10457 Best Sights in USA

Set on 6.5 acres in the burgeoning Warehouse Arts District, this ambitious project consists of eight converted factories and warehouses that provide 91,000 square feet of creative space for galleries, studios, and arts organizations and businesses (including a record store). Events–from workshops to markets to festivals—are held here, too. It's also home to the Fairgrounds, an immersive art-and-technology experience.

The third-oldest racetrack in the country sits just off Esplanade Avenue, among the houses of Bayou St. John. Thanksgiving is the start of racing season, as tens of thousands of New Orleanians swing by the track in colorful hats and outfits before the holiday dinner. It's a spectacle, and a great way to kick off a racing calendar that lasts through March. The popular Starlight Racing series, held Friday nights during racing season, features live music, DJs, food trucks, a beer garden, and go-go dancers dressed as jockeys. The grounds are also home to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. To eat at the clubhouse, be sure to make reservations and be aware that proper attire is required—in this case that means collared shirts, closed shoes, and no shorts.

Henry Ford's Fair Lane blends a Scottish Baronial style with a simple Arts and Crafts design. Here, you'll get a look at the bowling alley where Ford used to shoot pins with his friends Thomas Edison and naturalist John Burroughs.

In South Dallas, this 277-acre National Historic Landmark has the largest collection of 1930s Art Deco architecture in the United States. It is also home to the State Fair of Texas for three weeks each fall. Within the park, you'll find the Museum of the American Railroad, the Dallas Aquarium, the Texas Discovery Gardens, and the Museum of Nature and Science.

A place to play for humans and dogs, this green space has paved walking paths, sports fields, restrooms, and a dog park. The Bransford Avenue and Craighead Street entrance is a good spot to enter the park.

Housed inside the historic Lacey Street Theatre, this museum screens hourly films about ice carving and the tools of the trade. The Ice Showcase, a walkthrough display of intricate sculptures, is kept a consistent 20°F and includes something to dazzle just about everyone, including an ice slide, ice bar, and occasional live demonstrations. 

With 83 acres of lakes, sunken gardens, a 560-foot vine pergola, orchids, bellflowers, coral trees, bougainvillea, rare palms, and flowering trees, Fairchild is the largest tropical botanical garden in the continental United States. The tram tour highlights the best of South Florida and exotic flora; then you can set off exploring on your own. The 2-acre Simons Rainforest, which is complete with a waterfall and a stream, showcases tropical plants from around the world. The conservatory contains rare tropical plants, including the Burmese Amherstia nobilis, flowering annually with orchidlike pink flowers. The Keys Coastal Habitat, created in a marsh and mangrove area in 1995 with assistance from the Tropical Audubon Society, provides food and shelter to resident and migratory birds. 

The hotel's dazzling opening was delayed a year by the 1906 quake, but since then, the marble palace has hosted presidents, royalty, movie stars, and local nabobs. Things have changed since its early days, however: on the eve of World War I, you could get a room for as low as $2 per night, meals included. Nowadays, prices go into the five digits, which buys a night in the eight-room, contemporary art–filled penthouse suite.

Swing through the opulent lobby on your way to tea (served weekend afternoons) at the Laurel Court restaurant; peek through the foyer's floor-to-ceiling windows for a glimpse of the hotel's garden and beehives, where the honey served with tea is produced. Don't miss an evening cocktail in the kitschy Tonga Room, complete with tiki huts and a floating bandstand. Snap a picture with the 8-foot-tall bronze Tony Bennett statue outside the lobby. This site was selected as the statue's home to commemorate the singer's 90th birthday because his first performance of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was in the hotel's Venetian Room. Bennett did leave his heart in San Francisco in a way---the heart sculpture he painted, which depicts the Golden Gate Bridge, is on permanent display in the Fairmont's lobby.

