10457 Best Sights in USA

Pioneers of modern and contemporary art are represented, with a large selection of prints and paintings by Marc Chagall, Picasso, and others.

At 7 miles long from north to south, the park's largest key has a history that includes legends of pirates as well as the actual presence of pioneers, who began cultivating farms here in the late 1800s. In the 1950s, developers envisioned creating a tropical city called "Islandia" on this key. But it was the idea of creating a causeway needed to open the island to homes, as well as hotels and other businesses, that marked a turning point in the battle between developers and preservationists and ultimately led to the creation of Biscayne National Park. Today, without a hotel in sight, Elliott Key is a popular destination for boaters and campers.

A highlight here is a 30-foot-wide sandy shoreline, the park's only swimming beach, situated a mile north of the harbor on the island's west (bay) side. In addition to having a mile-long hiking trail, Elliott Key is home to the so-called Spite Highway, a clear-cut scar that runs approximately 6 miles down the center of the island. Carved out of spite by developers in their quest to turn the lush key into a commercial haven, the meaning has changed as nature continues to spite those developers by slowly and steadily reclaiming the land.

Overnight guests tie up their boats at one of the harbor's 33 slips or pitch tents at the campground, which has restrooms, picnic tables, grills, fresh drinking water, and cold showers. Either way, the fee is $35 per evening. Leashed pets are allowed in developed areas only, not on trails.

The museum's glittering, green-certified 48,000-square-foot facility houses a permanent collection along with traveling exhibits. The museum was founded in 1961 in honor of Sterling Elliott, an inventor of an early automated-addressing machine, the egg crate, and a four-wheel bicycle, and it celebrates history, art, and technology, much of it viewed through the lens of the automobile's effect on American society. There's an impressive array of antique cars, plus paintings, historic artifacts, and nostalgic goods like vintage baseball cards and toys.

Starting in the 1940s, Jack Ellsworth used native materials to craft terraced flower beds and abstract sculptures at his summer home on the north shore of Kabetogama Lake. The National Park Service acquired the property in the late 1970s and restored Ellsworth's creations—which range from figures to tables to gateways—in the process creating the park's most popular day-use area (it's a great spot for a picnic). The easiest way to get here is on a boat tour.

Shortly after its construction in 1767, this three-story Georgian house was abandoned by its owner, Colonial governor Thomas Oliver. Also known as the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, it was home to the accomplished Lowell family for two centuries. Elmwood is now the Harvard University president's residence, ever since student riots in 1969 drove president Nathan Pusey from his house in Harvard Yard. Although it's not open to the public, it affords a nice view from the street.

This Greensboro original—a combination art museum, studio, theater, and school—brings complete sensory overload via an astounding explosion of art and artifacts collected over several decades by its former owner, Sylvia Gray, who ran it as a thrift store. Today, a colorful cast of resident artists creates new work from this treasure trove. Expect colorful plumes of fabric hanging from the walls and toys, books, jewelry, and so much more stuffed into every corner of this large space. You can't buy anything here, but you can touch it all. 

Visiting hours are eclectic and limited, but it's worth planning a trip around this absolutely one-of-kind space.

This flamboyant Tudor Gothic vaudeville house opened on May 28, 1926, with Edgar Bergen in attendance. Clark Gable (who lived in nearby Silverton) and Gregory Peck performed on stage. The theater was designed to look like a castle, with a false-stone front, chandeliers, ironwork, and stained-glass windows. It's now a lively performing arts center with a busy schedule of comedy and music bookings, and there are concerts on its Wurlitzer pipe organ.

The perks of staying at the Four Seasons Napa Valley include the resort's on-site winery and 4.7 acres of vines, but the classy-rustic hospitality center also welcomes nonguests. One goal of consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown is to bring more attention to the Calistoga AVA’s virtues, particularly the appellation's volcanic soils. The supple reds on-site winemaker Jonathan Walden creates from them—the Cabernet Franc from Kenefick Ranch next door and a few single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons among them—prove this mission worthwhile. A talented upvalley chef oversees the wine-and-food pairings. 

