10451 Best Sights in USA

Donated to the city of Baltimore in 1882 by its namesake, a wealthy merchant, the Enoch Pratt Free Library was one of the country's first free-circulation public libraries; it remains one of the country's largest. The Pratt was remarkable for allowing any citizen to borrow books at a time when only the wealthy could afford to buy them. When the collection outgrew its original fortresslike rococo structure in 1933, Pratt's democratic ideals were incorporated into the new building's grand yet accessible design. Innovations such as a sidewalk-level entrance and department store–style exhibit windows set the standard for public libraries across the country. The building is still a treat to explore. A huge skylight illuminates the Central Hall's marble floors, gilded fixtures, mural panels depicting the history of printing and publishing, and oil portraits of the Lords Baltimore. The Children's Department, with a fishpond, puppet theater, and a large selection of books, is a real gem for little ones. An audio architecture tour of the museum is available at the circulation desk.

Off Wabasso Beach Road, the 64 acres here are almost completely surrounded by water. In addition to a 600-foot boardwalk through the mangrove shoreline and a 1-mile canoe trail, there are aquariums filled with Indian River creatures. Boat and kayak trips to see the historic Pelican Island rookery are on offer along with guided nature walks and touch-tank encounters. Call or check the center's website for times.

Overlooking the San Diego Bay and a nearby marina, this German-inspired brewery is quite possibly one of San Diego's most scenic. Expect a diverse spread of lagers, pilsners, ales, sours, and stouts that can be sampled as a draft or taster flight. Time your visit so you can watch the sunset over the water with a beer in hand.

Hikers climb from forest that was once farm fields to fir and spruce at the summit of this 914-acre preserve on the slopes of Mt. Equinox. The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa conserved this land with the Vermont Land Trust in 1996, and it's permanently protected. A loop to tranquil Equinox Pond—owned by the resort—is among the easy trails for strolling, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. Others follow century-old stone walls, or offer rewarding climbs to views of the Battenkill Valley. 

This nursery carries fresh produce, seasonal snacks, and cider doughnuts. There's family-friendly fall activities—a corn maze, hayrides, and pumpkin carving—as well as the property's 300-odd scarecrows.

Thirty-five rolling acres are planted in several kinds of grapes, but you won't mistake this for Napa Valley. As the name suggests, horses are grazing in the Bluegrass pasture just over the fence.

Hardware-store buffs and vintage-tool aficionados will feel right at home at this museum. Artist and author Eric Sloane (1905–1985) was fascinated by Early American woodworking tools, and his collection showcases examples of American craftsmanship from the 17th to 19th centuries. The museum contains a re-creation of Sloane's last studio and also encompasses the ruins of a 19th-century iron furnace. Sloane's illustrated books and prints, which celebrate vanishing aspects of Americana, are available for sale here.

Canal-history tours aboard the Lil' Diamond, a 36-passenger motorboat, take you from the docks at the Gems Along the Mohawk retail complex through Lock 18 and back. The tour takes about two hours, and the season runs from May to early October.

Orient yourself to Syracuse and the region by watching the introductory film in the museum theater. Then make your way to a replica canal boat in a circa-1850 building where real canal boats were weighed when the Erie was a major player in U.S. commerce. A re-created general store, an 1800s canal office, and a postal area are interspersed with exhibits about Syracuse musician Libba Cotten and others who shaped the region.

The park's main visitor center is named after the Connecticut landscape designer, Ernest F. Coe, who moved to Miami at the age of 60 where he was at first intrigued by, and then fell in love with, the Everglades. It was Coe who became the leading proponent to turn this region into a national park; he raised funds, generated support, and worked out ways visitors could see the Everglades with minimal impact on the environment. This is a convenient first stop to pick up a map, watch an introductory film providing an overview of the Everglades, and view exhibits that reveal the nature of the park.

