Things to do in USA
-
FEATURED
Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain Trails
15 days (Jackson (Wyoming))
Explore Yellowstone, the Rocky Mountains and hike the Grand Canyon.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$3,190 - All things to do
-
Fortymile River
River Historic Fortymile River, designated as Fortymile National Wild River, offers an excellent escape into scenic wilderness for paddlers experienced in lining their canoes around rapids. It's also a step back into Alaska's gold-rush era; the river passes abandoned mining communities, including Franklin, Steele Creek and Fortymile, as well as some present-day mining operations.
The best place to start paddling is at the bridge over South Fork, because the access points south of here on Taylor Hwy are often too shallow for an enjoyable trip. Many canoeists paddle the 40 miles from South Fork bridge to the bridge over O'Brien Creek, at Mile 113 of Taylor Hwy. This two- to…
reviewed
-
A
Tunnels Beach
A hot spot for snorkeling and diving, Tunnels Beach is a wide, horseshoe-shaped fringing reef with fantastic underwater life viewable during calm summer seas. During such conditions, you can start snorkeling near the east point and let the current carry you westward. It's more adventurous (and less crowded) than Ke'e Beach.
In winter, high surf conditions mean a tubular break (hence the name Tunnels) for expert surfers and perilous risk for the rest of us. Dangerous rip currents prevail from October to May. It was here on October 21, 2003 that competitive surfer Bethany Hamilton, then 13, lost her left arm in a shark attack. Undaunted, Bethany resumed her surfing career,…
reviewed
-
Small-Group Photography Walking Tour of NYC
Varies (Departs New York City, New York)
by Viator
Join a professional photographer on this New York City photography tour for a one-of-kind experience you’ll never forget! Each photography workshop focuses on a…Not LP reviewed
from USD$100.00 -
Loft Mountain
The landscape of Loft Mountain ranges from bucolic grassland to challenging hills and is home to a variety of wildlife, especially deer and bears. Here you'll find a wayside, camp store, gas station, picnic area and campground that's much less crowded and more secluded than Big Meadows. A 4.4km (2.7mi) nature hike loops around the northeast summit of Loft Mountain and makes for an enjoyable family excursion.
Getting to the trailhead takes a bit of doing, however. Park at the Loft Mountain wayside lot and walk north on Skyline Drive. After passing the Patterson Ridge Trail on the left, look for a dirt road on the right. Take that road past the PATC maintenance building to…
reviewed
-
B
Lyon Arboretum
Nature trails and a Hawaiian ethnobotanical garden.
reviewed
-
C
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
This recently re-done $28-million art museum and 400-seat theatre opened in the 1936. The museum's collection is surprisingly sophisticated with some terrific Latin American art and photography, and a great series, in the original, pebbled marble wing, by local artist Eric Bransby on the history of navigation. But these are just some of the 23,000 pieces in its permanent collection
There are Mexican clay figures, Native American basketry and quilts, wood-cut prints from social justice artist Leopoldo Mendez, terrific abstract work from local artists such as Vance Kirkland and Floyd Tunson. Its biggest and most famous work is Richard Diebenkorn's Urbana No. 4, an abstract…
reviewed
-
D
River Esplanade
The developers looking to cash in on River East Center were given a mandate by the city: for the proposed shopping area to be approved, the company would have to leave the River Esplanade to the Chicago Park District. It was a good deal for both parties, and the River Esplanade makes an excellent place to take a break from your hectic shopping/sightseeing schedule. Beginning with the oddly proportioned curving staircase at the northeast tower of the Michigan Ave Bridge, the landscaped walkway extends east along the river past the Sheraton Hotel. Every hour on the hour, from 10am to 2pm and again from 5pm to midnight, the esplanade’s Centennial Fountain shoots a massive…
reviewed
-
Sex and the City Hotspots Tour
3 hours 30 minutes (Departs New York City, New York)
by Viator
Follow in the fancy footsteps of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda on a 'Sex and the City' tour! You'll conquer New York City and drink where the girls…Not LP reviewed
-
E
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, this house of culture is the only museum in the country that’s dedicated to both historic and contemporary design. The collection is housed in the 64-room mansion built by billionaire Andrew Carnegie in 1901. The museum closed in 2011 for a two-year renovation and expansion. Check the website for updates.
reviewed
-
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Experiencing Alaska Native culture first hand in the Bush is logistically complicated and expensive. Instead, come to this 11-hectare (26-acre) center and see how humans survived, and thrived, before central heating.
