10457 Best Sights in USA

The General Philip Schuyler House was the general's country home before its destruction by the British in 1777. Schuyler and his soldiers rebuilt it in 29 days. The house includes some original furnishings. It's open from late May through Labor Day, Wednesday through Friday 9:30–4:30; tours are given every half hour.

The General Store is known by locals as "The Fina," whether that brand of gasoline is still sold there or not. It's recommended for the burgers as well.

This 750-acre living-history museum has 68 buildings that were moved from throughout the region to re-create 19th-century life in the Genesee Valley. The complex includes the John L. Wehle Gallery of Wildlife & Sporting Art. The 175-acre Genesee Country Nature Center, which has exhibits and 5 mi of interpreted hiking trails, is open all year. You may cross-country ski and snowshoe here. Mumford is 20 mi southwest of Rochester.

This 20.6-mile path hugs Geneva Lake, affording lovely vantage points for watching boats cruise the crystal-clear waters of the second deepest lake in Wisconsin. But it's what's on the shore that piques most curiosity: the grandiose mansions built by wealthy business moguls of the late-19th and early 20th century, like an 18,000-square-foot Italianate stone home (converted to six luxury condos) and the 30-room Queen Anne, now the Baker House Inn and restaurant. While the path is open to the public, it varies from paved to gravel to dirt, depending on individual property upkeep. Learn a little more insider info in the "Walk, Talk & Gawk" guide (available at many local shops; $6.95), which divides the path into seven shorter segments.

Home to the Major League Soccer club Nashville SC, this 30,000-seat stadium is the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada. The venue opened in May 2022 and has quickly become a towering feature of the neighborhood, both literally and figuratively. Single game tickets run about $20 to $30. Concerts and other events are staged here in addition to soccer games. Tours are available on Fridays when no events are scheduled and must be booked in advance. The Nashville SC Team Store off Benton Avenue is open daily.

Some of the park's most fascinating landscapes can be observed from this 18-mile dirt road. Parts of the journey are rough; a 4X4 vehicle is required after mile marker 9. Sights to see include a 100-year-old stone dam called Squaw Tank, defunct mines, and a large plain with an abundance of Joshua trees. Allow about two hours to complete the round-trip drive and explore all 16 stops. There are a few hiking trails and climbing routes that can be accessed from here as well.

This museum preserves the memory of the World War II army chief of staff. Exhibits trace his brilliant career, which began when he was aide-de-camp to John "Black Jack" Pershing in World War I and culminated when, as secretary of state, he devised the Marshall Plan, a strategy for reviving postwar Western Europe. Marshall's Nobel Peace Prize is on display; so is the Oscar won by his aide Frank McCarthy, who produced the Academy Award–winning Best Picture of 1970, Patton. An electronically narrated map tells the story of World War II.

The sprawling colonial-revival mansion, once the home of Eastman Kodak's founder, has been restored to its early-1900s appearance. The elephant head on the wall in the conservatory is an eye-catcher, and the rest of the house gives a glimpse into the life and times of the man who brought photography to the masses. Much of the second floor is used as gallery space. The grounds include a rock garden with scallop-shaped flower beds, a formal terrace garden with more than 90 types of perennials, a cutting garden, a lily pool, and a grape arbor. The International Museum of Photography and Film, connected to the mansion, has changing exhibits about the history of photography and film technology; the permanent collection includes tens of thousands of photos, books, and films as well as photographic equipment. Also here is the Dryden Theatre, which shows movies ($7) and hosts film festivals.

The storefront windows and bead-board trim at the George Marshall Store Gallery (built in 1867) pay homage to its past as a general store, but the focus here is on the present. Changing exhibits, installations, and educational programs focus on prominent and up-and-coming regional artists. Stop in on weekends or by appointment through summer and fall.

Known as a “cathedral of books,” the five-story reading room is consistently listed among the world’s most beautiful libraries. Designed by Edmund Lind, it opened to the public in 1878. Its gilded framework of cast iron and gold showcases more than 300,000 volumes printed from the 15th to the 19th centuries in the areas of archaeology, architecture, history, literature, travel, and art.

This massive convention center on the east side of downtown, one of the 10 largest in the nation, is named for Houston entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist George R. Brown. Adjacent to the hotel are the Discovery Green Park and the Hilton Americas-Houston, which is connected to the convention center via several skywalks. With 1,800,000 square feet, the center hosts the nation's largest quilt show, as well international technology conferences like ITEC.