The visitor center is outside park gates, so you can stop in without paying park admission (and use the restrooms). Also, due to the remoteness of this location, visitors arriving via ride-sharing services (Uber, Lyft) should plan for return transportation before starting their adventure. There's no public transportation to this site.

Part of the literary legacy of Oak Park, this three-story, turreted Queen Anne Victorian, which stands in frilly contrast to the many streamlined Prairie-style homes elsewhere in the neighborhood, contains period-furnished rooms and many photos and artifacts pertaining to Hemingway's early life. Museum curators have restored rooms to faithfully depict the house as it looked at the turn of the 20th century. You can poke your head inside the one in which the author was born on July 21, 1899.

This park just 2 miles northwest of downtown protects a huge repository of petrified wood, easily spotted along two short but moderately taxing hiking trails (the shorter and steeper of the two, the Sleeping Rainbows Trail, requires some scrambling over boulders). Of equal interest is the park's Wide Hollow Reservoir, which has a swimming beach and is popular for kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, trout fishing, and birding. Keep an eye out for Escalante Rock Shop, just before you reach the park border, which sells petrified wood and other geological wonders.

This gallery showcases works by local artists, with regular exhibitions and year-round special events.

This outdoor museum adjacent to the California Center for the Arts in Grape Day Park consists of several historic buildings moved here to illustrate local development from the late 1800s, when grape growing and gold mining supported the economy. Exhibits include the 1888 Santa Fe Depot, Escondido's first library, the Bandy Blacksmith shop, a furnished 1890 Victorian house, and other 19th-century buildings.

Every August you can watch giant puppets and imaginative spectacles unfold before the Esopus Creek in Tina Chorvas Waterfront Park. You'll be dazzled once the sun goes down and local puppeteers transform the park into an otherworldly extravaganza.

There's a bohemian feel to this street lined with Mediterranean-revival buildings constructed in 1925 and inspired by New York's Greenwich Village. Al Capone's gambling syndicate ran its operations upstairs at what is now The Clay Hotel, a value-conscious boutique hotel. At a nightclub here in the 1930s, future bandleader Desi Arnaz strapped on a conga drum and started beating out a rumba rhythm. Visit this quaint pedestrian-only way nowadays and find a number of personality-driven restaurants and bars. Weekly programming includes the likes of salsa dancing, flamenco dancing, and opera performances.

Near the corner of Beacon and Arlington streets, the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge crosses Storrow Drive to the 3-mile-long Esplanade and the Hatch Memorial Shell. The free summer concerts here include the Boston Pops' immensely popular televised July 4 performance. For shows like this, Bostonians haul lawn chairs and blankets to the lawn in front of the shell; bring a takeout lunch from a nearby restaurant, find an empty spot—no mean feat, so come early—and you'll feel right at home. An impressive stone bust of the late maestro Arthur Fiedler watches over the walkers, joggers, picnickers, and sunbathers who fill the Esplanade's paths on pleasant days. Here, too, is the turn-of-the-20th-century Union Boat Club Boathouse, headquarters for the country's oldest private rowing club. You can also access the park by crossing the Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge linking the Beacon Hill neighborhood to the Esplanade.

Started in 1940 as an attempt by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to corral street pushcarts and vendors (and thereby get them off the streets), the Essex Street Market was defined early on by the Jewish and Italian immigrants of the Lower East Side and went through several incarnations. The latest and most exciting is the wholesale move from its original location on the northeast corner of Delancey and Essex Streets, across the street to the southeast corner, trading in a windowless and cramped space for one spread over three levels, including a light-filled atrium and plenty of seating. Although many of the vendors selling meat, fish, cheeses (vegan and dairy), produce, bread, pastries, and coffee, tacos, and tajines remain—as does the eccentric Shopsin's restaurant—there are many new shops and restaurants.

The museum showcases Ute and pioneer artifacts, displays on the founding of Rocky Mountain National Park, and changing exhibits. It also publishes a self-guided walking tour of historic sites, which are mostly clustered along Elkhorn Avenue downtown.

