10455 Best Sights in USA

Opened in 1936 by two retired moonshiners from Detroit, this was one of the state's first roadside attractions and remained little changed until 2013, when the family decided to close its doors—and, thus, ending a rich chapter of Florida tourism history—forever. In stepped Florida landscape photographer John Brady, who negotiated a lease with the founding family and transformed the old-style cramped zoological gardens (that once featured Florida panthers, black bears, crocodiles, alligators, and tame Florida deer) into a botanical garden by conserving the flora and fauna following contemporary standards. Now in focus are diverse gardens that include old-growth trees like kapok, banyan, candle nut, egg fruit, plumeria, jaboticaba, mahogany, cashew, avocado, and mango, as well as integrated animal exhibits with tortoises, turtles, smaller alligators, flamingos, and a butterfly garden. The original buildings have been preserved and made into a modern gallery that showcases Brady's photography.

Family-friendly Wonderland Trail, a 1.4-mile round trip, follows an old fire road through spruce forest and leads to rocky coast with nice tide-pooling at low tide. The nearby Ship Harbor Trail also draws families. Easy.    A portion of Route 102A (Seawall Road) was temporarily closed after 2024's winter storms. While repairs should be complete, if the loop road is closed, access it from its southern terminus with Route 102 in Bass Harbor, not its northern terminus in Manset. Watch for signs.

In an upside-down world, this is the sort of wacky, interactive learning museum that will help make sense of life's lingering questions like: What does it feel like to be shaken by an earthquake? Can you really move an object with nothing but brain power? How do you design a roller coaster? Schedule at least two hours to move through the activities and exhibits, or longer if you really want to dig into learning.

The building seems to be sinking into the ground—at a precarious angle and upside down. Many people stop to take pictures in front of the topsy-turvy facade, complete with upended palm trees and broken sidewalks. Inside, the upside-down theme continues only as far as the lobby. After that it's a playground of 100 interactive experiences—some incorporating virtual reality, others educational (similar to those at a science museum), and still others pure entertainment. You can experience an earthquake or a hurricane, land a space shuttle using simulator controls, make giant bubbles in the Bubble Lab, play laser tag in the enormous arena and arcade, design and ride your own roller coaster, lie on a bed of real nails, and play baseball with a virtual Major League batter.

The 42-foot stone lighthouse and attached two-story keeper’s house are on the 35-acre, uninhabited Wood Island off the coast of Biddeford. The island is closed to the public except for two-hour guided tours hosted by Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse. Tours are offered in July and August, and reservations are required. Boats leave from Vine’s Landing in Biddeford Pool.

Behind the remote town of Pahala, this serene and beautiful Tibetan Buddhist temple, established in 1973, has hosted more than 50 well-known lamas, including the Dalai Lama on two occasions. Known as Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling (Immutable Island of Melodious Sound), this peaceful place welcomes all creeds. You can visit and meditate, leave an offering, walk the lush gardens shared by strutting peacocks, browse the gift shop, or stay in the temple's guesthouse.

Off South Coast Highway, Wood's Cove is especially quiet during the week. Big rock formations hide lurking crabs. This is a prime scuba-diving spot, and at high tide much of the beach is underwater. Climbing the steps to leave, you can see a Tudor-style mansion that was once home to Bette Davis. Street parking is free yet limited. Amenities: none. Best for: snorkeling; sunset.

Located in the Bristol Bay region, this state park is the largest in the nation at 1.6 million acres. Two separate groups of interconnected lakes, some up to 45 miles long, dominate the park, making it a region dense with waterways despite being inland. Bears, caribou, porcupines, eagles, and loons abound in the park's forests and tundra, but Wood-Tikchik is best known for its fish. The park's lakes and streams are critical spawning habitat for five species of Pacific salmon. They also support healthy populations of rainbow trout, arctic char, arctic grayling, and northern pike. As a result, Wood-Tikchik draws anglers and boaters interested in fishing in a place without maintained trails (and with few visitor amenities). Most campsites here are primitive, and anyone planning to explore the park should be experienced in backcountry travel and camping. Besides the many large lakes and streams, the park's landscape includes rugged mountains, glaciers, and vast expanses of tundra.

Each October, Front Street is transformed into a popular event where craftsmen showcase their works in the wooden boat exhibits. There's an intense boatbuilding competition (finished off by a rowing race on the river), kids' model-building contest, live music, and arts and crafts. All proceeds from the show are donated to the Harbor Historical Association's maritime museum.

Kids will enjoy looking for the tiny window in the rock that looks like a wooden shoe with a turned-up toe. If you can't find it on your own, there's a marker to help you.

