10405 Best Sights in USA

Just outside the Lawrence train station a large sign heralds upcoming bands—who play metal, mariachi, and much more—in a dreamy, Moorish-style ballroom that was built in 1926.

The tiny but free Arts & Crafts Museum remains the best place to see fine historic and contemporary Jicarilla baskets, beadwork, and pottery. It's also the place to inquire about tours, events, and any tourism restrictions in place because of ceremonial activities.

The view is the best part of this picnic spot opposite Balanced Rock parking area. There's no water, but there are tables. If you sit just right you might find some shade under a small juniper; otherwise, this is an exposed site. Pit toilets are nearby.

Hand puppets, rod puppets, body puppets, shadow puppets, marionettes—this museum has more than 2,500 puppets in its extraordinary collection. Many are the work of Frank Ballard, a master of puppetry who established the country's first complete undergraduate and graduate degree programs in puppetry at the University of Connecticut. If you're lucky you might even catch Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street on display.

In early December the park hosts the Red Rock Balloon Rally; although it's smaller in scale than Albuquerque's international extravaganza, some 200 balloons ascending amid the smooth-faced sandstone cliffs makes this one special.

Affiliated with Big Bend Ranch State Park of Texas, this visitor center offers a self-guided walking tour through a 2½-acre landscaped desert garden. It's a good way to get acquainted with the Trans-Pecos region before adventuring to either the national or state park. Also on the grounds are an interpretive center, a covered picnic area, a bookstore, and a gift shop.

Sitting on 7½ acres of national park land at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, this indoor-outdoor nonprofit children’s museum offers entertaining and enlightening hands-on exhibits for younger children. Kids can stretch their creativity and develop early STEM skills as they navigate wind tunnels, fish from a boat at the indoor wharf, configure oversized foam blocks in the Imagination Playground, and play outdoors among the tide pools, gravel pits, shipwrecks, and caves of Lookout Cove. At the multisensory Tot Spot, toddlers and preschoolers dress up in animal costumes and crawl through miniature tunnels.

This one-of-a-kind education center focuses on a sprawling 1½-acre model of the entire San Francisco Bay and Sacramento–San Joaquin River delta system, complete with flowing water. Now open for public exploration, the model has been used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reproduce the rise and fall of tides, the flow of currents, and the other physical forces at work on the bay.

Lined with swaying palms, tropical foliage, quaint thatched huts, and speckled with shady umbrellas, hammocks, lounges, and beach chairs, this is where you claim your own private spot in the sand. Since the park's biggest selling point is its limited guest capacity, the most seductive aspect is lying in the sun and leaving the real world behind. For the most privacy, head to the far west end of Discovery Cove, where the beach chairs are more plentiful and private cabanas (from $60) are available. For people with disabilities: Modified beach wheelchairs are available. With attendance limited to 1,000 guests, and plenty of sand to share, you should be fine. Just arrive early for the best spot.

The strip from Lake Shore Drive to Sheffield has an entirely different character than the residential streets nearby. Yes, it has Starbucks and Potbelly, but funky shops, tattoo parlors, and vintage-clothing stores add an interesting, eclectic feel. Just past the El tracks at Sheffield, you'll see the Vic Theatre. Once a luxurious vaudeville venue, it's now a popular spot for live music; on Brew & View nights, when multiple bars are open and the mood is most festive, on-stage acts are replaced by movie screenings.

For this program (starting from $119 and up, depending on season) you don a wet suit and assist a trainer in feeding Beluga whales, which average about 15 feet and 2,000 pounds. They're good-natured and well trained enough to respond to hand signals you learn from the trainer. FYI: The wet suits help protect guests from the frigid 55-degree water. Must be 10 or older; 14 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

The 30-minute tours at the famous brand's factory are unabashedly corny and only skim the surface of the behind-the-scenes goings-on, but this flaw is almost forgiven when the samples are dished out. To see the machines at work, visit on a weekday but call ahead to confirm if they will indeed be in operation.

California's oldest state park is the best place to see old-growth redwoods without going north of San Francisco, and it's far less crowded than Muir Woods. The parkland ranges from sea level up to 2,000 feet in elevation, which means the landscape changes often, from dark redwood groves to oak pastures that are deep green in winter and bleached nearly white in summer. The countless waterfalls are the most visible during the winter and spring rains. To get a feel for the redwoods, take the Redwood Loop Trail, an easy half-mile path, great for kids, that takes in some of the tallest trees here, including the Mother of the Forest and the Father of the Forest. Pick up the trail from the parking lot across from the visitor center, inland at park headquarters in Boulder Creek. A brochure you can pick up here points out significant trees along the way.

