Sights in USA
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Canal Walk
Just northeast of the intersection of Washington Blvd and Pacific Ave, it's a step through the looking glass from the traffic-clogged roar of Washington Blvd to the bougainvillea-lined bungalows bordering Venice's once-plentiful canals. Wandering the narrow, impossibly cute bridges and walkways, it's tough to keep envy in check as dog-walkers, surfers and grandmas pass by, enjoying their tranquil patch of paradise.
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B
Mt Tamalpais State Park
Mt Tamalpais State Park encompasses 6300 acres of parklands, plus over 200 miles of trails; get a map and don't miss East Peak. Panoramic Hwy climbs from Hwy 1 through the park to Stinson Beach, a mellow seaside town with a great beach. Park headquarters are at Pantoll Station, the nexus of many trails and location of a wooded first-come, first-served campground.
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Pillar Mountain
From the top of this 1270ft mountain behind the city you'll have excellent views of the surrounding mountains, ocean, beaches and islands. One side seems to plunge straight down to the harbor below, and the other overlooks the green interior of Kodiak Island. Pick up the bumpy dirt road to the top by walking or driving north up Thorsheim Ave and turning left on Maple Ave, which runs into Pillar Mountain Rd.
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C
Bradbury Building
This 1893 building is one of LA's undisputed architectural jewels. Its red-brick facade conceals a stunning galleried atrium with inky filigree grillwork, a rickety birdcage elevator and yellow brick walls that glisten golden in the afternoon light filtering through the tent-shaped glass roof. Location scouts love the place, whose star-turn came in the cult flick Blade Runner.
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University of Chicago
Faculty and students have racked up more than 80 Nobel prizes within U of C's hallowed halls. The economics and physics departments lay claim to most. It's also where the nuclear age began: Enrico Fermi and his Manhattan Project cronies built a reactor and carried out the world's first controlled atomic reaction on December 2, 1942. The Nuclear Energy sculpture, by Henry Moore, marks the spot where it blew its stack.
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E
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
This is no dusty old historical museum. Big, glitzy and still relatively new, it shows off the Lone Star State's history, all the way from when it used to be part of Mexico up to the present, with high-tech interactive exhibits and fun theatrics.
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Manhattan Beach
If Manhattan Beach had its own magazine, it would surely be called Gorgeous Living. Classy beachside cottages, bougainvillea-lined walk-streets, bustling sidewalk patios, friendly boutiques, surfers silhouetted against the setting sun, and babies who never seem to cry – all within half a mile of a portrait-worthy pier. It’s that impossibly perfect.
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Crystal Pier
Up in Pacific Beach (or PB) the activity spreads further inland, especially along Garnet Ave, with bars, restaurants and vintage clothing stores. At the ocean end of Garnet Ave, Crystal Pier is worth a gander. Built in the 1920s, it's still home to a cluster of rustic cabins built out over the waves.
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Pit 91
Excavations at the La Brea Tar Pits continue every summer when you can watch paleontologists at work in Pit 91 . At other times, they're fussing over bones in the glass-encased laboratory inside the Page Museum itself, cleaning, identifying, cataloging and storing their discoveries.
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Bear Creek Winery
Wineries are scarcer than vineyards in Alaska, but this impressive family-run operation bottles some fine berry-based wines, plus fireweed mead and rhubarb vino. It conducts tours and tastings daily in the summer and sells its product on-site.
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Mission Santa Barbara
Established in 1786, California's hilltop 'Queen of the Missions' was the only one to escape secularization under Mexican rule. Look for Chumash artwork inside the vaulted church and a moody cemetery out back.
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K
Pittock Mansion
This grand and beautiful 1914 mansion was built by pioneer/entrepreneur Henry Pittock, who revitalized the Oregonian newspaper. Guided tours are available, but it's worth visiting the (free) grounds simply to have a picnic while taking in the spectacular views.
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Santa Barbara Museum of Art
These downtown galleries hold an impressive, well-edited collection of contemporary California artists, modern masters like Matisse and Chagall, 20th-century photography and Asian art, with provocative special exhibits. Sundays are pay-what-you-wish.
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Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat, it rewards you for your effort in getting there with amazing snorkeling, diving, bird-watching and star-gazing.
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Oregon Museum of Science & Industry
This excellent museum offers hands-on science exhibits for kids, along with other temporary exhibits. There's also an Omnimax theater, planetarium shows and a submarine tour (all separate charge). Parking is $2.
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O
Coit Tower
Up the Filbert Street steps at Coit Tower, you'll find 360-degree views of downtown and wrap-around 1930s murals glorifying SF workers - once denounced as Communist, but now a landmark.
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Cabrillo National Monument
Enjoy stunning bay panoramas from the monument, which honors the leader of the first Spanish exploration of the West Coast. The nearby 1854 Old Point Loma Lighthouse helped guide ships until 1891 and is now a museum.
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New Orleans Museum of Art
Inside the park, the elegant museum was opened in 1911 and is well worth a visit both for its special exhibitions and top-floor galleries of African, Asian (don't miss the outstanding Qing dynasty snuff-bottle collection), Native American and Oceanic art. Its sculpture gardencontains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.
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R
Oregon Zoo
In summer, ride the Zoo Train from the rose gardens to this excellent zoo. There's a primate house, a 'penguinarium' and plenty of specialty exhibits. Enclosures are spacious and semi-natural, and big-name music concerts take place on the zoo's lawns in summer.
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Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory
Get the inside scoop, where tours and a moo-vie about the hippie founders are topped off with a taste tease of the latest flavor.
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Natural History Museum
Dinosaur skeletons, an impressive rattlesnake collection, an earthquake exhibit and nature-themed movies in a giant-screen cinema.
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Hoyt Arboretum
Twelve miles of trails wind through this 187-acre ridgetop garden above the zoo. It's home to over 1000 species of both native and exotic trees, and offers easy walks any time of year.
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Kodiak Fisheries Research Center
Opened in 1998 to house the fisheries research being conducted by various agencies, it has an interesting lobby that includes displays, touch tanks and a large aquarium.
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Lotusland
Book ahead for Lotusland, the legacy of eccentric Madame Ganna Walska; two-hour walking tours take in rare botanical species.
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Key West Aquarium
Gaze at marine life.
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