This school, which sits on a 60-acre oceanfront campus, is renowned for its weeklong woodworking and boatbuilding workshops. It also offers sailing and kayaking courses, as well as coastal-theme photography and art classes. The school is off the road to Naskeag Point, a sleepy, serenely beautiful spot at the end of the peninsula road with a small rock beach, a teeny park, and a lovely view across the harbor.

A former girlfriend bestowed the nickname "Wooden Head" on Nikolai Stez for his stubborn nature, but he also has a sense of humor, resurrecting the name years later for his winery. The meticulous, if idiosyncratic, winemaker has an impeccable pedigree, having begun his education working harvests for Burt Williams of the acclaimed Williams Selyem Winery, eventually becoming assistant winemaker there. Pinot Noir and Zinfandel are Woodenhead's focus, but don't miss the French Colombard, Chardonnay, and other whites. Tastings are relatively old-school, with most patrons perched on a deck overlooking Pinot Noir vines, a Russian River Valley panorama unfolding beyond them.

A good choice for those who enjoy history and the decorative arts, the Naomi Wood collection of antique household goods, including Colonial furniture, unusual clocks, and English delftware, and \"Colonial household gear\" designated in Wood's will, can be seen on guided tours (required) in this Georgian mansion. This National Historic Landmark was built about 1756 as an elegant summer retreat from the city. The tour includes stories about the families who lived here and also presents a room representative of where some servants, including enslaved people, lived.  

Limestone buildings dating from the early 19th century have been restored to operation for distilling, aging, and bottling Woodford Reserve bourbon. At the end of the distillery tour, guests 21 and over can sample the whiskey

This state campground is the highest in Vermont at 2,400 feet. Adams Reservoir is the dominant feature and focus of activities, with swimming, fishing, and boating, including canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards for rent. A nature trail also circles the reservoir.

One of 28 city green spaces, Woodland Park has a playground, ball fields, rose gardens, and a picnic area. Geese, ducks, peacocks, and black swans swim and flutter at the pond, which offers night-lit ice-skating and comfy locker rooms in winter. Open from June to August, Woodland Water Park is an affordable and popular attraction with a pool, waterslides, and a "Lazy River" float.

Ninety-two acres are divided into bioclimatic zones, allowing many animals to roam freely in habitat areas. A jaguar exhibit is the center of the Tropical Rain Forest area, where rare cats, frogs, and birds evoke South American jungles. The Humboldt penguin exhibit is environmentally sound—it uses geothermal heating and cooling to mimic the climes of the penguins' native home, the coastal areas of Peru. With authentic thatch-roof buildings, the African Village has a replica schoolroom overlooking animals roaming the savanna; the Trail of Vines takes you through tropical Asia; and the Northern Trail winds past rocky habitats where wolves, mountain goats, a grizzly bear, and otters scramble and play. The Zoomazium is a nature-themed indoor play space for toddlers and kids under eight, and the Woodland Park Rose Garden is also worth a stroll. Check out Woodland Park's ZooTunes lineup of summertime outdoor concerts at www.zoo.org/zootunes (tickets sell out in advance, so plan ahead).

Two iconic homes on one site are found just west of Mount Vernon. Woodlawn overlooks the Potomac River on lands first belonging to the Algonkian-speaking Doeg people, and then lands of George Washington’s larger Mount Vernon plantation. Finished in 1805, the Federal-style mansion was designed for Eleanor and Lawrence Lewis by William Thornton, the architect of the U.S. Capitol. It displays the power and prosperity of America’s first ruling class. Anti-slavery Quakers purchased and transformed Woodlawn in 1805. The Quakers and local free Black people demonstrated that with agricultural reforms and Black landownership, the South could be successfully cultivated without slavery.

Also on the grounds, Pope-Leighey House is a Frank Lloyd Wright Unison home. Designed for the Pope family in 1940, it artfully blends into the landscape. Its innovative design concepts and natural materials create a sense of space and grace. The home is an expression of Wright’s radical vision for beautiful, affordable, and more inclusive middle-class housing. To save it from demolition, the home was moved from Falls Church, Virginia, to Woodlawn in 1965 by its second owner, Marjorie Leighey. It's the only Wright house open to the public in Virginia.

Guides and exhibitions at both houses offer insight into the architectural details of both houses, as well as thoughtful narratives dedicated to telling the fullest story possible about all people associated with the property.

Mark Twain rests in the Langdon family plot, with his daughter Clara and son-in-law, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, at his feet. A 12-foot-tall monument marks the spot (12 feet, in river terminology, is 2 fathoms, or "mark twain," the derivation of Clemens' pen name).

