10457 Best Sights in USA

Weetamoo Woods takes its name from a formidable female sachem of the Pocasset Wampanoag tribe. There are more than 10 miles of walking trails within this 650-acre town-owned parcel and the adjacent 230-acre Pardon Gray Preserve, which encompass a coastal oak-holly forest, an Atlantic white cedar swamp, two grassland meadows, early-American cellar holes, and the remains of a mid-19th-century village sawmill. The main entrance to Weetamoo Woods, ¼-mile east of Tiverton Four Corners, has a parking area and a kiosk with maps.

These 153 wooded acres on the Ridgefield–Wilton border are where the noted American Impressionist painter J. Alden Weir (1852–1919) lived and worked from the early 1880s. From May through October, rangers give tours (Wednesday–Sunday) of the Weir home, studio, outbuildings, gardens, and grounds, where the artist set many of his paintings and congregated with such notable fellow painters as Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent. The grounds are open every day, from sunrise to sunset, year-round.

Just a short drive east of downtown, this long-established winemaker occupies a leafy hilltop with broad views of the surrounding mountains. Specialties include a fine Malbec, a well-respected Viognier, both conventional (crisp, minerally) a Barile dessert wine, and a nicely balanced Tempranillo. The winery also rents out a stylish one-bedroom cottage with a kitchen and hot tub for overnight stays.

The most talked-about building on campus is the Weisman Art Museum, designed by famed avant-garde architect Frank Gehry. The permanent collection includes works and installations by American pop artists and modernists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Established in 1976, this museum moved in 2010 to a new, James Polshek–designed, contemporary building near Independence Hall. The 100,000-square-foot facility, via multimedia displays, historic objects, and ephemera, traces the history of American Jews from 1654 to the present. Highlights include \"Only in America,\" a showcase of the accomplishments of famed Jewish Americans, including Jonas Salk, Barbra Streisand, and Irving Berlin; a three-level timeline covering immigration, the formation of Israel, and the civil rights movement; Seinfeld; a Contemporary Issues Forum, where you can share your views on Post-it-style notes that are electronically scanned and displayed; and \"It's Your Story,\" where you can record clips about your family history. The museum's exterior offers two contrasting sculptures symbolizing how American Jewish history is intertwined with the nation's story: a 19th-century marble monument dubbed Religious Liberty and a sculpture by contemporary artist Deborah Kass.

This neon-and-incandescent sign in a median of Las Vegas Boulevard south of Mandalay Bay is one of Sin City's most enduring icons. The landmark dates back to 1959 and was approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Young Electric Sign Company leases the sign to Clark County, but the design itself was never copyrighted and currently exists in the public domain. (This, of course, explains why you see so many likenesses all over town.) The parking lot in the median just south of the sign was expanded in 2015. If you prefer to go on foot, expect a 10-minute walk from Mandalay Bay, plus waiting time for photo ops.

For information about restricted beaches, call the Wellfleet Beach Sticker Office. You can also purchase weekly or seasonal stickers here if you are renting a house in town (you'll need a proof-of-stay form).

The northern end of a 2-mile stretch of golden sand, Wells Beach is popular with families and surfers, who line up in the swells and suit up on the boardwalk near the arcade and snack shop. The beach's northern tip is a bit quieter, with a long rock jetty perfect for strolling. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); toilets. Best for: surfing; walking.

The Wells Fargo Center is the home to the Flyers (NHL), 76ers (NBA), and Wings (NLL, pro lacrosse), and regularly hosts Villanova basketball (and other collegiate sports), big-name concerts, and high-profile arena entertainment of all kinds. Behind-the-scenes tours last 60 to 90 minutes and include a commemorative photo and frame for each guest.

The Wells Fargo Express Building, also designed in the Spanish Mission Revival style, was erected in 1910.

At this fun two-story museum, you can get a taste of the early years of the gold rush when San Francisco had no formal banks and miners often entrusted their gold dust to saloon keepers. In 1852, Wells Fargo opened its first bank in the city on this block, and the company soon established banking offices in mother-lode camps throughout California. One popular exhibit is a simulated ride in a replica of an early stagecoach. The museum also displays samples of nuggets and gold dust from mines, an old telegraph machine on which you can practice sending codes, and tools the '49ers used to coax gold from the ground.

Showcasing the talents of many fine artists dating back centuries (including 18th-century naturalist Mark Catesby), this gallery at the Sanctuary on Kiawah Island shows still-life paintings, black-and-white photographs, bronze sculptures, and handblown glass. Everything here is done in excellent taste, from the contemporary decor to the meet-the-artist receptions.

Located in two connected early-1900s former government buildings, the city's well-designed history museum contains Native American and pioneer artifacts, exhibits on Washington's famed apple industry, and a display about the 1931 landing of the first-ever nonstop flight across the Pacific, which went from Japan to Wenatchee. Children enjoy the hands-on area and the model railway. The museum also displays works by Northwest artists.

