10457 Best Sights in USA

You can tour this 307-foot-long Balao-class submarine (with a \"guppy\" conversion), that was launched in 1944 and conducted search-and-destroy missions in the South Pacific. A free audio tour, available with the price of admission, tells amazing stories of what life was like for a crew of 80 men, at sea for months at a time, in these claustrophobic quarters. Then you can step through the narrow walkways, climb the ladders, and glimpse the torpedoes in their firing chambers. Tickets are available at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Built in 1943, this Fletcher-class U.S. Navy destroyer survived action in Asian waters during World War II (including seven Pacific battles and two kamikaze hits). She served the Navy until 1960. Walk beside her and take in her size, explore her top deck, or go below deck for a guided tour offered by the National Park Service. She is the namesake of Captain Cassin Young, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; he was killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942. Check the website for special opening hours.

Launched in 1854, the USS Constellation was the last—and largest—all-sail ship built by the U.S. Navy. Before the Civil War, as part of the African Squadron, she saw service on antislavery patrol; during the war, she protected Union-sympathizing U.S. merchant ships from Confederate raiders. The warship eventually became a training ship for the Navy before serving as the relief flagship for the Atlantic Fleet during World War II, finally arriving in Baltimore in 1955 for restoration to her original condition. You can tour the USS Constellation for a glimpse of life as a 19th-century navy sailor, and children can muster to become Civil War–era "powder monkeys." Recruits receive "basic training," try on replica period uniforms, participate in a gun drill, and learn a sea chantey or two before being discharged and paid off in Civil War money at the end of their "cruise." Purchase single admission to the Constellation or combined admission to the two other Historic Ships and restored lighthouse. At this writing the ship will head to drydock to undergo repairs from October 2014 to March, 2015.

This World War II ship has been restored to its V-J Day configuration. A self-guided tour covers more than 50 inner spaces of the ship and the separate museum. Among the museum's exhibits are articles from the United States' 175 Fletcher-class destroyers, a collection of ship models, and a restored P-40 fighter plane hanging from the ceiling. The Louisiana Memorial Plaza lists more than 7,000 Louisiana citizens killed during combat, including the 127 citizens killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. An A-7E Corsair plane pays tribute to the veterans of the Vietnam War.  The USS Kidd will be undergoing renovations outside of Baton Rouge from April 2024 and is expected to return in Spring 2025. The museum will remain open during that period with reduced entrance fees.

Retrofitted as a floating museum after 48 years of service, this World War II–era aircraft carrier is the most highly decorated in its class. Watch history take flight in a 3-D IMAX theater, then take a self-guided tour to explore nearly 100,000 square feet on 11 decks (which means lots of stairs) on which you'll see 20 aircraft on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Before you leave, strap yourself into a $180,000 fighter-jet flight simulator to take home an experience you'll never forget. Non-air-conditioned areas of the ship can get very warm during hot weather. Dress comfortably.

Commodore George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila in the Spanish-American War is the oldest still-afloat steel warship in the world. Dewey entered Manila Harbor after midnight on May 1, 1898. At 5:40 am he told his captain, \"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley,\" and by 12:30 they had destroyed the entire Spanish fleet. You can tour the entire restored ship, including the officers' staterooms, galley, gun batteries, and pilothouse. Admission is included with your ticket to the Independence Seaport Museum.

Get an intriguing, if mildly claustrophobic, glimpse into life on a submarine during World War II on this small, 80-person sub, which sank six Japanese warships and damaged four others.   With all of the fascinating history on board, make sure to bring headphones and listen to the free audio tour to learn about what you're seeing.

. This warship is the last of 565 destroyers used throughout World War II and the Cold War. Tours show the ship's restored armaments, crew and officers' quarters, radio room, and pilot house.

This 1958 Navy destroyer, berthed along the marina near the ferry docks, is open for self-guided tours. Allow between one and two hours to walk through the narrow passages to view the cafeteria, medical office, barbershop, prison cell, cramped bunk rooms, and captain's quarters. Navy veterans are often on hand to answer questions and talk about what it would have been like to sail aboard this impressive ship.

Each year, from late August through early September, approximately 1 million fans come here for the U.S. Open, which claims the title of highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. The rest of the year, the 34 courts (19 outdoor and 12 indoor, all DecoTurf, plus three stadium courts) are open to the public for $40–$80 hourly. Ball machine rentals are also available for $18 per hour. Make reservations up to two days in advance. Parking is free but limited.

The centerpiece "skyscraper" of the University of Texas campus is a living piece of Austin history. Still functioning as a university administration office, the 27-floor tower, which shines with bright-white and burnt-orange lights on special occasions and game days, houses rich regional and national experience from the 1930s on. Self-guided tours—complete with 360-degree views of the campus and city from the tower's observation deck—are currently paused due to a historic renovation and restoration initiative scheduled to complete in late 2026.