The 133 lush green acres of Woodlawn Memorial Park have served as the final resting space for generations of Nashvillians, including many major country music stars whose grave sites are open for visits from tour groups or individuals. Among those buried in Woodlawn are George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jerry Reed, Webb Pierce, Johnny Paycheck, Marty Robbins, and Porter Wagoner. The beautiful Lynn Anderson Rose Garden pays homage to the late-great songstress and her greatest hit.

In the mid-1820s, Colonel John Black built an elegant Federal-style mansion with a distinct full-length front porch and balustrades on a 180-acre estate of fields and woods. Inside the Black House (as it's locally known) is an especially fine elliptical flying staircase and period artifacts from the three generations of the family who lived here. Outside, Woodlawn has a formal garden, a fairy village in the tree nursery, 2 miles of walking trails that Colonel Black used as a bridle path, and a croquet court that's in play. Check the website for court fees and availability as well as information about special events, including children's programs. The trails and gardens are open year-round.

On the far side of Chestnut Hill, on the slope leading toward the suburbs, this Philly artist–centric museum focuses on 19th- and 20th-century eastern Pennsylvania art. The permanent collection features mid-1900s woodcuts and a number of 19th-century Pennsylvania landscapes. The largely contemporary special exhibitions are often very engaging, along with live jazz and classical music, movie nights, and workshops. There's a popular, if overpriced, haystack maze each October outside.

President Wilson and his second wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, retired in 1921 to this Georgian Revival house designed by Washington architect Waddy B. Wood. It was on this quiet street that Wilson lived out the last few years of his life. It is the only presidential museum in the nation’s capital. Wilson died in 1924—Edith survived him by 37 years—and bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Tours of the home can be general or themed or even virtual, and they provide a wonderful glimpse into the lives of this couple and the dignitaries who visited them here. Items on display include his cane collection, a Gobelin tapestry, a mosaic from Pope Benedict XV, the pen used by Wilson to sign the declaration that launched the United States into World War I, and the shell casing from the first shot fired by U.S. forces in the war. The house also contains memorabilia related to the history of the short-lived but influential League of Nations, including the colorful flag Wilson hoped would be adopted by that organization.

Interactive exhibits and displays children can touch make this museum family-friendly. The collection features period antiques, items from Wilson's political career, and some original pieces that belonged to Wilson's father, a Presbyterian minister. Wilson's presidential limousine, a 1919 Pierce-Arrow sedan, is on display in the garage. An interactive World War I trench exhibit simulates the soldier's experiences and there's also a hands-on kids' corner.

This exquisite three-story French Victorian mansion was built in 1870 and has a grand drawing room graced with original parquet floors and large mirrors. Antique furnishings include Aubusson carpets, marble mantels, and a Venetian crystal chandelier. The formal garden still has its gingerbread playhouse, now the museum shop.

Dead artists of all kinds reside here: poets, musicians, writers, painters, sculptors, dancers, and bon vivants. Many of the stones, in keeping with the wishes of their buried subjects, tell artfully rendered stories. Look for the grassy knoll behind the Evergreen Cemetery to commune with the spirits of Woodstock.

The juried fair, held Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, showcases potters, photographers, jewelry designers, and other artisans from across the nation. The food is better than usual fair fare, with many vegetarian and other innovative dishes.

Lovers of fine wines make pilgrimages to this winery, 12 miles west of Walla Walla, for the superb Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots. Its 2017 Chardonnay was named "Best Splurge" by Seattle magazine. The winery's flagship Cabernet Sauvignon wine is produced in the Artist Series, which features a different label each year by West Coast artists. The tasting room doesn't require reservations, and you're welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outside in the garden.

A trip to this peaceful hillside winery in the Applegate Valley offers the chance to sample organic fresh and aged cheese produced with milk from the winery's dairy goats. Enjoy a platter of cheeses along with homemade charcuterie while you relax on the patio, sipping the exceptional estate wines, including Malbec, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, and Chardonnay.

Until 40 Wall Street stole the title in 1930, the 792-foot, neo-Gothic Woolworth Building, opened in 1913, was the world's tallest building. For security in the now-residential building, the spectacular lobby is no longer open to the public on a daily basis, though exclusive-access architecture tours are sometimes available through Open House New York ( ohny.org). The lobby is home to a stained-glass skylight and carved wooden sculptures set into the portals to the left and right: one represents retail-giant namesake F. W. Woolworth counting his nickels and dimes; another depicts the architect, Cass Gilbert, cradling in his arms a model of his creation. But even if you don't make it inside, the tower's exterior is exquisite, too—its facade details so ornate the building was nicknamed the \"cathedral of commerce.\"