "clean wines"—low in histamines and sulfites—the better to eliminate the headaches and allergic reactions some red-wine drinkers experience. Rex accomplishes this with no loss of flavor or complexity: his wines are bold and fruit-forward, with a long finish. To sip ones that include several Bordeaux-style reds, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and the White Rex white blend, guests walk deep into a 23,000-square-foot cave for a seated tasting in a relaxed, loungelike space. Reservations are required.

A lovely 55-acre space designed by the Olmsted Brothers, Deering Oaks is frequented for its sparkling pond, playground, and games at its baseball diamond. It’s also the summer home of the Portland Farmer’s Market, and you’ll find its playground and water features enjoyed by kids on any warm day. A well-kept rose garden and wide clusters of native trees are draws for gardeners and botanists. Note that unhoused people occasionally set up camp in the park in the summer season; the city continues to struggle to find places for them to reside.

Arizonan artist Ted DeGrazia, who depicted Southwest Native American and Mexican life in a manner some find kitschy and others adore, built this sprawling, spacious, single-story museum with the assistance of Native American friends, using only natural material from the surrounding desert. You can visit DeGrazia's workshop, former home, tranquil chapel, and grave. Although the original works are not for sale, the museum's gift shop has a wide selection of prints, ceramics, and books by and about the colorful artist.

This famously clean 2-mile-long beach is the perfect place for long barefoot walks and sunbathing due to its extremely fine, soft sand and lack of seaweed and other debris. Del Mar Beach is also a great place for families. It has year-round lifeguards and areas clearly marked for swimming and surfing. Depending on the swell, you may see surfers at the 15th Street surf break, right below two coastal parks, Powerhouse and Seagrove; volleyball players love the courts at the beach's far north end. The section of beach south of 15th is lined with cliffs and tends to be less crowded than Main Beach, which extends from 15th north to 29th. Leashed dogs are permitted on most sections of the beach, except Main Beach, where they are prohibited from June 15 through the Tuesday after Labor Day. For the rest of the year, dogs may run off leash at North Beach, just north of the River Mouth, also known locally as Dog Beach. Food, shopping, and hotels including L'Auberge Del Mar, are near Del Mar Beach. Parking costs $4 per hour at meters on Coast Boulevard and along Camino Del Mar. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

The Spanish Mission–style fairground is the home of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club ( www.dmtc.com) and the Del Mar Racetrack. Crooner Bing Crosby and his Hollywood buddies—Pat O'Brien, Gary Cooper, and Oliver Hardy, among others—organized the club in the 1930s, and the racing here (usually July through September, Wednesday through Monday, post time 2 pm) remains a fashionable affair. Del Mar Fairgrounds hosts more than 500 different events each year, including the San Diego County Fair and the Del Mar National Horse Show.

In diminutive Gold Hill, about 15 miles east of Grants Pass, one of the Rogue Valley's most established vineyards stands out as much for its elegant wines as for its setting—the tasting room is inside the former Rock Point Hotel, which dates to 1865. In this grand building or out on the breezy patio, you can sample Del Rio's finest bottles, including an age-worthy Claret Bordeaux-style blend, a heady Rhône-style Syrah, and some of the most appealing rosés in the valley.

Cypress Street, north of Delancey Place, and Panama Street (especially the 1900 block, one block south of Delancey) are two of the many intimate streets lined with trees and town houses characteristic of the area. At No. 2010 is the Rosenbach Museum and Library.

Named for a prominent family that helped settle Frederick, this former historic flour mill overlooking Frederick's Community Bridge now houses art exhibits as well as art classes and programs—and admission is free. A gift shop sells fine jewelry and local crafts and the new sculpture garden is well worth a visit.

Delaware's rich agrarian past is brought to life at this imaginative museum, which includes a re-created 1890s village and farmstead where you can step inside a range of buildings, including fully furnished homes, a store, schoolhouse, a corn house, and even a privy. There is also an exhibition hall detailing the development of farming in the state and related technology. Antique exhibits include a horse-drawn wagon, a crop duster, and threshers. The museum also hosts occasional special events.

Walkers and cyclists in Lambertville have easy access from downtown to part of the park's 70-mile-long, multiuse trail (the former canal towpath), which travels through 22 towns and five New Jersey counties. Built in the 1830s to connect the Delaware and Raritan rivers, the D&R canal, as it's known, includes a feeder canal along the Delaware that runs past towns such as Frenchtown, Stockton, and Lambertville down to New Jersey's Washington Crossing State Park.

In an 85,000-square-foot building, the museum presents several notable American and international collections in galleries that reflect diverse, engaging stories about artists and the periods in which they worked. Its strong holdings of American illustration include paintings by Howard Pyle (1853–1911), a Wilmington native known as the "father of American illustration," and works by his students N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, and Maxfield Parrish. Some other American artists represented are Benjamin West, John Sloan, Winslow Homer, Faith Ringgold, and Grace Hartigan. The museum is renowned for the largest American collection of 19th-century English pre-Raphaelite paintings and decorative arts, with works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, among others. Dale Chihuly's colorful Persian Window glass installation, the interactive Kids' Corner, and the open-air Copeland Sculpture Garden are other highlights.