Designed by Frederick Graff to look like a country estate, this National Historic Landmark completed in 1815 was the country's first steam-pumping station of its kind, and the assemblage of Greek Revival buildings is one of the city's most beautiful sights. The waterworks, down the hill behind the Philadelphia Art Museum, include a small interpretive center with historical features such as an 1851 turbine and family-friendly exhibits about the region's water and wildlife. A short film on the site's history, a mussel hatchery (seasonal progagation Mar.–Aug.), and changing exhibits are other attractions. Nearby paths provide good views of the waterworks.

Hike into whimsical Fairyland Canyon on this trail that gets more strenuous and less crowded as you progress along its 8 miles. It winds around hoodoos and across trickles of water, finally arriving at a natural window in the rock at the Tower Bridge, 1½ miles from Sunrise Point and 4 miles from Fairyland Point. The pink-and-white badlands and hoodoos surround you the whole way. Don't feel like you have to go the whole distance to make it worthwhile. But if you do, allow at least five hours round-trip, with 1,900 feet of elevation change. Difficult.

The viewpoint nearest to the park entrance, this scenic overlook adjacent to Boat Mesa, ½ mile north of the visitor center and a mile off the main park road, has splendid views of Fairyland Canyon and its delicate, fanciful forms. The Sinking Ship and other formations stand before the grand backdrop of the Aquarius Plateau and distant Navajo Mountain. Nearby is the Fairyland Loop trailhead—it's a stunning five-hour hike, and in winter it's a favorite trail for snowshoeing.

The 2,500-foot-long boardwalk at Big Cypress Bend takes visitors fairly quickly through this swamp forest, providing an opportunity to see rare plants, nesting eagles, and Florida's largest swath of coexisting native royal palms—unique to Fakahatchee Strand—with bald cypress under the forest canopy. Fakahatchee Strand is also considered the orchid and bromeliad capital of the continent, with 44 native orchids and 14 native bromeliads, many blooming most extravagantly in hotter months. It's particularly famed for ghost orchids that are visible on guided hikes. Keep an eye out for white-tailed deer, black bears, bobcats, and the Florida panther. For park nature on parade, take the 6-mile stretch of Janes Memorial Scenic Drive (between the visitor center and East Main) that's open to traffic; the rest of the drive is open only to hikers and bikers.

This is a 6-mile, round-trip hike from the Titus Canyon parking area. First, walk ½ mile north along the base of the mountains to a large wash, then go 2½ miles up the canyon to a dry fall. For something more technical and steep, continue by climbing around to the falls on the south side. Moderate.

In 1975, Susan and Ed Auler planted a test plot of grapes in a corner of their ranch. It quickly grew from ¼ acre to 7½ acres, and is now the oldest winery in the Hill Country. They source Texas-grown grapes from their two estate vineyards as well as a handful of other vineyards, each with its own distinct terroir. On your visit, taste the fruits of their labor in highly rated ExTERRA single-vineyard labels. Two guest rooms are available for overnight stays.

The Discovery Room, which houses everything from old ranger outfits to elk antlers, coyote pelts, and bighorn sheep skulls for hands-on exploration, is a favorite with kids at this visitor center.

This toppled sequoia's hollow base was used in the second half of the 19th century as a home for settlers, a saloon, and even a U.S. Cavalry stable. As you walk through it (assuming entry is permitted, which is not always the case), notice how little the wood has decayed, and imagine yourself tucked safely inside, sheltered from a storm or protected from the searing heat.

This site of a Civil War–era whiskey distillery and, later, an exotic plant nursery (some species still thrive in the wild) is now best known as the site of the Falling Waters Sink. The 100-foot-deep cylindrical pit provides the background for a waterfall, and there's an observation deck for viewing this natural phenomenon. The water free-falls 73 feet to the bottom of the sink, but where it goes after that is a mystery. Once you've seen the cascade, stay for the birding—more than 100 species have been seen here. Campsites are available.

This four-story library houses the world's largest collection of genealogical data, including books, maps, and census information. Mormons and non-Mormons alike come here to research their family history.

