Other sights in USA
-
A
Occidental Square
Occidental Square, with its cobblestone plaza flanked by unusually handsome Victorian buildings, is one of the nicest places in this area. Visit Glasshouse Studio to see local artists’ impressive works of blown, cast and lamp-worked glass. If you need a shot of caffeine or a chance to catch your breath, make the pilgrimage to Zeitgeist. This coffeehouse is a local haunt of artists and architects. Along S Jackson St you’ll find an excellent concentration of antique stores and some of the city’s most prestigious galleries.
reviewed
-
Dr Evermor's Sculpture Park
Dr Evermor’s Sculpture Park sprawls 11 miles northwest of Madison on US 12. The doc welds old pipes, carburetors and other salvaged metal into a hallucinatory world of futuristic creatures and structures. The crowning glory is the giant, egg-domed Forevertron, cited by Guinness as the world’s largest scrap-metal sculpture. The good doctor himself – aka Tom Every – is often around and happy to chat about his birds, dragons and other pieces of folk art. Look for sculptures along the highway marking the entrance.
reviewed
-
B
San Antonio Botanical Gardens
This expertly tended, 33-acre garden complex, northeast of downtown, showcases native Texas flora. There's also a fragrance garden and a wonderful conservatory, with a bit of everything from equatorial rainforest to alpine flowers to a tropical lagoon. The strolling garden was designed and created by a 26th-generation gardener and one of Japan's living national treasures from the island of Kyūshū, specifically the city of Kumamoto, which is also home to one of Japan's most revered traditional gardens, Suizenji-kōen. A few of that famous garden's elements appear here. Call or go online for a calendar of special events, anything from concerts under the stars to bonsai…
reviewed
-
River North Galleries
The River North district is the most established of Chicago’s three gallery-rich zones (West Loop and Pilsen are the other two), with art from top international names and price tags to match. It claims to be the largest concentration of private galleries in the US outside Manhattan. Most are very welcoming, and together they open their doors for a festive art hop on the first Thursday of every month (which is held in conjunction with the younger, edgier West Loop galleries). Pick up a gallery map at any of the venues to help find artwork to your liking.
reviewed
-
C
Institute of Texan Cultures
Thirty cultures, including Native American and Mexican, have made Texas what it is; explore them at the museum of the Institute of Texan Cultures. The Latin-American influence is fairly prominent in San Antonio, so this museum can be an eye-opener to visitors learning about Texas' diverse background. The main exhibit, spread out over an enormous single-floor space, has sections devoted to more than two dozen ethnic and national groups of settlers in Texas, including Anglo-Americans, Germans, European Jews, Irish and African Americans.
Be sure to catch one of the daily shows in the Bluebonnet Puppet Theater or the 360- degree Dome Theater. The Back 40 Area, behind the main…
reviewed
-
D
Nordic Heritage Museum
This museum preserves the history of the northern Europeans who settled in Ballard and the Pacific Northwest, as well as bringing in special exhibits of new work by contemporary Scandinavian artists. It’s the only museum in the USA that commemorates the history of settlers from all five Scandinavian countries. A permanent exhibit, with one room for each country, features costumes, photographs and maritime equipment, while a second gallery is devoted to changing exhibitions. The museum also offers Scandinavian language instruction, lectures and films.
To get here, take bus 17 from downtown at 4th Ave and Union St, get off at 32nd Ave NW and walk one block east on NW 67th…
reviewed
-
E
Hl Hunley
HL Hunley submarine, in a faceless warehouse at a working dockyard north of downtown, rests in a 90,000-gallon tank of water like some strange top-secret science experiment. In 1864 the Confederate Hunley completed the world's first submarine mission by sinking the Union's USS Housatonic, only to vanish immediately afterwards. In 1995 it was discovered off Sullivan's Island and carefully brought to shore. On weekends you can visit the Hunley and see creepy facial reconstructions of her eight crew members.
reviewed
-
F
Cooper Dual Language Academy
Murals are a traditional Mexican art form, and they’re splashed all over Pilsen’s buildings. Check out the exterior wall of the Cooper Dual Language Academy, the canvas for a 1990s tile mosaic that shows a diverse range of Mexican images, from a portrait of farmworker advocate Dolores Huerta to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Each summer, art students add more panels. Local artist Jose Guerrero leads the highly recommended Pilsen Mural Tours where you can learn more about the neighborhood’s images.