Wendell Gilley (1904–83), master plumber–turned–renowned bird carver from Southwest Harbor, hunted ducks and game birds for recreation and food. Aspiring to preserve them through taxidermy he instead took up bird carving, producing some 10,000 works (mostly basswood). He sold the fine and to-scale carvings at his “Bird Shop,” a popular island tourist stop back in the day; his personal collection of 300-plus carvings—including ruffed grouse, upland sandpiper, American goldfinch, Atlantic puffin, and loon—is the foundation of the museum’s collection. On a large corner near downtown, with bird sculptures and placarding outside, it showcases Gilley's carvings and others' as well as avian art. One gallery has changing exhibits; you might catch a contemporary artist’s show. A resident carver is at his workbench, not only carving but answering questions and helping visitors give it a go. Check the website for special events, including one-day workshops. You can buy carving kits in the museum workshop.

Away from the hustle and bustle of Wolfeboro on pretty little Lake Wentworth, this simple park features a quiet beach with good fishing, picnic tables and grills, and ball fields. Amenities: parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

The Werner Wildlife Museum, near the Casper College campus, has displays of birds and animals from Wyoming and around the world. There are more than 400 birds, fish, and animal species on display across 36 different exhibits.

This Gothic revival–style church memorializes the founders of Methodism, brothers John and Charles Wesley, who both lived in Savannah for a brief time in the 1730s. The sanctuary is patterned after Queen's Kerk in Amsterdam. It dates from 1868 and is particularly noted for its magnificent stained-glass windows.

The gathering of 300 women and men at the Wesleyan Chapel in 1848 produced the Declaration of Sentiments, the bedrock document of the modern women's rights movement. It proclaimed—audaciously, at the time—"that all men and women are created equal." Today the document's words are etched on a 140-foot-long wall between the national park's visitor center and the adjacent Wesleyan Chapel Declaration Park, which encompasses a steel structure housing remnants of the chapel. Tours are given daily at 10:30 and 1:30 and more frequently in summer.

Founded in 1831, Wesleyan University is one of the oldest Methodist institutions of higher education in the country. The roughly 2,800 undergraduates give Middletown a contemporary, college-town feel. Note the massive, fluted Corinthian columns of the 1828 Greek Revival Russell House at the corner of Washington Street, across from the pink Mediterranean-style Davison Art Center built 15 years later. Farther along, you'll find gingerbreads, towering brownstones, Tudors, and Queen Annes. A few hundred yards up on Church Street, which intersects High Street, is the Olin Library. This 1928 structure was designed by Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial.

Norman Rockwell once lived right on this quaint town green. If you follow Route 313 west from Arlington, you'll pass by the Wayside Country Store, a slightly rickety charmer where you can pick up sandwiches and chat with locals. The store carries everything from ammo and sporting goods to toys, teas, and maple syrup. Continue on, and cross West Arlington's red covered bridge, which leads to the town green. To loop back to Route 7A, take River Road along the south side of the Battenkill River, a scenic drive.

The most popular beach in the park is also the most developed, with lifeguards, showers, year-round restrooms, and picnic facilities. Three interconnected loop trails crisscross the area: Dune Succession Trail (0.9 miles, moderate), West Beach Trail (1.2 miles, easy), and Long Lake Trail (2.2 miles, moderate). Dune Succession offers some of the best dune views, while Long Lake is a prime birding destination. Amenities: lifeguards; parking (entrance fee required); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

With a collection more akin to a first-class art museum than a commercial gallery, WCC has a long-standing reputation as the go-to place in Austin for serious art collectors. The permanent collection has more than 100 original works, some dating back to the 1600s, including pieces by Rembrandt, Picasso, Matisse, and more displayed year-round. Contemporary artists are also a main attraction here, with work from the likes of Cody Hooper, Michael Kessler, and Yayoi Kusama. Check their website for special events and rotating exhibits hosted throughout the year, and don't miss out on their incredible on-site gift shop.

A romantic reminder of the past, this single-lane bridge over the Housatonic River is on Route 128, just east of U.S. 7, in West Cornwall. The 172-feet-long and 15-feet-wide lattice truss bridge was built in 1841 and still carries vehicular traffic. The design incorporates strut techniques that were later copied by bridge builders around the country.

This is one of the best beaches on the south shore (Nantucket Sound), with the crowds to prove it. A breakwater was formed here in 1837 in an effort to protect the mouth of Bass River, but that was abandoned when a sandbar formed on the shore side. It's a long, wide, and popular sandy beach, stretching for 1½ miles, with marshland and the Bass River across from it. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); toilets. Best for: swimming; walking; windsurfing.

More than 200 art galleries, antiques shops, fashion outlets, and interior design stores are found here near 30 restaurants, including the famous paparazzi magnet, the Ivy. All are clustered within walking distance of each other—rare for L.A.

Directly across from the Pacific Design Center, this public library is filled with resources in a floor-to-ceiling glass multistory building. They also have an impressive children's library and LGBTQ+ book collection. Park in the nearby city parking complex.