If you have a little more time, consider taking the Sequoia and Skyline to the Sea trails for a 4-mile loop that takes you past a pioneer family cabin to a platform overlooking Sempervirens Falls, up the slope of Slippery Rock, and then along stretches of Opal Creek (where you meet up with Skyline to the Sea).

Hikers looking for a challenge might consider the strenuous but scenic 9.5-mile trek from Rancho del Oso valley (accessed on the western portion of the park, east of Highway 1) uphill to Chalk Mountain, which meanders along a ridge with sweeping views of the park and coast before steeply descending by way of the Whitehouse Ridge Trail. Look for the Clark Connection, up Canyon Road, as your starting point.

A short walk from the highway on the Marsh Trail leads to the Rancho Del Oso Nature Center (www.ranchodeloso.org). Open on weekends from noon to 4, the center has natural-history exhibits and is the starting point for several self-guided nature walks.

These two side-by-side lagoons (aka wave pools) are perhaps the centerpiece of the park. Although the names suggest waves that surfers would fear, the large pool has only modest swells, and the small pool may even be closed if crowds are light. Still, both edge the park's popular white-sand beach and both are exceedingly pleasant locations where you can laze the day away. If you plan on spending a lot of time in the park and need to keep an eye on the kids, the wave pools make great bases of operation. If you're establishing base camp here, arrive as early as possible and stake your claim on the beach.

The Black Water Draw Archaeological Site remains active and is open at regular hours to visitors in summer and on weekends in spring and fall. Self-guided tours on developed trails are well worth the effort for the privilege of viewing work in progress at a major archaeological site. Stay strictly on the trails, which offer options of ¾-mi or ½-mi round-trips with about 20 different interpretive stops with signs describing vegetation and geology (the wildflowers following spring rains can be spectacular). On hot days, wear a hat, use sunscreen, and carry water for these excursions. An exhibit building offers a fascinating look at ongoing excavations of prehistoric animal bones, and an ancient, hand-dug well can be viewed near the exhibit building.

A well-traveled Native American trail through hardwood forests, meadows, and ravines is now part of the 650-acre Blendon Woods Metro Park. Just one of the parks in the system, it offers four-season fun with cross-country skiing, disk golf, hiking trails, and a nature center. In the waterfowl refuge, you might see 500 or more black ducks on the 11-acre lake on a winter's day.

If you're headed to Block Island, the Interstate Navigation Company offers two types of ferry service from Point Judith. Year-round, there's regular service, which takes 55 minutes and costs about $26 round-trip; late May–mid-October, there's high-speed service, which takes 30 minutes and costs $36 round-trip. Cars—which require an advance reservation—and bikes are only allowed on the regular service. A Block Island Ferry Bloody Mary is a favorite beverage for some riders, but it's not recommended for the easily seasick.

The 62-mile self-guided Blossom Trail driving tour takes in Fresno-area orchards, citrus groves, and vineyards during spring blossom season. The trail passes through small towns and past rivers, lakes, and canals. The most colorful and aromatic time to go is from late February to mid-March, when almond, plum, apple, apricot, and peach blossoms shower the landscape with shades of white, pink, and red. After the blossoms mature, the route is known as the Fruit Trail.

You can witness the everyday abundance of the Modesto area with a visit here; on offer are tasty samples, a film about almond growing, and many roasts and flavors of almonds, as well as other nuts.

The story is a fairytale of sorts, starting with a young girl's fantasy of life in the sea, which is enough to lead off a high-energy, crowd-pleasing show that features high dives, dazzling dolphins, and astounding feats of “aquabatics.” Dolphins execute perfectly coordinated leaps, arcs, and splashes. Performers ski atop the backs of two dolphins while another performer in a feathery bird costume performs an aerial ballet. Divers repeatedly leap from two high towers as two acrobats portraying the story's villains perform impressive and repeated synchronized jumps on bungee cords. It's active, it's exciting, it's beautiful, and it's a show that blends everything SeaWorld does best above and below the water. For people with disabilities: Ask an attendant about seating for wheelchair users toward the front. Arrive 20 minutes before showtime for the best seats, or invest in Signature Show Seating.