Dominated by a giant white wooden roller coaster called the Swamp Fox, Family Kingdom amusement park is quite an experience, and it's right on the ocean. There are thrill rides, children's rides, a log flume, a go-kart track, an old-fashioned carousel, and the Slingshot Drop Zone, which rockets riders straight down a 110-foot tower. It's a bit like going to a state fair that runs all summer long. Bring your bathing suit and cross the street for more fun at Splashes Oceanfront Water Park. Operating hours can vary, so check online before visiting, especially on Saturday when the parks are sometimes rented by groups. Money-saving bundled tickets and multiday passes are readily available.

While Hillsboro Village itself offers plenty of charming outdoor walking space, the nearby Fannie Mae Dees Park is the perfect place to stop for a picnic with your Fido goodies. Take the little ones to play on the playground, and check out the large dragon statue. Kids can play on it, but, with its bright colors and funky design, it's just as fun for adults who love a good photo op.

Got a date? On your way to visit a friend at the hospital? Or perhaps for some reason you need fresh tulips at 3 am? The 24-hour Fannin Flower District is filled with shops offering super-cheap flowers, plants, and arrangements any time, night or day. While you're there, you can stock up on garish knickknacks like teddy bears, bonsai trees, giant topiary monkeys, and helium balloons, plus greeting cards.

Hamden McIntyre, a prominent architect of his era responsible for Inglenook and other 19th-century wineries, designed the centerpiece 1885 stone winery here. Abandoned in the wake of Prohibition and only revived beginning in 1979, Far Niente now ranks as one of the Napa Valley's most beautiful properties. Guests booking a private tasting learn some of this history while sipping Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, a Pinot Noir from the affiliated EnRoute label, and Dolce, a late-harvest white dessert wine. Another session takes in the winery and its aging caves, while the Cave Collection library tasting pairs older vintages with seasonal bites. Nearly 200 ginkgo trees lining the driveway glow a vibrant yellow in fall.

This was likely one of the most densely populated areas in Mesa Verde, comprising as many as 50 villages in a ½-square-mile area at the top of Chapin Mesa. Most of the sites here were built between 900 and 1300. Begin the self-guided tour at the interpretive panels in the parking lot, then proceed down a ½-mile, level trail.

Kids and adults love admiring the more than 70 alpacas from South America at this sprawling 80-acre ranch on the west side of the island. The shop in the big barn displays beautiful, high-quality clothing and crafts, all handmade from alpaca hair.

From pineapples to papayas, the produce at this West Maui market is local and flavorful. Prices are good, too. The deli offers hot and cold food items, and colorful tropical flowers and handcrafted items are also available.

Built in 1892, this two-story redbrick bank is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—and it's still a working bank, one of Kansas's oldest. The striking architecture combines Romanesque arches, stained-glass windows, and a stunning Byzantine dome. Around 1900 a decorative tin ceiling was installed, followed in the 1940s by marble panels on the lower walls and around teller stations. Tours are available by appointment.

Tropical flowers, tempting produce, massive avocados, and locally made preserves, banana bread, and crafts are among the bargains at this South Shore market in the west end of Kihei, next to the ABC Store.

The 10 acres on which this museum is set have been dedicated to farming in one way or another since the days of James Fenimore Cooper. Stone structures that were once part of an actual farm now contain permanent and changing exhibits on agriculture, homemaking, and other aspects of farm life. Docents in period costumes mill about a village created with buildings that date from the 18th and 19th centuries and were moved here from several upstate communities. You can also inspect the livestock in the barns, wander through vegetable patches and herb gardens, and play with such historic toys as stilts and hoops and sticks. The museum celebrates a harvest weekend every year around mid-September.

This 30-minute, ½-mile loop begins and ends on the spur road to Cedar Tree Tower, about 1 mile north of the Chapin Mesa area. It meanders through a series of check dams, which the Ancestral Pueblo built to create farming terraces. Easy.