10405 Best Sights in USA

Like most amenities in the village of Stovepipe Wells, this station is basic but convenient, with a ranger on hand to answer questions and provide information and maps. You can also pay entrance fees here. Hours are variable; if it's closed, there's a pay station outside the building.

This tiny 1926 town, the first resort in Death Valley, takes its name from the stovepipe that an early prospector left to indicate where he found water. Although the area has a hotel (rooms from $180), restaurant, convenience store, gas station (fill the tank here if you're heading across the park to its western edge), swimming pool, and RV hookups, you're better off staying in Furnace Creek, which is more central to the park's natural attractions. Off Highway 190, on a 3-mile gravel road immediately southwest, are the multicolor walls of Mosaic Canyon.

Russian seniors feed the pigeons, kids watch turtles sunning themselves, and joggers circle this placid body of water, Golden Gate Park's largest lake. Early park superintendent John McLaren may have snarked that man-made Stow Lake was "a shoestring around a watermelon," but for more than a century visitors have come to walk its paths and bridges, enjoy a boat ride, and climb Strawberry Hill (the "watermelon"). Cross one of the bridges—the 19th-century stone bridge on the southwest side is lovely—and ascend the hill; keep your eyes open for the waterfall and an elaborate Chinese pavilion. Or head out on the lake in a pedal boat or rowboat.

miles south of Middletown in the quirky and historic downtown of Strasburg (which was settled by Germans), this emporium covers 1.4 acres. Inside, more than 100 dealers and artisans sell everything from furniture to jewelry to vintage clothing.

Passengers can step back in time more than 175 years to ride the rails of the Strasburg Rail Road. Called America's oldest short line, the steam locomotive and vintage coaches travel a scenic 45-minute round trip through Amish farm country between Strasburg and Paradise. Eat lunch in the dining car or take an evening dinner ride that might be themed as a murder mystery or wine and cheese tasting. Tours of the mechanical shop are available for a fee, but kids are crazy for the Thomas the Tank Engine excursions. Trains usually depart hourly. 

Robert E. Lee, who became the commander of the Confederate Army, was born in the Great House of Stratford Hall Plantation, one of the country's finest examples of Colonial architecture. Eight chimneys in two squares top the H-shape brick home, built in the 1730s by one of Lee's grandfathers, Colonial governor Thomas Lee. The house contains Robert E. Lee's crib, original family pieces, and period furnishings. The working Colonial plantation covers 1,600 acres and has gardens, a kitchen, smokehouse, laundry, orangery, springhouses, coach house, stables, slave quarters, and a gristmill that grinds from 11 am to 2 pm on the first whole weekend of each month from April through September. The Plantation Dining Room, a log cabin restaurant, serves meals and sandwiches daily from 11 to 3. Its outdoor screened deck overlooks the woodlands.

This memorial to John Lennon, who penned the classic 1967 song "Strawberry Fields Forever," is sometimes called the "international garden of peace." The curving paths, shrubs, trees, and flower beds create a deliberately informal landscape reminiscent of English parks. Every year on December 8, Beatles fans mark the anniversary of Lennon's death by gathering around the star-shape black-and-white "Imagine" mosaic set into the pavement. Lennon's 1980 murder took place across the street at The Dakota, which was home to Lennon and Yoko Ono and has been the residence of other celebrities from Boris Karloff to Leonard Bernstein. The building's elaborate exterior is best admired from Central Park West, as visitors are not welcome in the lobby, and there are no tours.

The 3½-mile loop around String Lake lies in the shadows of 11,144-foot Rockchuck Peak and 11,430-foot Mt. Saint John. This is also a good place to see moose and elk, hear songbirds, and view wildflowers. The hike, which takes about three hours, is a bit less crowded than others in the vicinity. Easy–Moderate.