reviewed
-
G
Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven
From 1957 to 1967 this humble building was the home of the legendary Chess Records, a temple of blues and a spawning ground of rock ’n’ roll. The Chess brothers, two Polish Jews, ran the recording studio that saw – and heard – the likes of Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Koko Taylor and others. Chuck Berry recorded four top-10 singles here, and the Rolling Stones named a song ‘2120 S Michigan Ave’ after a recording session at this spot in 1964. (Rock trivia buffs will know that the Stones named themselves after the Muddy Waters song ‘Rolling Stone.’)
reviewed
-
H
Dusable Museum of African American History
This was the first independent museum in the country dedicated to African American art, history and culture. The collection features African American artworks and photography, permanent exhibits that illustrate African Americans’ experiences from slavery through the Civil Rights movement, and rotating exhibits that cover topics such as Chicago blues music or the Black Panther movement. Housed in a 1910 building, the museum takes its name from Chicago’s first permanent settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a French Canadian of Haitian descent.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
I
Carson Pirie Scott & Co
Carson Pirie Scott & Co was originally criticized as being too ornamental to serve as a retail building. You be the judge, as you admire Louis Sullivan’s superb metalwork around the main entrance at State and Madison Sts. Though Sullivan insisted that ‘form follows function,’ it’s hard to see his theory at work in this lavishly flowing cast iron. Amid the flowing botanical and geometric forms, look for Sullivan’s initials, LHS. The century-old department store vacated the building in 2007, and it has become office space.
reviewed
-
J
Illinois Centennial Memorial Column
What’s that giant phallic thing in the middle of the road, causing traffic to swerve every which way? Excellent question. Most locals have no idea. Turns out it’s a monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood, by a gent named Henry Bacon – the same architect who created the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The eagle atop the Doric column echoes that on the Illinois state flag. The reliefs of Native Americans, explorers, farmers and laborers represent the great changes the state experienced during its first century.
reviewed
-
K
Stimson-Green Mansion
One of the first homes on First Hill, the baronial Stimson-Green Mansion is an English Tudor-style mansion completed in 1901 by lumber and real-estate developer CD Stimson. Built from brick, stucco and wood, this stately home is now owned by Stimson’s granddaughter and used for private catered events such as weddings and themed dinners. The interior rooms are decorated to reflect the different design styles popular at the turn of the 20th century. To register for a tour, call the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
reviewed
-
L
Frye Art Museum
This small museum on First Hill preserves the collection of Charles and Emma Frye. The Fryes collected more than 1000 paintings, mostly 19th- and early-20th-century European and American pieces, and a few Alaskan and Russian artworks. If this inspires a stifled yawn, think again. Since its 1997 expansion, the Frye has gained a hipness that it once lacked; fresh ways of presenting its artwork, music performances, poetry readings and interesting rotating exhibits from traveling painters to local printmakers make the museum a worthwhile stop.
reviewed
-
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
A surprise awaits near Collinsville, 8 miles east of East St Louis: classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site with the likes of Stonehenge, the Acropolis and the Egyptian pyramids is Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Cahokia protects the remnants of North America's largest prehistoric city (20,000 people, with suburbs), dating from AD 1200. While the 65 earthen mounds, including the enormous Monk's Mound and the 'Woodhenge' sun calendar, are not overwhelmingly impressive in themselves, the whole site is worth seeing.
reviewed
-
Mt Monadnock
This commanding 3165ft peak can be seen from 50 miles away in any direction and is the area’s spiritual vertex. Complete with a visitor center (where you can get good hiking information), 12 miles of ungroomed cross-country ski trails and over 40 miles of hiking trails (6 miles of which reach the summit), the Mt Monadnock State Park is an outdoor wonderland. The White Dot Trail (which turns into the White Cross Trail) from the visitor center to the bare-topped peak is about a 3½-hour hike round-trip.