Artist George Schmidt is passionate about history—and New Orleans's rich past in particular. His gallery displays and sells paintings and narrative art, from small-scale monotypes to mural-size depictions of historic moments. He also sells signed and numbered prints of his work.

The museum houses a fascinating private art collection that includes a salon gallery with 19th-century American paintings by Frederic Church and Albert Bierstadt, as well as a Japanese antiquities room filled with armor, textiles, porcelain, and carved jade. Lovers of architecture will appreciate the Italian palazzo-style building, built in 1896, with fully restored original Tiffany stained glass windows—the windows are rare examples of Tiffany work commissioned for a museum building.

After you pass the town of Oak Grove on Route 3, all signs point to the national park on the Potomac River. At Pope's Creek, George Washington Birthplace National Monument is a 550-acre park mirroring the peaceful rural life our first president preferred. The house in which Mary Ball Washington gave birth to George in 1732 burned in 1779, but native clay was used to make bricks for a representative 18th-century plantation home. Costumed interpreters lead tours through the house, which has items dating back to the time of Washington's childhood. The grounds include a kitchen, garden, cemetery with 32 Washington family graves, and the Colonial Living Farm, worked by methods employed in Colonial days. Picnic facilities are available year-round, and children under 15 are admitted free.

Because Alexandria, like Washington, D.C., has no really tall buildings, the spire of this memorial dominates the surroundings and is visible for miles. The structure overlooks King and Duke Streets, Alexandria's major east–west arteries, and reaching it requires a respectable uphill climb from the King Street Metrorail and bus stations. From the ninth-floor observation deck (reached by elevator), you get a spectacular view of Alexandria and Washington, but access above the first two floors is by guided tour only. The memorial contains furnishings from the first Masonic lodge in Alexandria. George Washington became a Mason in 1752 in Fredericksburg and then became Charter Master of the Alexandria lodge when it was chartered in 1788, remaining active in Masonic affairs during his tenure as president, from 1789 to 1797. Guided tours are included with admission, but you need to make a reservation.

Designed to celebrate the creative achievements of people in the capital city and around the world, this 46,000-square-foot LEED Gold–certified museum facility is on the campus of George Washington University. Rotating exhibits highlight global textiles and cultural traditions—from handmade rugs and historical costumes to contemporary art and fashion—as well as displays on local D.C. history. The museum offers a dynamic range of free screenings, talks, and other public programs throughout the week in person and online. It's also home to a research library and two study centers, and you can find digital resources on textile creation and care on the website, along with highlights of the museum's collections.

If it hadn't been for the outcries of historians and citizens, a Walmart would have been built on this site, the boyhood home of our first president. The land was saved by the George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, and the megastore found a location farther out on the same road. Recently, archaeologists have uncovered the original fireplaces and four cellars from the house where Washington was raised, as well as thousands of new artifacts. Ferry Farm, which once consisted of 600 acres, is across the Rappahannock River from downtown Fredericksburg, and was the site of a ferry crossing. Living here from ages 6 to 19, Washington received his formal education and taught himself surveying while not chopping a cherry tree or throwing a coin across the Rappahannock—legends concocted by Parson Weems. The mainly archaeological site also has an exhibit on "George Washington: Boy Before Legend." The ongoing excavations include a summer program for children and adults, "Digging for Young George." Ferry Farm became a major artillery base and river-crossing site for Union forces during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Reproductions of these two operations sit near the Mount Vernon estate, on the sites of the originals. In 1799, the distillery was one of the largest American whiskey producers. Today, using an 18th-century recipe and processes—thanks to the excellent records kept by Washington—small batches of his whiskey are made and sold here. During guided tours, led by costumed interpreters, you'll meet an 18th-century miller and watch the water-powered wheel grind grain into cornmeal before seeing the grain being distilled. The mill and distillery are 3 miles from Mount Vernon on Route 235 (Mount Vernon Memorial Highway) toward U.S. 1, almost to Woodlawn. General-admission tickets to Mount Vernon include the gristmill and distillery.

In a log cabin about the size of an ice-cream stand, the man who would become America's first president mapped out strategies during the French and Indian War (1754–63). George Washington's Headquarters, the only remaining structure from Fort Cumberland, was used by the patriot when he was an aide to General Braddock. The 250-year-old cabin contains a simple bed, desk, and fireplace, which can be viewed from outside through large windows. A walking tour that continues along the canal begins here.

