10457 Best Sights in USA

As an heiress to the Robinson department store dynasty, Virginia Robinson lived on what is the oldest intact estate in Beverly Hills, dating back to 1911. The house and gardens cover 6½ acres of immaculately landscaped flora with a distinct Italian-villa vibe right out of Tuscany. The beaux arts--style house includes a tennis court, pool house, and five separate gardens including a rose garden, Italian terrace, palm tree forest, and more. Docent led historical and garden tours run $15, while a behind-the-scenes tour is $50 for adults only. 

Thomas Jefferson designed this grand edifice in 1785, modeling it on a Roman temple—the Maison Carrée—in Nîmes, France. After an extensive renovation, the Capitol has an accessible entrance on Bank Street. Free indoor guided tours last one hour and include the Old House and Senate chambers, the Rotunda, and two restored rooms; they may also include the legislative chambers when the legislature is not in session. Alternatively, a map for self-guided tours of the public areas of the capitol is also available for those who would like to explore on their own. 

Virginia Tech is the state's largest university. A small college just a few decades ago, the school is now known for top-notch research programs and its Hokies football team, regularly ranked in the top 10. The focal point of the sprawling campus is the Drillfield, a vast green space surrounded by hefty neo-Gothic buildings built of what is known locally as "Hokie Stone" masonry.

A statue called Memory overlooks a wall with thousands of names of Virginians who sacrificed their lives in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf. A series of educational programs based on the real-life experiences of Virginians is shown in the Hall of Honor Auditorium, and touch-screen computers in the Visitors Center provide information on Virginia veterans. Displays of artifacts and memorabilia tell the story of the impact of these conflicts on Virginians and their families.

The Virginia War Museum houses more than 60,000 artifacts from all over the world. The collection includes a graffiti-covered section of the Berlin Wall, a Civil War blockade runner's uniform, weapons, uniforms, wartime posters, photographs, and other memorabilia. It traces military history from 1775 to the Gulf War and includes an outdoor exhibition of seven tanks and cannons, and the history of African Americans and women in the military. Several war memorials are on the grounds of Huntington Park.

The "Virginia Winery Guide" lists each of the state's wineries (many offer tours and tastings). It's free and can be picked up at visitor information centers throughout the state or by on the Virginia Wine Board's website. From there you can also find descriptions of more than 500 wine events and festivals that take place each year.

The largest in the state, Virginia Zoological Park has more than 400 animals in 100 species living on 55 acres—including rhinos, ostriches, African elephants, and Siberian tigers as well as such domesticated animals as sheep. In the Africa exhibit, elephant demonstrations are scheduled regularly in summer, and nine new species have been added in an expansion, including zebra, lion, giraffe, red river hog, and meerkat. With the assistance of docents, children can handle some of the animals.

This three-room museum pays tribute to textile artists and the quilting community with impressive fabric works on display. An on-site shop is stocked with jewelry, baskets, books, textile hangings, and other items related to fabric art. Monthly programs are hosted regularly.

This point on the Walhalla Plateau offers views of the upper drainage of Nankoweap Creek, a rock pinnacle known as Brady Peak, and the Painted Desert to the east. This is an enchanting place for a picnic lunch.

This West Texas showcase of Lone Star music features rock, blues, country, Latin, and beyond, on stages in Alpine, Fort Davis, Marathon, Lajitas, and Marfa, both in large paid-admission venues and free concerts on hotel patios.

An endless variety of wedding themes and add-on shtick is available, ranging from elegant to casual to camp. You can say your vows in the presence of Elvis, the Blues Brothers, or Liberace. Live webcams stream nuptials on the chapel's website in real time. Of the four chapels, one has a Doo-Wop Diner theme.

"Vivác" means "high-altitude refuge," and that's a fitting name for this popular winery located at the junction on NM 68 (the Low Road) and NM 75 (which leads to the High Road). The family-owned vineyards and charming tasting room, with an adjacent patio, are surrounded by the dramatic sheer cliffs of the Rio Grande Gorge. The elegant, generally dry wines, feature a mix of mostly old-world grapes, including Dolcetto, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grüner Veltliner. The tasting room also sells artisanal chocolates, cheese-and-charcuterie plates, jewelry, and contemporary art.