Though not Los Angeles’s biggest park—that honor belongs to Griffith Park—Elysian comes in second and also has the honor of being the city’s oldest. It's also home to one of L.A.'s busiest and most beloved attractions, Dodger Stadium, the home field to the Los Angeles Dodgers. For this reason, baseball fans flock to this 600-acre park for tailgate parties. The rest of the time, however, Elysian Park serves as the Echo Park residents’ backyard, thanks to its network of hiking trails, picnic spaces, and public playgrounds.

The center of Morro Bay action on land is the Embarcadero, where vacationers pour in and out of souvenir shops and seafood restaurants and stroll or bike along the scenic half-mile Harborwalk to Morro Rock. From here, you can get out on the bay in a kayak or tour boat.

This new memorial in the Boston Common was created as a permanent honor to the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, their love, and powerful presence in Boston.

This park has a well-marked nature trail, a small beach, boat rentals, and a snack bar.

Multiple waterfalls cascade (or drip, in dry weather) into algae-filled pools along this trail that begins along the Virgin River on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. (The path leading to the lower pool is paved but is too steep and narrow to be appropriate for wheelchairs, at least not without assistance.) If you've got any energy left, keep going past the lower pool. The ½ mile from there to the middle and then upper pools becomes rocky and somewhat steep but offers increasingly scenic views. A less crowded and exceptionally enjoyable return route follows the Kayenta Trail, connecting to the Grotto Trail. Allow 50 minutes for the 1¼-mile round-trip hike to the lower pool, and an hour more each round-trip to the middle (2 miles) and upper pools (3 miles). Lower, easy. Upper and Middle, moderate.

Old-timers recall the superb apples grown at 115-acre Hallberg Ranch, since 2000 an elite Pinot Noir vineyard. Winery founder Brice Jones coveted this land for its temperate climate and layer of Goldridge sandy loam soil atop a bed of Sebastopol clay loam. Along with dry-farming (no irrigation), this soil combination forces vine roots to work hard to obtain water, yielding berries concentrated with flavor. Less than 10 miles from Hallberg, the winery farms the 30-acre estate Pinot Hill Vineyard, whose wines are often denser and more complex. Hosts at the ranch's contemporary tasting room pour Pinots, a Pinot Noir Blanc, and a Pinot rosé, retracting its floor-to-ceiling windows in good weather to create an extended open-air space steps from the vines.

A school until 1992, this 1920 Gothic Revival brick building now houses around 40 galleries, studios, and classrooms, plus a performing-arts hall. You can watch craftspeople at work, purchase artwork, take a class, or catch a performance here, plus enjoy a tasty lunch or dinner at the on-site Sidewall Pizza Company. All tenants maintain individual hours. Contact them directly for details.

One of the most unexpected attractions in the Catskills, this darkened 56-foot grain silo houses an enormous walk-in kaleidoscope (certified the world's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records) designed by award-winning kaleidoscope artist Charles Karadimos with the imagery-based video designed by psychedelic artist Isaac Abrams and his son Raphael. After you take in the visual and sound experience at the silo, wander through the gift shop where you can purchase a kaleidoscope of your own, and then out to the cobblestone courtyard of this retail complex, where upscale boutiques sell clothing, furniture, and antiques.

The famed Amherst poet lived and wrote in this brick Federal-style home. Admission is by guided tour only, and to say that the tour guides are knowledgeable would be a massive understatement; the highlight of the tour is the sunlit bedroom where the poet wrote many of her works. Next door is The Evergreens, the imposing Italianate Victorian mansion in which Emily's brother Austin and his family resided for more than 50 years.

Built in 1860, this Back Bay Gothic Episcopal church is popular among classical music lovers—every Sunday morning at 10, from September to May, as part of the liturgy, a Bach cantata, and music by Schütz, Mendelssohn, and others, including music written by living composers, is performed; guest conductors have included Christopher Hogwood and Seiji Ozawa. From May to September, the Chapel Choir, comprised of both professional and volunteer singers, performs.

