10457 Best Sights in USA

The love of geometric ornamentation that Sullivan eventually brought to such projects as the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. building (now the Sullivan Center) is already visible in these row houses, built in 1885. The terra-cotta cornices and decorative window tops are especially beautiful.

Part of an entertainment complex across from the Alamo, these two spots are filled with Instagram-friendly selfie opportunities. More than 200 wax figures at Waxworks depict the famous and infamous along with superheroes, television and movie stars, sports figures, musicians, and more. Many wax figures are displayed against elaborate sets and backdrops. Ripley's Believe it or Not! has 18,000 square feet in its "Odditorium" that features unusual worldwide collections in 18 themed galleries, some including hands-on interactive exhibits. There is also a Ripley's Believe it or Not! 4D Motion Theatre attraction that features 3D short adventure films with moving seats.

This small city park makes up for its little, albeit picnic-friendly lawn with a scenic pier, offering an unobstructed view of the Statue of Liberty, plus the cargo ships cruising up and down the Hudson River.

The dark brown exterior of Louisa May Alcott's family home sharply contrasts with the light, wit, and energy so much in evidence within. Named for the apple orchard that once surrounded it, Orchard House was the Alcott family home from 1857 to 1877. Here Louisa wrote Little Women, based in part on her life with her three sisters; and her father, Bronson, founded the Concord School of Philosophy—the building remains behind the house. Because Orchard House had just one owner after the Alcotts left, and because it became a museum in 1911, more than 80% of the original furnishings remain, including the semicircular shelf-desk where Louisa wrote Little Women. The only way to visit the house is by guided tour; reservations are recommended.

Charming, and tucked around the corner from historic Acorn Street, Louisburg Square (don't drop the "s") was an 1840s model for a town-house development that was never built on the Hill because of space restrictions. Today, its central grassy square, enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, belongs collectively to the owners of the homes encircling it. The houses have seen their share of famous tenants, including author and critic William Dean Howells at Nos. 4 and 16, and the Alcotts at No. 10 (Louisa May not only lived here, she died here). In 1852, singer Jenny Lind was married in the parlor of No. 20. Former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and his wife own a home here.

Housed in a 1925 Illinois Central railroad station near the Old State Capitol, this idiosyncratic but high-quality collection brings together a contemporary art gallery, an Egyptian tomb exhibit featuring a mummy from 300 BC, a children's museum, and a kid-friendly planetarium. The planetarium presents shows regularly. The museum hosts traveling exhibits, and houses the nation's second-largest collection of sculptures by 20th-century Croatian artist Ivan Meštrović, many of which adorn the entrance hall.

This top-notch children's museum covers 8½ acres of educational fun and exploration within City Park. Favorite indoor exhibits include a hands-on history of New Orleans and its architecture as well as an interactive exploration through food for the young mind, from growing it to shopping and cooking. On the second floor, children can splash through the mighty Mississippi with a 100-foot water table. The best part of the museum's new location in City Park is perhaps its acres of outdoor fun, including tunnels, slides, and educational exhibits on Louisiana flora and fauna.

Between 1854 and 1929, more than 2,000 orphans from New York were transplanted via train to Louisiana. The museum, housed in an old depot building, has more than 200 photos and articles of clothing from the orphans who made the journey.

The 18,000 acres that make up the notorious Angola prison are a half-hour drive from St. Francisville, at the dead end of Highway 66. With a prison population of about 6,000 inmates, this is one of the largest prisons in the United States. Nicknamed "The Farm," Angola was once a working plantation, with prisoners for field hands. Now it produces 4 million pounds of vegetables each year, which feed 11,000 inmates across the state. The prison has been immortalized in countless songs and several films and documentaries, including Dead Man Walking and The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo. The latter film is based on the prison's biannual rodeo in April and October, which offers visitors a rare look inside the grounds of the prison. Inmates set up stands where they sell their arts and crafts during the rodeo. A small, year-round museum outside the prison's front gate houses a fascinating, eerie, and often moving collection of photographs documenting the people and events that have been a part of Angola. Items such as makeshift prisoner weapons and the electric chair used for executions until 1991 are also on display.

The Capitol Park Museum showcases the history of Louisiana through two permanent exhibits. "Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation" situates Louisiana events in U.S. and world history, from the Louisiana Purchase to World War II. "Experiencing Louisiana: Discovering the Soul of America" takes the visitor on a road trip--like exhibit that courses through the different regions of the state. Rotating exhibits in the museum's gallery explore the arts, culture, and history of the region.