Distinct in that it focuses solely on Santa Fe artists who produce contemporary works, VIVO also offers some very interesting programming from its handsome two-level space on Canyon Road, including an annual show featuring paintings and poems together. Works often rotate throughout the space and are available for purchase.

San Diego County Parks and Recreation manages this 3,000-acre preserve, where hikes challenge your stamina and views are stunning. A 5-mile trail through the preserve passes through black-and-canyon oak forest, native manzanita, and rolling mountain meadows to a viewpoint where the panorama extends north all the way to Palomar Mountain. On a clear day you can see Point Loma in San Diego. At the entrance you pass through gates designed by James Hubbell, a local artist known for his ironwork, wood carving, and stained glass. You can see splendid views from the Volcan Summit. 

Occupying a portion of the original Volcano House hotel built in 1877, this mesmerizing art gallery, within walking distance of the hotel, has showcased works by local artists since 1974. From stained and handblown glass to wood crafts, paintings, sculptures, block prints, jewelry, photographs, and more, the gallery features fine art (for sale) that depicts indigenous and cultural themes of Hawaii Island. In addition, live hula shows in the ancient style are often featured on the lawn that fronts the gallery.

Local produce, flowers, crafts, and food products, including fresh-baked breads, pastries, coffee, pancakes, fresh coconuts with straws, and homemade Thai specialties, are available every Sunday morning from 6 to 10 at this decidedly down-home farmers' market in Volcano Village. It's best to get there early, before 7, as vendors tend to sell out of the best stuff quickly. There's also a small bookstore (paperbacks 50¢, hardcovers $1, and magazines 10¢) and a thrift store with clothes and knickknacks. The market is held in the covered Cooper Center, so it's safe from the rain.

Located on beautifully landscaped grounds dotted with intriguing sculptures, this delightful gallery and garden lend credence to Volcano Village's reputation as an artists' haven. The complex includes an eclectic gallery representing more than 100 artists, a gourmet organic café in redwood buildings built in 1908, and a cute, one-bedroom vacation cottage, available for rent. If you're lucky, you'll get to meet the award-winning owner/caretaker of this enclave, the multitalented Ira Ono, known for his mixed-media art, recycled trash creations, and friendly personality.

Nestled among the grand homes of North Capitol Hill sits this 45-acre grassy expanse that's perfect for picnicking, sunbathing (or stomping in rain puddles), and strolling. You can tell this is one of the city's older parks by the size of the trees and the rhododendrons, many of which were planted more than a hundred years ago. The Olmsted Brothers, the premier landscape architects of the day, helped with the final design in 1904; the park has changed surprisingly little since then. In the center of the park is the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM), housed in a 1933 art moderne–style edifice. It fits surprisingly well with the stark plaza stretching from the front door to the edge of a bluff, and with the lush plants of Volunteer Park. The museum's collections include thousands of paintings, sculptures, pottery, and textiles from China, Japan, India, Korea, and several Southeast Asian countries.

The Victorian-style Volunteer Park Conservatory greenhouse, across from the museum, has a magnificent collection of tropical plants. The five houses include the Bromeliad House, the Palm House, the Fern House, the Seasonal Display House, and the Cactus House.

A focal point of the park, at the western edge of the hill in front of the Asian Art Museum, is Isamu Noguchi's sculpture, Black Sun, a natural frame from which to view the Space Needle, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains.

Priestess Miriam Chamani shares her traditional West African spiritual practices here, offering a more authentic experience than many of the tourist shops in the French Quarter. The priestess sells her own line of essential oils and voodoo dolls, as well as jewelry, sachets, incense, and books on voodoo, and is available to book for consultations and healings. Voodoo walking tours, like the New Orleans Spirit Tour ( www.neworleansspirittours.com), will often take visitors here.

Thousands of buffalo bones are piled atop each other at the Vore Buffalo Jump, where Native Americans herded bison over a cliff between the years 1500 and 1800, when hunting was done on foot rather than on horses imported from Europe. The site is open to visitors even as it continues to be excavated by archaeologists.