This home was the residence of Thomas Jefferson's law professor; Wythe was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. General Washington used the house as a headquarters just before his victory at Yorktown. The large brick structure, built in the mid-18th century, is conspicuously symmetrical: each side has a chimney, and each floor has two rooms on either side of a center hallway. The garden in back is similarly divided. The outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen, laundry, outhouses, and a chicken coop, are reconstructions.

When many people think of Alaska's vegetation, they conjure up images of flat, treeless tundra, so the variety of native and cultivated flowers at this idyllic spot is often unexpected. The garden, 4 miles west of downtown, is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A major focus of research is Interior Alaska's unique, short but intense midnight-sun growing season, and the results are spectacular. The nonstop daylight brings out rich and vibrant colors and—to the delight of locals and visitors—amazing vegetable specimens that don't grow anywhere near as big in the Lower 48. An adjacent children's garden includes a treehouse and hedge maze to explore. On Thursdays in the summer, check out a free concert, and remember to bring a lawn chair.

The country's oldest Catholic university (founded in 1789) does not offer architectural tours, but visitors can download a self-guided campus tour from the university's website. The 100-acre campus features a mix of architectural styles, with the most striking building being Healy Hall, a Victorian Gothic masterpiece whose construction nearly bankrupted the institution. Architects oriented its front toward the city, not the Potomac River, to signal its educational stature. Old North, modeled after Princeton's main hall, has hosted more than a dozen U.S. presidents. Also worth a peek is the turn-of-the-century Riggs Library, which boasts impressive cast-iron railings. At the southern end of campus, between M and Prospect Streets, a set of 75 super-steep steps were immortalized in the 1973 film The Exorcist. Less sinister beings—Georgetown's many joggers—can be seen running up and down the stairs when the sun rises.

On the campus of the University of Georgia, the museum serves a dual purpose as an academic institution and the official public art museum of the State of Georgia. The permanent collection contains a wealth of 19th- and 20th-century paintings—some from noted American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Winslow Homer. It also houses the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of Italian Renaissance art. Special exhibitions display cherished works of art from around the world.

Designed to resemble a turn-of-the-century ballpark, sports enthusiasts will appreciate this shrine to Georgia sports and its Hall of Fame honoring more than 400 inductees. Exhibits, though dated, include a variety of artifacts and interactive, touch-screen kiosks and honor sports—including baseball, golf, track and field, and football—at all levels, from prep and college teams to professional.

The capitol, a Renaissance-style edifice, was dedicated on July 4, 1889. The gold leaf on its dome was mined in nearby Dahlonega. Inside, the Georgia Capitol Museum houses exhibits on its history. On the grounds, state historical markers commemorate the 1864 Battle of Atlanta, which destroyed nearly the entire city. Statues memorialize a 19th-century Georgia governor and his wife (Joseph and Elizabeth Brown), a Confederate general (John B. Gordon), and a former senator (Richard B. Russell). Former governor and president Jimmy Carter is depicted with his sleeves rolled up, a man at work. Visit the website for tour information and group reservations.

This museum preserves the legacy of the Central of Georgia Railway, an integral part of the industrial heritage of Savannah and of the South. A step into a different era, the museum is home to numerous railcars and boxcars, working diesel and steam locomotives, and a rare functioning railroad turntable. Around the corner is an iconic 125-foot-tall smokestack and the original quarters for workers and managers. Children of all ages will appreciate the expansive model-train exhibit, a fully operable rendition of a train traveling through the region. Ride on a historic diesel or steam locomotive.

While under construction, this 32,000-square-foot building was dubbed the "ninth northern pueblo," its scale supposedly rivaling that of the eight northern pueblos around Santa Fe. The Pueblo-style gallery is now a showcase for American and European art from the 19th century to the present. The sister contemporary showroom features more avant-garde pieces. The whole space feels like a museum, but all the works are for sale.

Focusing on the life and career of Grand Rapids native and the country's 38th president, Gerald R. Ford, along with First Lady Betty Ford, this museum's main attraction is to be able sit in a full-scale reproduction of the Oval Office, decorated as it was during Ford's presidency. The holographic tour of the White House is equally popular; other displays include gifts that President Ford received from world leaders. The museum also hosts naturalization ceremonies for new American citizens. Unlike other presidential museums, this one doesn't include the presidential library, which is in Ann Arbor.

During a 31-year period (1937–68), Germaine Cazenave Wells, daughter of Arnaud's restaurant founder Arnaud Cazenave, was queen of Carnival balls a record 22 times for 17 different krewes (organizations). Many of her ball gowns—in addition to costumes worn by other family members, photographs, krewe invitations, and jewelry—are on display in this dim, quirky museum above Arnaud's restaurant.