The imposing building that takes up the whole block of Royal Street between St. Louis and Conti streets is the Old New Orleans Court, erected in 1908. Later, it became the office of the Wildlife and Fisheries agency. After years of vacancy and neglect, the magnificent edifice was restored and reopened in 2004 and is now the elegant home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The public can visit the courthouse but must pass through security and cannot take photos inside.

You can't miss this place—a seven-story baseball bat leans against the building housing the museum and bat factory. (An appropriately sized baseball is imbedded in one window of the plate glass factory next door, too.) Step up to the plate at the very scary virtual pitching diamond. Autographed bats of virtually every baseball great are also on display.

More than 1,300 animals from around the world live here in landscaped settings. The Gorilla Forest, home to Lowland Gorillas, is an award-winning exhibit; birds will perch on your shoulder at Lorikeet Landing. Other zoo residents include polar bears, lions, tigers, penguins, timber wolves, and Komodo dragons.

Also known as John F. Kennedy Plaza, LOVE Park at the start of the Parkway is the place to get your photo with LOVE, Robert Indiana's iconic red sculpture, although you may need to wait in line to do so. The 6-foot sculpture, standing atop a 7-foot base, was placed in this area for the City of Brotherly Love's Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. (Another iteration of the sculpture is on the University of Pennsylvania campus.) Today the plaza has green spaces and seating, a fountain, views of City Hall and the Parkway, and the LOVE Park Visitor Center kiosk. It serves as the site of civic happenings like the Christmas Village Market, too. The southwest corner has a flying saucer–like building (a former visitor center) that is not in use at this writing.

Built in 1882, Lovely Lane Methodist Church is honored with the title "The Mother Church of American Methodism." Stanford White designed the Romanesque sanctuary after the basilicas of Ravenna, Italy; the stained-glass windows are excellent examples of Italian mosaic art. The buildings to the north that resemble the church are the original campus of the Women's College of Baltimore, now called Goucher College (the school moved to Towson in the 1950s). Dr. Goucher, the college's founder, was a pastor at Lovely Lane. Today the building next to the church is occupied by the Baltimore Lab School. Tours of the church and the Methodist Historical Society are by appointment.

The coastal views are gorgeous from this waterfront park whose sheltered beach has a children's pool and a picnic area. The main lawn has a volleyball court and a snack bar.

If you drive south from the Alaska SeaLife Center, after about 10 minutes you'll reach Lowell Point, a wooded stretch of land along the bay with access to beach walking, hiking, and kayaking. This is a great day-trip destination, and camping is also an option.

With its mighty blasts of water shooting as high as 200 feet, the Great Fountain Geyser is this basin's superstar. When it spews, waves cascade down the terraces that form its edge. Check at the Old Faithful Visitor Center for predicted eruption times. Less impressive but more regular is White Dome Geyser, which shoots from a 20-foot-tall cone. You'll also find pink mudpots and blue pools at the basin's Fountain Paint Pots, a unique spot because visitors encounter all four of Yellowstone's hydrothermal features: fumaroles, mudpots, hot springs, and geysers.

Trail access is located on the west end of the park at one of the South Unit's few public restrooms. The 3½-mile one way trail runs along Paddock Creek and provides access to a couple of other good hikes. Take the Upper Paddock Creek Trail to the far southeast corner of the South Unit, or head north on the Badlands Spur and Lower Talkington trails and connect with Jones Creek Trail, which loops you back to the west. Moderate.

One of the restored 18th-century houses in this lovely court was once home to Benjamin Loxley, a carpenter who worked on Independence Hall. The court's claim to fame, according to its residents, is as the spot where Benjamin Franklin flew his kite in his experiment with lightning; the key tied to it was the key to Loxley's front door. Peer through the icon gates to see the home, as it is private and can be admired only from the outside.

Back when tasting rooms were low-tech and the winemaker often poured the wines, the experience at Loxton Cellars unfolded pretty much the way it does today. The personable Australia-born owner, Chris Loxton, who's on hand many days, crafts a white and a rosé, along with reds that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, and the popular “GSP” (Grenache, Syrah, and Petite Sirah) blend. All are good, and some regulars swear by the two Syrah Ports. In good weather, tastings take place at picnic tables with vineyard views.  To learn more about Loxton's wine-making practices, book a tour, followed by a seated tasting.

