10457 Best Sights in USA

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the 20th pastor of this church that started in a slave trader’s pen in 1877. The humble, little, redbrick structure hardly signals its significant past. King directed initial civil rights activity in Montgomery, including the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott, from his church office. The church and parsonage, where King and his family lived between 1954 and 1960, are both open for tours. Church services happen each Sunday.

Also known as the "Blacksmith House," this yellow Colonial is now owned by the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. The tree itself is long gone, but this spot inspired Longfellow's lines: "Under a spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands." The blacksmith's shop, today commemorated by a granite marker, was next door, at the corner of Story Street. Although not open to the public, you can catch a glimpse inside during the celebrated Blacksmith House Poetry Series, which runs throughout the year on Monday nights. Tickets are $5.

The late Rene di Rosa assembled an extensive collection of artworks created by Northern California artists from the 1960s to the early 2000s, displaying them on this 217-acre Carneros District property surrounded by Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards. Two galleries at opposite ends of a 35-acre lake show works from the collection and host temporary exhibitions; the Sculpture Meadow behind the second gallery holds a few dozen large outdoor pieces.

The dam is one of three in the area that collectively produce hydroelectric power for Seattle City Light. Although its powerhouse can only be visited on bus tours that are sometimes offered (check at the Skagit Information Center), the experience of driving across a dam makes the short detour off Highway 20 worthwhile. To see the dam from the water, continue a mile farther east along Diablo Dam Road to the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, which offers Diablo Lake boat tours. As you cruise past Diablo Dam and then north to Ross Dam, guides share the secret of how the lake gets its vibrant turquoise color. The guides can sometimes take visitors into the Ross Dam powerhouse for a closer look.

Explore nearly 4 miles of waterside terrain on this route, which is accessed from the Sourdough Creek parking lot. An excellent alternative for parties with young hikers is to take the Seattle City Light Ferry one-way. Moderate.

Formed from limestone millions of years ago, these caves have been a popular local attraction since they were discovered in the mid-19th century. Descend into this series of subterranean galleries, and you'll get up close to enormous stalactites and stalagmites, projecting onyx peaks, and rock palaces. Temperatures in the cave hover around 58°F throughout the year. Visits are by hour-long guided tour.

You have to do a little hiking to reach this beautiful, remote spot at the base of Diamond Head Crater. Although the beach is just a small, narrow strip of sand with lots of coral in the water, the views from the point are breathtaking, and it's fun to watch the windsurfers skimming along. From the parking area, look for an opening in the wall where an unpaved trail leads down to the beach. Even for the unadventurous, a stop at the lookout point is well worth the time. Amenities: parking (no fee); showers. Best for: solitude; sunset; surfing; windsurfing.

This winery produces Pinot Noir from grapes grown on-site, as well as wines made from local apples, blueberries, and other fruit.

The home of artists Jane Orleman and her late husband Dick Elliott is a continuously growing whimsical folk sculpture of outsider art: a collage of some 20,000 bottle caps, 1,500 bicycle reflectors, and other colorful, reused bits. Although you can't tour the house itself, you can view the fantastic exterior and art-strewn front and backyards from the sidewalk, and you're encouraged to sign the guest book mounted on the surrounding fence.

Dick Taylor specializes in small-batch dark chocolates made with beans from Africa and Central America. His factory store's on-site café serves dense European-style "drinking chocolates," along with hot chocolates, addictive fudge pops, and other delights. Book a tour (with tasting) through the company's website.

Explore nature-oriented exhibits and a large topographical map of the park. Pick up a Junior Ranger activity booklet for kids ages 7 to 12 to complete to be sworn in as a Junior Ranger and earn a badge. Savor the views from a west-facing landing behind the visitor center that attracts plein air painters on clear days when you can see for miles. Restrooms are located in a separate building adjacent to the visitor center.

Distillery owner Dietz Fischer’s father founded the popular Fischer & Wieser's Das Peach Haus next door, and the family’s been growing peaches since 1928. After Fischer trained with a brandy maker in Austria, he came home to Texas and decided to experiment with making peach and pear eau-de-vie in a former garage, which he turned into a distillery. In addition to the distillery—where he now makes and sells eau-de-vie, gin, vodka, and rum—he runs a tasting room here with a huge outdoor patio, a Thai food truck, and great cocktails.

This welcoming outdoor space has a café and a spacious Great Lawn for relaxing. There's a fountain for cooling off in the summer, and the space transforms into the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink in the winter. It's also home to free events throughout the year, including the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market.

Roaring robotic stegosaurs and meat-shredding animatronic allosaurs prowl Dinosaur Journey, a fun, informative attraction just off I–70 a few minutes from the western entrance to Colorado National Monument. Unlike many museums, this one encourages kids to touch everything—friendly paleontologists may even allow kids to hold a chunk of fossilized dino dung. In addition to the amazing lifelike replicas, there are more than 20 interactive displays. Children can stand in an earthquake simulator; dig up "fossils" in a mock quarry (the pit is made of crushed walnut shells); or make dino prints in dirt, along with reptile and bird tracks for comparison. The museum also sponsors daily digs nearby, where many of the fossils were found. Local volunteers are at work cleaning and preparing fossils for study.

Life-size dino replicas in dramatic poses will delight kids. The small museum also features many skeletons, fossils, and footprints—and reportedly the world's largest collection of movie posters starring Godzilla and other monsters dating back to the early days of film.

The Dinosaur Quarry Exhibit Hall showcases an estimated 1,500 dinosaur bones that date to the late Jurassic Period still embedded in the clay. Open daily, the Exhibit Hall is ranger-guided only in the winter; check the website or call ahead for shuttle hours and access availability. Fossils are visible only from the Utah side of the monument, not the Colorado side. A half mile away is a massive 7,595-square-foot visitor center.