The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities organizes monthly sightseeing cruises that visit all the viewable lighthouses in the Delaware Bay. Each trip takes seven hours and includes complimentary breakfast and buffet lunch, as well as a cash bar. Boats run by Cape May Whale Watcher leave from Miss Chris Fishing Center at the marina near the entrance to Cape May.

Guided tours of this mine, 12 miles south of Copper Harbor along Highway 41, take visitors (wearing hard hats) 110 feet belowground for a 45-minute exploration (warm clothing is recommended). It's an authentic mine dating back to 1847 and veins of copper are still visible in what was once a highly active mining operation. Self-guided tours are also available. Aboveground, railroad enthusiasts will enjoy indoor and outdoor antique train displays, while animal lovers can visit a pen housing goats and deer.

The centerpiece of this museum property is the 1797 Federal-style farm of Gideon Frisbee, an original settler of Delhi. The complex includes six other historic buildings as well as an extensive genealogical library. One exhibit gallery holds a permanent collection of 19th-century farm implements; the other rotates displays of local historical interest. Special events re-create the daily life of the period. A nature trail leads to a covered bridge; when in bloom, more than 80 lilac bushes perfume the grounds.

Nearly 3,000 acres are bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Bay, and Indian River Bay, resulting in 6 miles of shoreline with lots of activities. Lifeguards patrol beaches, and two modern bathhouses are equipped with showers and changing rooms. There's a marina for boaters, and trails and camping for landlubbers. Rental cottages are available, too. Take an evening Lantern Tour of the circa-1876 Indian River Lifesaving Station to learn about shipwrecks and the men who saved the lives of unfortunate sailors. It's one of many tours, hikes, and programs offered at the park.

The spring water at this lovely park 15 minutes north of the city, constantly at 72°F, might make swimming here a bit chilly, but there are plenty of other attractions if you're not up for it. The 4-mile Wild Persimmon Hiking Trail cuts through areas inhabited by deer, turkey, wild boar, and Florida black bears. You can take a 50-minute eco-history boat tour, walk through a butterfly garden, and rent canoes and kayaks. Need some fuel for all these activities? Start the day at the on-site Sugar Mill Restaurant, where you make your own pancakes on a table-top griddle.

In Seligman, you can stop here for a "small soda" and to view the old Coca-Cola and Burma Shave signs. In fact, the whole town is rife with old signs and cars.

Though most people think Austin’s sports teams only wear burnt orange, a little ways north, the colors are all red, white, and blue. Dell Diamond is home to the Round Rock Express, a minor league baseball team that feeds into the Texas Rangers. And while it’s fun to catch a game under the wide-open sky and bright lights, the stadium itself is worth the trip alone. The state-of-the-art facilities have everything you’d expect—huge jumbotrons and a pool-party area sit behind the outfield—and some things that you might not, like a rock-climbing wall and bungee trampoline. Tours are held year round every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:30, 10, and 10:30, and also while the team is on the road during the summer.

Best known for Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs, DeLoach also produces Chardonnays, old-vine Zinfandels, and a few other wines. Grapes for some reds are fermented in open-top wooden vats similar to those used in France for centuries to intensify a wine's flavor. On a self-guided tour of the winery's ½-acre Theater of Nature culinary garden, you can learn the role biodynamic farming plays in creating DeLoach wines.  The Kathleen Thompson Hill Kitchen Memories Collection, worth a look, contains cooking utensils of nostalgic and historical value.

Instrumental in the revitalization of Delray Beach circa 1995, this cluster of galleries and event spaces was established in restored school buildings dating from 1913 and 1925. The Cornell Museum of Art & American Culture offers ever-changing exhibits on fine arts, crafts, and pop culture, plus a hands-on children's gallery. From November to April, the 323-seat Crest Theatre showcases national-touring Broadway musicals, cabaret concerts, dance performances, and lectures.

In addition to finding out what's up in Delta Junction, you can purchase an "I Drove the Alaska Highway" certificate ($3) here—technically, the highway ends in Delta because there was already a road this far from Fairbanks. Across the street is the Sullivan Roadhouse Historical Museum (ask about hours at the visitor center, but it's generally open June through August). If you're in town on a Wednesday or Saturday between mid-May and early September, check out the wonderfully named Highway's End Farmers Market, open both days from 10 to 5.

Take a 1½-hour sightseeing cruise around the Great South Bay on this 149-passenger paddlewheeler. The boat features an air calliope with player piano, so you can cruise with a tune. Reservations are recommended.

This museum includes the restored 18th-century home, studio, and garden of Charles Demuth (1883–1935), one of America's first modernist artists, who lived in the city of Lancaster for most of his life. A watercolorist, Demuth found inspiration in the geometric shapes of machines and modern technology, as well as the flowers in his mother's garden. Items from the 42-piece collection of Demuth's works are displayed on a rotating basis; one gallery is dedicated to changing exhibits of regional and national artists. Next door is the now-shuttered Demuth Tobacco Shop, which dates to 1770.