This day spa just south of the Guadalupe District is known for having one of the most popular vegetarian restaurants in town (the specialty is raw, organic fare), plus a great little boutique and comprehensive child-care services. Other big strengths of Body are the dance classes and yoga school, with an extensive slate of classes like body sculpting, personal training, and Pilates. The spa here offers the full range of treatments that you'll find at the bigger resort properties, but at lower prices than at most. The staff is friendly and the space unpretentious. Consider body wraps, facials, and Thai, Swedish, and Japanese massages in addition to Rolfing, Reiki, craniosacral therapy, and prenatal massage. Also popular are the lemon-verbena body glow, and custom facials using top lines of holistic products. It's $85 for a 60-minute massage; the gym has cardiovascular machines, free weights, and weight-training equipment.

If you like sweets or have kids in tow, keep an eye out for this bakery, which stocks a mind-boggling array of treats.

This 12-acre beach park is popular with local families who enjoy the lovely Brazilian-walnut hardwood boardwalk, plethora of parking spots, and sail-shade canopy-covered walkways and benches. Kids will get a kick out of the playground and adorable large sea turtle sculpture (grown-ups will appreciate that it was made of repossessed metal from an oil rig by a local artist). Free beach wheelchairs are available, as are umbrellas and lounge chair rentals for a small fee, and a concession dishes up sandwiches, salads, and snacks like ice cream. Divers love the four sunken ships off the coast as part of Florida's artificial reefs program. Amenities: lifeguards; food and drink; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: snorkeling; sunrise; sunset; swimming.

Branching east off Scenic Byway 12 (see the Bryce Canyon National Park chapter) in Boulder, Burr Trail travels through the Circle Cliffs area of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument into Capitol Reef. The views are of backcountry canyons and gulches. The road is paved between Boulder and the eastern boundary of Capitol Reef. It leads into a hair-raising set of switchbacks—not suitable for RVs or trailers—that ascend 800 feet in ½ mile. Before attempting to drive this route, check with the Capitol Reef Visitor Center for road conditions—it can be impassable in wet or snowy weather. From Boulder to its intersection with Notom-Bullfrog Road the route is 36 miles long.

Interpretive signs explain the geology of the rock layers visible on the ½-mi loop of the Cap Rock Nature Trail, which begins on Cains Coulee Road, a few miles from the park entrance. The trail affords excellent views of a natural rock bridge. Beginning at the campground, the 1.5-mi Diane Gabriel Trail loops through both badlands and prairie terrain. At the halfway point a duck-billed-dinosaur fossil is embedded in a cliff. The.5-mi Kinney Coulee Trail starts about 4 mi south of the park entrance and leads 300 feet down a canyon. The terrain here is a bit more forested than elsewhere in the park, but the rock formations are the real stars.

White sand beaches, blue-green waters, and a tall lighthouse mark this quiet beach at the southern tip of Cape Lookout National Seashore. A boat is the only way to get here. Passenger ferries leave from Harkers Island and Beaufort, while passenger and vehicle ferries leave from Davis and Atlantic. Land on the sound side, then walk across a path to the beach, where you'll be greeted by a long beach strand full of seashells, including large whelk shells. In season, you can also climb the lighthouse tower or tour a museum in the keeper's quarters. Amenities: toilets. Best for: solitude; sunrise; sunset; swimming; walking.

A reef break draws surfers to this beach, popularly known as George's, and there are great cafés and restaurants nearby, such as Las Olas and Ki's. Stones run along the highway but then give way to a nice swath of sand. A walk south provides access to some of Solana Beach's secluded coves. Pay attention to the incoming tide, or you may have to wade or swim back to the parking lot. The beach begins at the parking lot immediately north of the cliffs at Solana Beach. Your best bet for a nearby coastal hotel is Cardiff by the Sea Lodge. Amenities: lifeguards, parking (fee), showers, toilets. Best for: surfing, swimming.

A vigorous but nontechnical 1½-mile scramble up the slickrock (smooth, rather than slippery, sandstone), this path leads to a nearly 360-degree view of red rock country. Follow the cairns (rock piles marking the trail) and look for the footholds in the rock. Carry plenty of water: though short, the trail offers little shade and the pitch is steep. You can see the Verde Valley and Mingus Mountain in the distance. Look for the barely discernible "J" etched on the hillside marking the former ghost town of Jerome 30 miles away.