Of particular interest is the Built in 1849–50 on the site of the former Fort Cumberland, this historic church was a frontier outpost during the French and Indian War. The Gothic Revival church is built of native sandstone and contains three large Tiffany windows.

Once a Native American burial ground, the lovely tree-shaded park is named for Robert Emmet, a late-18th-century Irish patriot and orator. The park contains monuments to Georgia Hussars, fallen soldiers from the Vietnam War, and the Celtic Cross Irish memorial, among others. Various small festivals are held in the park each year.

Cruise through aviation history via dioramas, models, photos, and interactive displays at the Schenectady County Airport, near the spot where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1928. Take a ride in the simulated-flight reality vehicle, or get an up-close look at dozens of restored aircraft, which are parked all around the 27-acre site and include an F-14A Tomcat. In September, a museum-sponsored air show roars over the city.

Urban Encanto (Spanish for "enchanted") Park covers 222 acres at the heart of one of Phoenix's oldest residential neighborhoods. There are many attractions, including picnic areas, a lagoon where you can paddleboat and canoe, a municipal swimming pool, a nature trail, Enchanted Island amusement park, fishing in the park's lake, and two public golf courses.

South of Salem, the Enchanted Forest is the closest thing Oregon has to a major theme park. The park has several attractions in forest-like surroundings, including a Big Timber Log Ride. On it, you ride logs through flumes that pass through a lumber mill and the woods. The ride—the biggest log ride in the Northwest—has a 25-foot roller-coaster dip and a 40-foot drop at the end. Other attractions include the Ice Mountain Bobsled roller coaster, the Haunted House, English Village, Storybook Lane, the Fantasy Fountains Water Light Show, Fort Fearless, and the Western town of Tofteville.

Highlights at this water park include a tidal-wave pool and a multiperson tube ride called the Amazon. The Black River waterslide and the Bombay Blaster chutes have you gliding through darkness. The complex includes traditional amusement rides and themed areas such as Story Book Lane for the younger set. Circus shows are offered twice daily.

Chris Walsh, a former sommelier, crafts taut natural wines, among them Pinot Gris, Zinfandel, and Primitivo. Walsh presents them three days a week at a combination tasting room, restaurant, and gallery with seating indoors and out. Some fans drive for miles for the house burger.

With 32 tables and 30 fire grates, this is the largest picnic area in the park. Here, you'll find aspen groves, nice views of Fall River Pass—and lovely Fan Lake a short hike away.

Built in 1769 by William Harwood, the Georgian-style house known as Endview Plantation has witnessed momentous events in American history. Situated atop a knoll near a spring, Endview's land was traversed by Native Americans of the Powhatan Chiefdom a thousand years before the coming of the English. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Endview's owner, Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis, formed the Warwick Beauregards, which became Company H, 32nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry. During the subsequent Peninsula Campaign of 1862, Endview served as headquarters for Confederate generals Lafayette McLaws and Robert Toombs. Maintained today as a living-history museum, Endview offers a wide variety of programs; guided tours begin every 30 minutes.

In 1782, two Shaker brothers from Mt. Lebanon, New York, arrived on the still-beautiful shores of Lake Mascoma. Eventually, they formed Enfield, the ninth of 18 Shaker communities in the United States, and relocated to the lake's southern shore, where they erected more than 200 buildings. The Enfield Shaker Museum preserves the legacy of these Shakers, who numbered 330 members at the village's peak. By 1923, interest in the society had waned, and the last 10 members joined the Canterbury community, south of Laconia. A self-guided walking tour takes you through 13 of the remaining buildings, among them an 1849 stone mill. Demonstrations of Shaker crafts techniques also take place, and overnight accommodations are available in the community's stately six-story Great Stone Dwelling.

Between the Lodge at Mammoth Cave and the Caver's Camp Store, Engine No. 4 is one of the original "donkey engines" of the Mammoth Cave Railroad that brought travelers to Mammoth Cave before the turn of the 20th century. It rests here restored, along with one of its passenger cars.