Spanning 74,000 square feet and offering more than 20 galleries, this well-regarded art museum on the University of Utah campus contains a vast permanent collection of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman relics, Italian Renaissance and other European paintings, and Chinese ceramics and scrolls. Special exhibits are mounted regularly, and a café and a sculpture court offer further diversions.

If you're interested in the lives of the region's original residents, stop by the renovated Ute Indian Museum, 3 miles south of town. The museum contains several dioramas and the most comprehensive collection of Ute materials and artifacts in Colorado. It's housed in the 1956 homestead of Ute Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta. Today, the complex includes the Chief Ouray Memorial Park, Chipeta's Crypt, a native plants garden, picnic areas, and shaded paths linked to the citywide walking trail.

At the base of Sleeping Ute Mountain, the state's first tribal casino rings with the sound of more than 780 slot machines. Ute Mountain Casino also draws crowds for bingo, blackjack, roulette, and poker. The resort is 11 miles south of Cortez on U.S. 160.

A brick building in the historic Main Street district houses four floors of hands-on exhibits for all ages. There's a Dinorama, with dinosaur models and fossils, and a Weather Room, with Doppler radar. Kiddies can walk into a replica Iroquois longhouse, don firefighting gear, and pretend to fly a 17-foot-long airplane. Outside you can explore the inside of an old Adirondack locomotive, dining car, and caboose parked alongside the building.

Siberian tigers, Alaskan grizzly bears, and California sea lions are some of the 200 animals that reside in this city park with views of the Mohawk Valley. A petting zoo and live animal shows are options in summer.

Located between the Alamodome and the Tower of the Americas, this fascinating museum features 65,000 square feet of exhibits that focus on the major cultural groups who made Texas what it is today. Exhibits explore the customs, traditions, food, music, and ways of life of the many people who came to define the Texan identity. Highlights include a re-created sharecropper's house, a cowboys and cattle drives exhibit, large-scale murals depicting Native American cultures, and an in-depth Tejano exhibit on the intersection of Spanish and Indigenous peoples that birthed a new culture.

Ingraham Street bisects this island, providing two distinct experiences for visitors. The west side is taken up by the Paradise Point Resort & Spa, but you don't have to be a guest to enjoy the hotel's lushly landscaped grounds and bayfront restaurants. Boaters and Jet-Skiers congregate near the launch at Ski Beach on the east side of the island, where there's a parking lot as well as picnic areas and restrooms. Ski Beach is the site of the annual Bayfair boat races held every September. At the model yacht pond on the south side of the island, children and young-at-heart adults take part year-round in motorized miniature boat races.

This nature center occupies a 1940s homestead just across from the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. In summer, you can sign up for wildflower walks, morning birding expeditions, evening beaver-pond tours, and the "S'mores and More" family campfire program.

The museum has two sections, the Egan and the Hazelet, named after their respective streets. The highlights of the museum at 436 S. Hazelet include a 35- by 40-foot model of what Old Town looked like before the 1964 earthquake and artifacts of the historic event that registered 9.5 on the Richter scale. An award-winning film that screens often describes the quake. Two blocks away, the 217 Egan site explores the lives, livelihoods, and events significant to Valdez and surrounding regions. On display are a restored 1880s Gleason & Bailey hand-pump fire engine, a 1907 Ahrens steam fire engine, and a 19th-century saloon, and there are exhibits about local Alaska Native culture, early explorers, bush pilots, and the 1989 oil spill. Every summer the museum hosts an exhibit of quilts and fiber arts made by local and regional artisans, and other exhibits are presented seasonally.

For more than 100 years, the Valentine, established in 1898, has celebrated one of America's most historic cities. It has collected more than a million objects—one of the nation's largest collections focusing on a single city—including preserved photographs, textiles, and artifacts, and interprets 400 years of Richmond's history through items of everyday life. Wickham House (1812), a part of the Valentine, is more rightly a mansion; it was designed by architect Alexander Parris, the creator of Boston's Faneuil Hall. John Wickham was Richmond's wealthiest citizen of the time, and Daniel Webster and Zachary Taylor were frequent guests. The last owner of the house, Mann Valentine Jr., left a bequest in his will to turn the home into a museum. Mann's brother, sculptor Edward Valentine, worked from his carriage house studio to create the Robert E. Lee memorial at Washington and Lee University, and the famous statue of Thomas Jefferson in Richmond's grand Jefferson Hotel. His studio is one of only four surviving 19th-century sculptors' studios in the United States open to the public.

Don't judge a book by its cover: what's inside this very ordinary-looking building is extraordinary. Operated mostly through the efforts of an enthusiastic team of volunteers, the museum has an impressive collection of memorabilia and aircraft from World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts, as well as extensive displays of vintage military flying gear and uniforms. There are posters that were used to help identify Japanese planes, plus a Huey helicopter and the cockpit of an F-106 that you can sit in. In the north hangar a group of dedicated aviation volunteers busily restores old planes. It's an inspiring sight, and a good place to hear some war stories. In the spring the museum puts on the Tico Warbird Airshow, featuring fighter and bomber aircraft that formerly flew in combat around the world. The lobby gift shop sells real flight suits, old flight magazines, bomber jackets, books, models, and T-shirts.