This informative and visually stunning observatory on the top of the Four Seasons Hotel offers and indoor and outdoor observation decks overlooking the river. An art-filled gallery of touch screens deliver stories of New Orleans music, food, and Mardi Gras history, as well as original films that touch on Civil Rights history, the Mississippi River, and Hurricane Katrina.

Once the largest producing gold mine in Arizona, the Vulture Mine has found a new life in the 21st century as a tourist attraction and, sometimes, as a wedding venue. A self-guided tour through this "ghost town" wanders past mining memorabilia; old buildings including bunkhouses, the jail, and a blacksmith shop; the mine shaft itself; and the famous hanging tree, where more than a dozen ore thieves (high graders) were hanged.

Vulture Mine offers no protective safeguards for its aged buildings, shafts, and equipment. Wander at your own risk and keep an eye on children.

Head west from Wickenburg on U.S. 60 for about 6 miles, then turn left onto Vulture Mine Road and travel 12 miles to the mine at the end of the pavement.

The chief attraction in historic, 28-acre Wright Park is the 1908 glass-dome W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory, a Victorian-style greenhouse (one of only three such structures on the West Coast) filled with exotic flora.

Running along both sides of Wabash Avenue from Ida B. Wells Drive south to 16th Street, this mile-long stretch is an outdoor gallery of murals and street art. There are nearly 40 permanent installations and an evolving set of temporary exhibitions. Chicago artists including Shepard Fairey, Hebru Brantley, and Sam Kirk have had work shown here.

A favorite for local surfboarding teens and the families at the nearby Disney's Vero Beach Resort, the park is nestled in a residential area at the end of Wabasso Road, about 8 miles up from the action on Ocean Drive and 8 miles below the Sebastian Inlet. Aside from regular amenities like picnic tables, restrooms, and a dedicated parking lot (which really is the "park" here—there's not much green space—and it's quite small, so arrive early), the Disney crowd walks there for its lifeguards (the strip directly in front of the hotel is unguarded), and the local crowd appreciates its conveniences, like a pizzeria and a store that sells sundries, snacks, and beach supplies. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming.

On the Harvard University side of Harvard Square stands the Wadsworth House, a yellow clapboard structure built in 1726 as a home for Harvard presidents. It served as the first Massachusetts headquarters for George Washington, who arrived on July 2, 1775, just a day before he took command of the Continental Army. The building traded presidents in for students (such as Ralph Waldo Emerson) and visiting preachers as its boarders, and today, it houses Harvard's general offices.

At this 139-acre property across from Emery Farm and operated by the town of Durham as a public park, you can stroll along scenic trails from the farmhouse to the old farm wagon and through the woods to the picnic area overlooking the Oyster River. There's sledding and cross-country skiing in winter.

As you drive up Interstate 25 from Las Vegas and Fort Union, the high prairie unfolds to the east, an infinite horizon of grassland that's quite breathtaking when the sun sets. Wagon Mound (at Exit 387 off Interstate 25) is a butte shaped like a covered wagon, rising from the open plains. The butte is where travelers crossed over from the Cimarron Cutoff to journey south to Fort Union. Local lore tells of mysterious lights, ghosts, and murders committed on top of the butte. The tiny village has few services and is verging on "ghost town" status, with many of its few businesses having closed in recent years and a population dwindling to around 300.

This hidden gem just off to the north of Puako Beach Drive is popular with locals and offers good swimming in a protected, sandy setting. Snorkeling is fairly good here due to the presence of lots of rocky lava formations; turtles are everywhere. It's a Marine Life Conservation District, which regulates certain activities. Summer finds it calm and pristine; winter can be rough and unswimmable. Amenities: none. Best for: snorkeling, sunbathing, swimming.

Also known as Twenty Mile Beach, this arched stretch of sand leads to one of the most popular snorkeling spots on the island. The water here, protected by the flanks of the little bay, is often so clear and shallow that even from land you can watch fish swimming among the coral heads. Watch out for traffic when you enter the highway.  This is a pleasant place to stop on the drive around the east end. Amenities: none. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.