In this park in Rocky Hill, about 9 miles north of downtown Middletown (halfway to Hartford), see 500 tracks left by the dinosaurs that roamed the area some 200 million years ago. The tracks are preserved under a giant geodesic dome—1,500 more are buried for preservation—making this one of the largest dinosaur-track sites in North America. You can even make plaster casts of tracks on a special area of the property.   To make a plaster cast, BYO 1/4 c. cooking oil, 10 lb. of Plaster of Paris, cloth rags/paper towels, and a 5 gal. bucket!

About 5½ miles west of Tuba City, between mileposts 316 and 317 on U.S. 160, is a small sign for the Dinosaur Tracks. It's free to see these tracks that a dilophosaurus—a carnivorous bipedal reptile over 10 feet tall—left in mud that turned to sandstone, but Navajo guides will often greet you as you arrive and insist on taking you around the site. They're very friendly and helpful, but if you take them up on their offer, they expect to be tipped, usually at least $20. Ask them about guiding you to the nearby petroglyphs and freshwater springs.

You can view more than 500 fossilized dinosaur tracks along the ½-mi wooden Dinosaur Trackway at Clayton Lake State Park, making this one of the few sites of its kind in the world. The tracks, estimated to be 100 million years old, were made when the area was the shore of a prehistoric sea. Eight species of dinosaurs, vegetarian and carnivorous, lived here. The sparkling lake that gives the state park its name is ideal for camping, hiking, and fishing.

Salmon are integral to life in Southeast Alaska, and Alaskans are proud of their healthy fisheries. A visit to the hatchery is a great introduction to the complex considerations involved in maintaining the continued vitality of this crucial resource. Watch through an underwater window as salmon fight their way up a fish ladder from mid-June to mid-October. Inside the busy hatchery, which produces almost 125 million young salmon annually, you will learn about the environmental considerations of commercial fishermen and the lives of salmon. A retail shop sells gifts and salmon products. The salmon hatchery is part of a larger nonprofit, Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc., and is usually referred to locally by its acronym, DIPAC.

Low on greenery but high on gathering space, this 2009 addition to the city's downtown park blocks was designed as a public piazza—it hides a 700-space parking garage below. A glass canopy–light display provides cover, and a fountain dedicated to teachers cools off summer visitors. Chess players enjoy the giant (it's 16 feet square) board with 25-inch-high pieces, available on a first-come, first-served basis. There's a branch of Elephants Delicatessen—great for salads, deli sandwiches, chocolates, and wine by the glass and bottle—with both indoor and outdoor seating adjacent to the piazza.

The DISCOVERY Children's Museum is one of the most technologically sophisticated children's museums in the entire country. The facility comprises nine theme exhibition halls, all of which are designed to inspire visitors—both children and adults—to learn through play. The star of the show: a 12-story exhibit dubbed \"The Summit,\" with education stations on every level and a lookout that peeks through the building's roof. Parents of the smallest visitors will also love \"Toddler Town,\" an area designed for those who are still crawling or just learning how to walk. \"Fantasy Festival,\" another exhibit, comprises a life-size pirate ship (yes, really), and ample clothes for kiddos to dress up.

The only theme park in Orlando that can be called "exclusive" offers relaxing swims and uncrowded, daylong encounters with dolphins, otters, sharks, and rays—all located right in the heart of Orlando. You can enjoy resort-style amenities amid tropical landscaping, white-sand beaches, waterfalls, and vast freshwater pools. Lockers, wet suits, parking, breakfast, lunch, drinks, and snacks are included in the regular admission price, as are snorkeling with tropical fish and rays in the Grand Reef, hand-feeding exotic birds in the Explorer's Aviary, or just floating on the Wind Away lazy river.

Add-ons—such as using a diving helmet in the Grand Reef, swimming with the sharks, or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin swim experiences—are available for an additional cost and often sell out, requiring reservations to be booked well in advance. Note that there are ticket options that get you into this park as well as SeaWorld, Aquatica, and Busch Gardens in Tampa (and varying combos of the four). Ticket prices vary wildly depending on day, the season, and the package options (there are many).

The region's premier children's museum, geared toward kids ages 2 to 10, has three floors of lively hands-on experiences. Kids can participate in a television newscast, learn about dinosaurs by seeing what it's like to be a paleontologist, tell stories through pictures or radio, climb into a Life Flight helicopter, or revel in a kid-size town with grocery store, vehicles, a house, and a construction site. The family-friendly restaurants of the surrounding Gateway Center, including the HallPass food hall, are steps from the museum.

This 12-acre greenspace across from the George R. Brown Convention Center features Wi-Fi access, a lake, a model-boat pond, an amphitheater, and The Grove, serving steaks, seafood, and acclaimed burgers.

Visitors young and old learn about science and technology through hands-on STEAM learning experiences and demonstrations that explore electricity, computers, sound, light, magnetism, and energy. Particular draws include the Hall of Space, where you can touch a real meteorite and Skylab artifacts, and Teddy Bear Triage, where little ones can apply first-aid treatments to their own stuffed animals. Don't miss the planetarium shows—some geared to young children and others to all age groups.

Bring a picnic to enjoy in adjacent Adventure Park.

You'll find a butterfly pavilion, bugs galore, nature trails, a puppet theater, and hands-on exhibits just for children at this museum. Kids can experience up-close interaction with animals, and explore the Fort Wild outdoor play area.

Allow at least two hours for the aquariums, the three-story rain forest, "Nose-to-Nose" live animal shows, and the IMAX Dome Theater. Lie on a bed of nails, conduct experiments in the interactive labs, or get in touch with your inner innovator as you create shoes from garbage. Check the schedule for special exhibits.