This block of gorgeous 1890s Georgian and Italian Renaissance Revival homes earned its nickname in the 1920s from less-affluent Harlemites who felt its residents were "striving" to become well-to-do. Some of the few remaining private service alleys, used when deliveries arrived via horse and cart, lie behind these houses and are visible through iron gates. Note the gatepost between Nos. 251 and 253 on 138th Street that reads, "Private Road. Walk Your Horses." These houses were built by the contractor David H. King Jr., whose developments also include Madison Square Garden and the Washington Arch. When the houses failed to sell to white people, the properties on these blocks were sold to Black doctors, lawyers, and other professionals; composers and musicians W. C. Handy and Eubie Blake were also among the residents. If you have the time, detour a block north to see the palazzo-style group of houses designed by Stanford White, on the north side of 139th Street.

Within the Stronghold Unit, the Stronghold Table, a 3-mile-long plateau, is a historic site, sacred to the Lakota and inaccessible. It was here, just before the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, that some 600 Sioux gathered to perform one of the last known Ghost Dances, a ritual in which the Sioux wore white shirts that they believed would protect them from bullets.

When the waves robustly roll in, the surfers are rolling in, too. Beginning surfers are especially keen on Stuart Beach because of its ever-vigilant lifeguards, and pros to the sport like the challenges that the choppy waters here bring. But the beach is equally popular with surf fishers. Families enjoy the snack bar known for its chicken fingers, the basketball courts, the large canopy-covered playground, and the three walkways interspersed throughout the area for easy ocean access. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming.

Less a gallery than an open-air scavenger hunt for some of the city's most impressive works of visual art, the Stuart Collection—located across the 1,200-acre UCSD campus—boasts over 20 must-see, and sometimes massive, pieces by some of the biggest names in contemporary art, including Jenny Holzer, John Baldessari, and Robert Irwin. A self-guided virtual tour can be accessed through their website.

What started off in 1901 as the tin-roofed George W. Parks General Merchandise Store and in 1946 became Stuart's Feed Store (the name is still emblazoned on the pine facade) is now the Stuart Heritage Museum, an interesting trip down nostalgia lane with Americana artifacts, photographs, and goods detailing the town's history, just steps from city hall.

Artist Brandan "BMike" Odums's larger-than-life graffiti murals and installations fill this 35,000-square-foot warehouse in an industrial nook of the Bywater, easy to spot thanks to its bright front exterior and giant mural of a young African American girl shrugging her arms up towards the sky. Work here excites and awakens viewers, with its themes on social justice, African American history, racial violence, and other contemporary issues in New Orleans and beyond. Check Brandan's website for more projects around town.

In 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem opened to celebrate artists of African descent. In 2018, the museum closed for a $300 million renovation and expansion project, and is slated to finally reopen in fall 2025 after a seven-year hiatus. The reopening will feature work from Tom Lloyd, an activist who was a focal point of the institution's opening 56 years ago. There will be works of art dating back to the early 1800s, showcasing more than 200 years of work by Black creatives, such as Houston E. Conwill, David Hammons, and Glenn Ligon.

A 1951 Hudson Hornet (a nod to the building's automotive past) greets you at the entrance to this nonprofit, open-studios arts center on the east side of City Park. Interact with professional artists as they work on their latest pieces, browse the four galleries and gift shop, and, on the first Saturday evening of the month, sip wine and listen to music while viewing the center's latest exhibit.

Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons from estate-grown grapes are the specialties of this slightly off-the-beaten-path winery whose tasting room and production facility occupy a stained-redwood former barn. Standout wines include the Summit Chardonnay and the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter from Stuhlmuller's oldest vines. Other wines to look for are the Estate Zinfandel and the Block Twelve Cabernet Sauvignon from 2½ acres planted in the 1980s. Some tastings take place in a room adjoining the aging cellar, but in good weather you can sip outdoors on a patio near the vines.  Picnickers are welcome at this family- and dog-friendly winery.

Railroad history, local gags like a fur-covered trout, and fine black-and-white photo displays complete this eclectic collection housed track-side at the Amtrak station in the Whitefish Railroad Depot. While browsing in the gift shop, ask for a free historical walking-tour map of "Stumptown," Whitefish's nickname. Call to confirm hours before stopping by.