reviewed
-
Long Key State Recreation Area
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo-limbo, crabwood and poisonwood trees; a picnic area fronting a long, lovely sweep of teal water; and lots of wading birds in the mangroves. Two short nature trails head through distinct plant communities. The park also has a 1.5-mile canoe trail through a saltwater tidal lagoon and rents out canoes (hour/day $5/10) and ocean-going kayaks (two/four hours $17.20/32.25).
reviewed
-
M
Corner & Sanitary Market Buildings
Across Pike Place from the Main Arcade are the 1912 Corner Market Building and the Sanitary Market Building, so named because they were the first of the market buildings in which live animals were prohibited. It’s now a maze of ethnic groceries and great little eateries, including the Three Girls Bakery, which has a sit-down area (it’s always packed) and a take-out window with some of the best breads and sandwiches around. This is also the home of Left Bank Books, an excellent source for all your radical reading needs.
reviewed
-
Vietnamese Farmers’ Market
Probably the most pleasant way to experience local Vietnamese culture is by eating its delicious food, and try not to miss the local markets. The closest you’ll come to witnessing Saigon on a Saturday morning (by the way, lots of local Vietnamese, being southern refugees, still call it ‘Saigon’) is the Vietnamese Farmers’ Market, also known as the ‘squat market’ thanks to the ladies in non la (conical straw hats) squatting over their fresh, wonderful-smelling produce.
reviewed
-
N
Astor Street
In 1882 Bertha and Potter Palmer were the power couple of Chicago. His web of businesses included the city’s best hotel and a huge general merchandise store that he later sold to a clerk named Marshall Field. When they later relocated north from Prairie Ave to a crenellated castle of a mansion at what is now 1350 N Lake Shore Dr, the Palmers set off a lemminglike rush of Chicago’s wealthy to the neighborhood around them. The mansions sitting along Astor St, especially the 1300 to 1500 blocks, reflect the grandeur of that heady period.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Thanks-giving Square
For all its din, drive and shopping malls, Dallas has a surprisingly quiet side where even credit cards are rendered powerless – a triangular piece of prime downtown real estate set aside for spiritual renewal and reflection. Thanks-Giving Square was established by the Thanks-Giving Foundation as a 'place where people can use gratitude as a basis for dialogue, mutual understanding and healing.'
Designed by Philip Johnson, the tranquil center includes a meditation garden, a Wall of Praise, an interdenominational Chapel of Thanksgiving and a museum of gratitude.
reviewed
-
George Griffin Pottery
If you head south via Hwy 319 toward Sopchoppy, nestled at the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest, and heed the simple blue-and-white road sign announcing ‘Pottery,’ you’ll be in for a serious treat. George Griffin Pottery is the home, studio and gallery of the self-taught Mr Griffin, a peaceful fellow who has created a unique, wooded sanctuary and, luckily, extends an open invitation to any passerby with an interest in checking out his pots, mugs, jars, plates and various other glazed and gorgeous creations.
reviewed
-
O
Watergate Complex
The Watergate is an iconic bit of Washingtonia. The riverfront complex of private apartments, designer boutiques and deluxe hotel is an integral feature of the city’s facade. And then there’s that little break-in that occurred here in 1972, when the Democratic National Committee headquarters was raided by Nixon’s Committee to Re-elect the President – CREEP. Monica Lewinsky, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Condoleezza Rice have all lived here. As of writing, the interior of the complex was closed to the public for renovations through 2009.
reviewed
-
Craters of the Moon National Monument
A one-hour drive southeast of Ketchum, Craters of the Moon National Monument is an 83-sq-mile volcanic showcase. Lava flows and tubes and cinder cones are found along the 7-mile Crater Loop Rd, accessible by car or bicycle from April to November. In winter it's popular with skiers and snowshoers. Short trails lead from Crater Loop Rd to crater edges, onto cinder cones and into tunnels and lava caves. A surreal campground near the entrance station has running water only in summer.
reviewed
-
P
Swedish American Museum Center
The permanent collection at this small storefront museum focuses on the lives of the Swedes who originally settled Chicago. In that sense it reflects the dreams and aspirations of many of the groups who have poured into the city since it was founded. You can check out some of the items people felt were important to bring with them on their journey to America. Butter churns, traditional bedroom furniture, religious relics and more are all included. The children’s section lets kids climb around on a steamship and milk fake cows.
reviewed