Sights in USA
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Downtown Berkeley
Berkeley's downtown, which centers on Shattuck Ave between University Ave and Dwight Way, has far fewer traces of the city's tie-dyed reputation. The area has emerged as a bustling area with numerous shops and restaurants, restored public buildings and a burgeoning arts district. At the center of that district are the acclaimed thespian stomping grounds of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Aurora Theatre Company; nearby are several good movie houses.
reviewed
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A
Farmers Market
The waterfront where writer and adventurer Jack London once raised hell now bears his name. It's hardly a roughshod district anymore, but a tourist-oriented shopping mall dotted with chain restaurants, chain stores and cute little gift shops. The waterfront location is lovely, though, and for that reason it's worth a stroll - especially on Sunday, when a weekly farmers market takes over. Catch a ferry from San Francisco and you'll land just paces away.
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B
Children’s Fairyland
In oak-shaded Lakeside Park, on Lake Merritt’s eastern shore, Children’s Fairyland was apparently Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland. Through adult eyes, it has a weirdly dilapidated charm; little kids love it. The boating center lets you sail or paddle beneath Oakland’s downtown towers. At night, the lake is ringed with little lights, the kind you see decorating Christmas-tree lots.
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C
Japan Center
Entering this oddly charming mall is like walking onto a 1960s Japanese movie set – the fake-rock waterfall, indoor wooden pedestrian bridges, rock gardens and curtained wooden restaurant entryways have hardly aged since the mall's grand opening in 1968. If not for the anachronistic Tare Panda cell-phone charms and Harajuku fashion mags displayed at Kinokuniya Books & Stationery, Japan Center would be a total time warp.
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D
Santa Monica State Beach
There are endless ways to play on the 3.5-mile blanket of strand stretching from Venice Beach in the south to Will Rogers State Beach in the north. To reserve time on a beach volley-ball court, call and confirm applicable fees. For cerebral pursuits, settle in at a first-come first-served chess table at Chess Park, just south of the Santa Monica pier. As of October 2006, smoking is no longer permitted on Santa Monica beaches.
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E
Museum of Contemporary Art
Housed in a building by Arata Isozaki, which many consider his masterpiece, the Museum of Contemporary Art offers headline-grabbing special exhibits; its permanent collection presents heavy hitters from the 1940s to the present. Parking is $9, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. There are two other branches: the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Little Tokyo and at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.
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William J Clinton Presidential Center
Houses the largest archival collection in presidential history, including 80 million pages of documents and two million photographs. Peruse the full-scale replica of the Oval Office, the exhibits on all stages of Clinton's life or the gifts from visiting dignitaries (such as Lance Armstrong's yellow jersey). The entire complex is built to environmentally friendly 'green' standards.
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Chaco Culture National Historical Park
- New Mexico, USA
- Sights › Other
Featuring massive Ancestral Puebloan buildings set in an isolated high-desert environment, intriguing Chaco contains evidence of 5000 years of human occupation. In its prime, the community at Chaco Canyon was a major trading and ceremonial hub for the region - and the city the Puebloan people created here was masterly in its layout and design. Pueblo Bonito is four stories tall and may have had 600 to 800 rooms and kivas
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Libby Museum
At the age of 40, Dr Henry Forrest Libby, a local dentist, began collecting things. In 1912 he built a home for his collections, which later became the eccentric little Libby Museum. Starting with butterflies and moths, the amateur naturalist built up a private natural history collection. Other collections followed, including Abenaki relics and early-American farm and home implements. It lies 3 miles north of Wolfeboro.
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F
Zilker Botanical Garden
These lush gardens cover 31 acres on the south bank of the Colorado River, with displays including natural grottoes, a Japanese garden and a fragrant herb garden. You’ll also find some interesting historical artifacts sprinkled about the site – kind of like an outdoor architectural museum – including a 19th-century pioneer cabin, a cupola that once sat atop a local schoolhouse, and a footbridge moved from Congress Ave.
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G
Field Museum of Natural History
The mammoth Field Museum houses everything but the kitchen sink – beetles, mummies, gemstones, Bushman the stuffed ape. The collection's rockstar is Sue, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex yet discovered. She even gets her own gift shop. Special exhibits, like the 3D movie, cost extra.
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H
Stearns Wharf
The southern end of State St gives way to Stearns Wharf , a rough wooden pier with a few snack and souvenir shops. Built in 1872 by John Peck Stearn, it's the oldest continuously operating wharf on the West Coast. During the 1940s it was owned by Jimmy Cagney and his two brothers. Partly destroyed by a 1998 fire, it has now been restored. Parking is available for around US$2 per hour, with the first 90 minutes free with validation.