Rustic and painted red, rattles when cars roll across. Snap pictures of the bridge, built in 1848 and renovated in the 1990s, then picnic at the adjacent park's tables and let the kids splash in the stream or roam about the playground.

Samuel Insull, partner of Thomas Edison and founder of Commonwealth Edison, built this mansion as a country home in 1916. After Insull lost his fortune, John Cuneo Sr., the printing-press magnate, bought the estate and fashioned it to suit his own taste. The skylighted great hall in the main house resembles the open central courtyard of an Italian palazzo, the private family chapel has stained-glass windows, and a gilded grand piano graces the ballroom.

Chartered by the Jesuits in 1912, Loyola University is a local landmark. Its communications, music, and law programs are world-renowned. The Gothic- and Tudor-style Marquette Hall, facing St. Charles Avenue and Audubon Park, provides the backdrop for a quintessential New Orleans photo opportunity. The fourth floor of the neo-Gothic J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library houses the university’s Collins C. Diboll Art Gallery, open to the public seven days a week (Monday–Saturday 10 am–6 pm, Sunday noon–6 pm).

Nearly 2,600 feet up in the Sierra Foothills, this homey winery at the end of a long gravel road is known for Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel. The lineup also includes whites, a rosé, a sparkler, and a Port-style red. After a tasting, you can walk up the hill to see how apt the estate View Forever Vineyard's name is. Bring a picnic if you'd like.

Ball's turquoise-and-silver-sequin cowgirl costume from a 1976 "Donny and Marie" episode, video interviews with childhood friends, and original Here's Lucy scripts are a few of the items on display in the Lucy-Desi Museum, which follows the lives and careers of the two comedy stars. The adjoining Desilu Playhouse centers solely on the I Love Lucy show, with a replica of the couple's TV apartment, a 1953 Emmy, and an interactive display where you can try your hand at the Vitameatavegamin commercial.

Two annual festivals—Lucy-Desi Days, over Memorial Day weekend, and Lucille Ball's Birthday Celebration, in early August—celebrate the two stars.

Named in honor of the first Native Hawaiian schoolteacher, this beach is on the western bank of the Waimea River. It is also where Captain James Cook first came ashore in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. If that's not interesting enough, the sand here is not the white powdery kind you see along the South Shore. It's a salt-and-pepper combination of pulverized black lava rock and lighter-color reef. Unfortunately, the intrigue of the beach doesn't extend to the waters, which are reddish and murky (thanks to river runoff) and choppy (thanks to an onshore break). Don't swim here after heavy rains. Instead, watch the local outrigger canoe club head out or stroll the Waimea State Recreational Pier, from which fishers drop their lines, about 100 yards west of the river mouth. Amenities: parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: sunset; walking.

Also called the "Jockey's Mansion," this massive, three-story Italianate mansion is a neighborhood landmark (and now a popular setting for Hollywood film crews). Designed by the prominent New Orleans architect James Gallier Jr., it was built in 1865 for Florence A. Luling, whose family had made a fortune selling turpentine to Union soldiers when they occupied New Orleans during the Civil War. When the Louisiana Jockey Club took over the Creole Race Course (now the Fair Grounds) in 1871, they purchased the mansion and used it as a clubhouse for the next 20-odd years. It is not open to the public.

The remains of a few cabins are all that's left of this onetime silver-mining town, established around 1880. Reach it by hiking the 3.6-mile Colorado River Trail. Look for wagon ruts from the old Stewart Toll Road and mine tailings in nearby Shipler Park (this is also a good place to spot moose).

Famous as the beach where Nurse Nellie washed that man right out of her hair in South Pacific, Lumahai is picturesque, with a river and ironwood grove on the western end and stands of hala (pandanus) trees and black lava rock on the eastern side. In between is a long stretch of olivine-flecked sand that can be wide or narrow, depending on the surf. The beach can be accessed in two places from the highway; one involves a steep hike from the road. Avoid swimming and water activities here—the ocean can be dangerous, with a snapping shore break year-round and monster swells in the winter; in addition, the current can be strong near the river. Parking is very limited, along the road or in a rough dirt lot near the river. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; sunset; walking.