One of New Mexico's great, although quite isolated, scenic routes heads northwest from U.S. 64 toward the town of Costillo (44 mi north of Taos on NM 522), affording great opportunities for sighting elk, deer, wild turkeys, and many other birds. The roughly 80-mi dirt road requires several hours of driving to complete—although it's okay for non–four-wheel-drive vehicles in summer and fall (assuming there hasn't been a major rainfall in a couple of days and you're comfortable driving on some pretty rough roads). The trip passes through the heart of pristine Valle Vidal, a remote 102,000-acre tract of high-mountain grasslands, ponderosa, aspen, and sandstone cliffs. The fishing (season is July to December) in this region is mighty fine—the native Rio Grande cutthroat trout is found only in the rivers here—and there are two campgrounds, Cimarron and McCrystal. The western section of the road is closed May through June for elk-calving season, and the eastern section is closed to protect the elks January through March. (for information on conservation efforts and history of Valle Vidal, visit www.vallevidal.org)

The once heavily industrialized Valley neighborhood in northwest Providence has been transformed into a destination for the arts, nightlife, and shopping in recent years. Pioneers in this revitalization include the Steel Yard—a working foundry that offers public programs—as well as the Waterfire Arts Center and, on Chalkstone Avenue, the Los Andes restaurant. The Industrious Spirit Co. (ISCO) is the first distillery to open in Providence since Prohibition and has a tasting room and courtyard in a former steel factory. Across the street is Buttonwoods Brewery and its Screaming Unicorn kitchen, making a short stretch of Sims Avenue a busy nightlife destination, especially on weekends. The Providence Flea market and Providence Farmers Market also call the Valley home.

Near Carrizozo is the stark Valley of Fires Recreation Area operated by the Bureau of Land Management. According to Native American legend a volcanic eruption about 1,000 years ago created a valley of fire here. When the lava cooled, a dark, jagged landscape remained. A ¾-mi trail penetrates the lava-flow area, which looks like a Star Trek backdrop and covers 44 mi (it's 5-mi wide in some places). Crevices and bowls trapping precious water nurture ocotillo and blooming cactus, creating natural landscaping along the well-maintained trail. The visitor center has a gift shop with souvenirs and books. Caving is allowed; get permits at the visitor center.

This dramatically sculpted landscape demonstrates the power of volcanic eruptions and their effect on geology, plants and animals. The impact of the Novarupta eruption on the park's ecosystems can be both obvious and subtle, so it's helpful to have a guide. The park concessionaire offers a tour ($110 including lunch, or $96 without) that departs from Brooks Camp on a 46-mile (round-trip) bus ride to the valley, with an optional 3.4-mile hike to the valley floor and back. This is also the bus ($55 each way) to take for multiday backpacking trips up the valley to Mt. Katmai or the foot of Novarupta itself.

A 1¼-mile hiking trail follows the bank of the Rogue, the river made famous by novelist and fisherman Zane Grey; it joins with a picturesque 4-mile stretch of the multiuse Rogue River Greenway Trail, which will eventually span 30 miles and connect Grants Pass with Gold Hill and Central Point. There's a campground along 3 miles of shoreline with full RV hookups as well as yurts (some of them pet-friendly). Day visitors appreciate the picnic tables, walking trails, playgrounds, and restrooms.

Tucked into two hangars at the Van Nuys Airport is a kooky, fascinating, and somewhat chaotic archive of all things 818. Well, post-urbanization anyway. Clearly assembled by folks who take great pride in being from The Valley and constantly being added to, artifacts including retro neon signs from closed businesses, movie memorabilia, concert posters, vintage BMX bikes, cars like Spicoli's van, and postcards fill cases and shelves, cover the walls, sit on the floor, and hang from the ceiling. Exhibits on the history of the Burbank airport, which covers the role it played in World War II, and rhinestone suit designer-to-the-stars Nudie Cohn are not to be missed. There's a free-play arcade with pinball machines and games and a gift shop for souvenirs.

Learn about Yosemite Valley's geology, vegetation, and human inhabitants at this visitor center, which is also staffed with helpful rangers and contains a bookstore with a wide selection of books and maps. A 23-minute film, Spirit of Yosemite, plays every half hour in the theater near the visitor center.

Built in 1869, this stately Italianate mansion served as the German consulate in the early 20th century, until the start of World War II. The house has been meticulously maintained and furnished with period pieces, and is now mainly a venue for private receptions and special events. Highlights include a carved-oak staircase and mantelpiece and 24-karat gilt moldings and sconces.