If you want to check out a cross section of American life, drop by the Whitefish train station at 6 am as a sleepy collection of farmers, cowboys, and skiers awaits the arrival of Amtrak's Empire Builder, en route from Seattle to Chicago. Inside the half-timber depot is the Stumptown Historical Society's Whitefish Museum. The focus here is the Great Northern Railway, the nation's first unsubsidized transcontinental railway that passed through Whitefish. On display are lanterns, old posters, and crockery, as well as reminders of local history, such as the books of author Dorothy M. Johnson and photos of the Whitefish football team from 1922 through 1954, plus some real fun (look for the fur-covered trout). You can pick up a walking-tour map of Whitefish's historic district here.

As the Door County peninsula's gateway city and a busy shipbuilding port, Sturgeon Bay sits on a partially man-made ship canal connecting Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Its charming downtown is home to dozens of art galleries, cafés, and restaurants, with cozy bed-and-breakfasts tucked into historic homes. Sturgeon Bay is also a commercial hub with a hospital, chain stores, and restaurant franchises. The city remains an international leader in the construction and design of yachts and ships.

A number of lectures and music performances are open to the public, as is the SUArt Galleries, in the Shaffer Art Building.

On a forested plateau almost 200 feet above the surf, this park—until 2021 known as Patrick's Point—offers stunning views of the Pacific, great whale- and sea lion–watching spots, campgrounds, picnic areas, bike paths, and hiking trails through old-growth spruce forest. There are also tidal pools at Agate Beach, a re-created Yurok Indian village, and a small visitor center with exhibits. It's uncrowded and sublimely quiet here. Dogs are not allowed on trails or the beach.

William K. Vanderbilt's 24-room Moroccan-style mansion, called Eagle's Nest, sits on 43 acres and houses collections that Vanderbilt acquired as he traveled throughout the world. Summer brings various theatrical performances to the mansion's courtyard. The adjacent planetarium is one of the best equipped in the nation, with a 60-foot domed Sky Theater. Sky and laser shows are held regularly.

Standing on the bluff of Sugar Hill overlooking Jackie Robinson Park, outside the slightly run-down 409 Edgecombe Avenue, you'd never guess that here resided such influential African Americans as NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. In 1946, Langston Hughes reportedly called it one of Harlem’s “most fashionable addresses." And farther north at 555 Edgecombe (known as the "Triple Nickel"), literary icon Zora Neale Hurston and jazz musicians Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lena Horne, and others lived, wrote, and played. It's also here that, for more than 25 years, musician Marjorie Eliot has been hosting jazz concerts in her apartment (3F) at 3:30 pm every Sunday. Farther down, at No. 345, you can't miss the Benzinger House with its flared mansard roof. Amid all this history, the modern-looking Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, at 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, gathers local families for programs that encourage the creative spirit of children.

Rolling grassy hills, athletic fields, multiple playgrounds, a creek, and a pond provide plenty of room to fly a kite or have a picnic at this big and popular neighborhood park. Take in stunning mountain views or head to the hill on the south end of the park—a go-to destination for sledding in winter. Odd fact: the park once housed a federal prison famous for incarcerating Utah's polygamists.

The easiest trail in the park, it's only a quarter mile, virtually level, and paved, so it's suitable for young children, strollers, and wheelchairs. A brochure available at the start explains the numbered exhibits and features of the trail. Easy.

The main visitor center on the Tennessee side, Sugarlands features a nature museum with extensive exhibits about park flora and fauna, as well as a 20-minute film about the park. Ranger-led programs are held from spring to fall. There are hiking trails nearby.

From 1899 to 2007 this was the flagship location for the department store Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. The work of one of Chicago's most renowned architects, it combines Louis H. Sullivan's visionary expression of modern design with intricate cast-iron ornamentation. The eye-catching rotunda and the 11 stories above it are actually an addition Sullivan made to his original building. In later years D.H. Burnham & Co. and Holabird & Root extended Sullivan's smooth, horizontal scheme farther down State Street. The ground floor now houses a Target, with office tenants occupying the floors above.