Popular with bird-watchers, hikers, and anyone interested in flora and fauna, this 508-acre sanctuary is home to nearly 90 bird species, and 23 species of fern have been identified within its boundaries. But the biggest draw is the park's virgin white-pine forests, one of the last remaining stands in the Midwest, with 600-year-old trees up 150 feet high. In winter the three hiking-trail loops attract cross-country skiiers and showshoers.

An entertaining homage to fighter planes, flyboys, and flygirls, this museum maintains indoor exhibits about wartime aviation and displays retired aircraft outdoors and in repair shops. Bonus attraction: a huge building with spruced-up autos, drag racers, and "funny cars."

When Vermont hero Ethan Allen retired from his Revolutionary activities, he purchased 1,400 acres on the northern side of Burlington, including 350 acres of prime farmland directly along the Winooski River, and built this modest cabin in 1787. The original structure is a real slice of 18th-century life, including such frontier hallmarks as saw-cut boards and an open hearth for cooking. The kitchen garden resembles the one the Allens would have had. There's also a visitor center, a recreated mid-19th century Abenaki hunting village with traditional gardens, and miles of biking and hiking trails. In warmer months, climb Ethan Allen Tower at the south end of neighboring Ethan Allen Park for stupendous views of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains.

Don't forget mosquito repellent.

Ethel M celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2016 and renovated its Henderson factory to commemorate the occasion. Today, watching gourmet chocolates being made on one of the daily tours will make your mouth water; fortunately the self-guided tour is brief, and there are free samples at the end. You can buy more of your favorites in the store. There are also chocolate tasting experiences beginning at $25, where you will learn about how chocolate is sourced and produced and become an honorary chocolatier complete with certificate afterward. Randomly, the factory also happens to be home to the largest cactus garden in the southwestern United States, and hosts spectacular light displays at Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.

Tiny, but well worth the 15 minutes you'll spend here if you're already in the neighborhood, this operating theater is open to the public because of its historical significance. In fact, it served as Mass General Hospital's first operating room, in use from 1821 to 1867, and it was here where the world witnessed the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia, in 1846. Today, the room contains two 19th-century operating chairs complete with red velvet to mask patients' blood, early surgical tools, a teaching skeleton, and, interestingly, an authentic Egyptian mummy.

You're apt to see or hear hawks, Canada geese, and other wildlife on the grounds of Etude, known for sophisticated Pinot Noirs. Although the winery and its light-filled tasting room are in Napa County, the grapes for its flagship Carneros Estate Pinot Noir come from the Sonoma portion of Los Carneros, as do those for the rarer Heirloom Carneros Pinot Noir. The wine-making team also excels at single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernets. In good weather, hosts pour the reds, plus Chardonnays and sometimes Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris, on the patio outside the wood-and-glass tasting room. 

Formerly the Willamette Science and Technology Center (WISTEC), and still known to locals by its former name, Eugene's imaginative, hands-on museum assembles rotating exhibits designed for curious young minds. The adjacent planetarium, one of the largest in the Pacific Northwest, presents star shows and entertainment events.

This museum, in a former railroad depot, contains modest exhibits on Cajun culture, including music and Mardi Gras celebrations. They also host live Cajun music on the second Saturday of the month.

Though all of this luxury wine resort's dining, lodging, winery, and other components won't be completed for a few years, a pleasant tasting room here serves wines made from French, Spanish, and Italian varietals. The selections range from Vermentino, Albariño, and other light whites to reds like Syrah and Primitivo. Winemaker dinners take place in the village, which also presents live music on some weekend nights.

You'll find three traditional styles of European wine reflecting French Cabernet Sauvignon; Spanish Tempranillo; and Italian Pinot Grigio. You can walk through lush gardens, grab a table under the pergola, and enjoy live music every Sunday 2:30–5:30 pm.