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I
El Prado
El Prado. Originally built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, these Spanish colonial buildings are particularly beautiful in the morning and evening. The original exposition halls, which were mostly constructed out of stucco, chicken wire, plaster, hemp and horsehair, were only meant to be temporary. However, they proved so popular that, over the years, they have been gradually replaced with durable concrete replicas.
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J
Camron-Stanford House
In the late 19th century, Lake Merritt was lined with fine homes, only one of which remains: the 1876 Camron-Stanford House . You can take a tour on the second and third Wednesday (11:00 to 16:00) and on the third Sunday (13:00 to 17:00) each month. But the best aspect of the house is really its wonderful lakeside setting and the hint it gives of how Oakland looked in its Victorian heyday, which can be admired from the sidewalk.
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K
Hing Hay Park
If you need a tranquil spot to rest while wandering the ID, Hing Hay Park lends a little green to the otherwise austere district. The traditional Chinese pavilion was a gift from the people of Taipei. On Saturdays in August you can catch a free outdoor movie here beginning at sunset, sponsored by the Seattle Chinatown-International District, which also runs the summer Night Market here; for a full schedule, go to www.cidbia.org.
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L
Muir Woods National Monument
Wander among an ancient stand of the world's tallest trees in 550-acre Muir Woods, 12 miles north of the Golden Gate. The easy 1-mile Main Trail Loop leads past thousand-year-old redwoods at Cathedral Grove and returns via Bohemian Grove. Come midweek to avoid crowds; otherwise arrive early morning or late afternoon. Take Hwy 101 to the Hwy 1 exit, and follow the signs. No camping or picnicking is permitted.
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Kapa'a Beach Park
This relatively unused beach park affords access to clear waters and great snorkeling if you venture past the rocky shore. The views of Maui can be spectacular. The park itself is mostly parking lot, with only a falling-apart wooden picnic pavilion and portable toilets. You will need a county permit to camp, but the beach is rocky and the ground uneven. There is only one really choice spot with a picnic table near the water.
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Des Moines Art Center
The Des Moines Art Center is worth a look both for its interesting architecture and for its collection of modern art including American greats such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. A highlight is IM Pei's sculpture garden, featuring Red Grooms' Germanic 'butter cow'. The museum stays open until 21:00 on Thursdays.
There is also a downtown branch at 800 Walnut Street (at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets).
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Contemporary Arts Collective
One of the most established art galleries at the Arts Factory is the nonprofit Contemporary Arts Collective, which boasts high-quality, engagingly curated exhibits of works by emerging city artists. Trifecta Gallery hosts a variety of national and international artists. S₂ Art Center & Atelier produces limited-edition, fine-art lithographs using antique presses.
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N
Beat Museum
The Beat goes on and on – OK, so it rambles a little – at this truly obsessive collection of SF literary-scene ephemera c 1950–69. The banned edition of Allen Ginsberg's Howl is the ultimate free-speech trophy, and the 1961 check for $10.08 that Jack Kerouac wrote to a liquor store has a certain dark humor, but those Kerouac bobble-head dolls are the real head-shakers.
Enter the museum through a turnstile at the back of the museum store, grab a ramshackle reclaimed theater seat, redolent with the accumulated odors of poets, pot and pets, and watch fascinating films about the Beat era's leading musicians, artists, writers, politicos and undefinable characters.…
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Valley of Fire State Park
The Valley of Fire State Park; is a masterpiece of Southwest desert scenery with psychedelic sandstone carved by wind and water (Atlatl Rock has Native American petroglyphs, too). Detour to White Domes, passing Rainbow Vista and the side road to Fire Canyon and Silica Dome (where Star Trek’s Captain Kirk perished).
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O
Mercer-Williams House
Although Jim Williams, the Savannah art dealer portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the film version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, died back in 1990, his infamous mansion didn't become a museum until 2004. You're not allowed to see the upstairs, where Williams' family still lives, but the downstairs is an interior decorator's fantasy.
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P
MGM Grand Lion Habitat
Inside the casino, this glass-walled habitat showcases up to six magnificent felines daily, all descendants of the movie company's original mascot. The kid-friendly, tropical-themed Rainforest Cafe is nearby.
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Q
Coronado
Hourly ferries shuttle between the Broadway Pier on the Embarcadero to the Coronado Ferry Landing at the foot of 1st St, where Bikes & Beyond rents bicycles, perfect for exploring the side streets of downtown La Jolla and cruising past the historic hotel and beaches.
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R
CNN Center
The headquarters of the cable-TV news service. You might be tempted to take the CNN tour, a behind-the-scenes glance at the 24-hour news organization, but don't be heartbroken if you miss it. Visitors don't get close enough to the action to feel connected. They do, however, get to ride on an enormous escalator that climbs above a food court and into the CNN facility.
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