The main building houses exhibits on traditional arts and sciences. It also features various performances. Among them, the staccato Alaghanak song, lost for 50 years - the center collected bits and pieces of the traditional song from different tribal elders and reconstructed it. Outside, examples of typical structures from the Aleut, Yupik, Tlingit and other tribes are arranged around a picturesque lake. Guides explain the ancient architects' cunning…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
F
Hawaii's Plantation Village
The lives of the people who came to Hawaii to work on the sugarcane plantations are showcased by Hawaii's Plantation Village. The setting is particularly evocative, as Waipahu was one of O'ahu's last plantation towns, and its rusty sugar mill, which operated until 1995, still looms on a knoll directly above this site.
The site encompasses homes and buildings typical of plantation villages of the early 20th century. Period furnishings illustrate the lifestyles of the different ethnic groups - Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Puerto Rican and Filipino. The Chinese cookhouse (c 1909) was originally on this site, and the Japanese shrine (1914) was moved here;…
reviewed
-
Alcatraz Tour plus Muir Woods, Giant Redwoods and Sausalito Day Trip
8 hours (Departs San Francisco, California)
by Viator
Contrast the brutal austerity of Alcatraz with the sheer beauty of Muir Woods and Sausalito on this enthralling day trip from San Francisco. It's a whole day of…Not LP reviewed
from USD$89.99 -
G
Botanicas
The storefronts promise to help in matters of love, work and sometimes 'immigration services,' but trust us, there are no marriage counselors or INS guys in these shops. Welcome to the wide world of vodou. As you enter you'll probably get a funny look, but be courteous, curious and respectful and you should be welcomed.
Before you browse, forget your stereotypes about pins and dolls, because vodou is no scarier than wine turning into blood on Communion. Like many traditional religions, vodou recognizes supernatural forces in everyday objects, powers that are both distinct and part of a single overarching deity. Ergo, you'll see shrines to Jesus next to altars to…
reviewed
-
Kayaking - Tikchik Lakes
In the park's northern half, and much more remote than the Wood River lakes, are these six lakes. Flat-water kayaking is popular on these lakes, and those interested in river floating can get dropped off on Nishlik or Upnuk Lake and travel along the Tikchik River into Tikchik Lake. You can be picked up there or continue your journey by floating the Nuyakuk and Nushagak Rivers to one of several Alaska Native villages where air-charter flights are available back to Dillingham.
The upper lakes are more challenging and more costly to experience. But the scenery - mountains, pinnacle peaks and hanging valleys surrounding the lakes - is impressive, and there will be far less…
reviewed
-
H
Skyscraper Museum
Fans of phallic architecture will love this compact, high-gloss gallery, examining skyscrapers as objects of design, engineering and urban renewal. Temporary exhibitions dominate the space, with one recent offering showcasing the world's next generation of 'Supertalls.' The permanent collection includes information on the design and construction of the Empire State Building, as well as of the World Trade Center.
The museum is also home to the cutting-edge technology known as VIVA – the Visual Index to the Virtual Archive. This visual-based interface uses a 3-D computer model of Manhattan as a clickable map, allowing users to see the city’s past and present, and to explore…
reviewed
-
I
Pier 45
Still known to many as the Christopher Street Pier, this is an 850ft-long finger of concrete, spiffily renovated with a grass lawn, flowerbeds, a comfort station, an outdoor cafe, tented shade shelters and a stop for the New York Water Taxi as part of the ongoing Hudson River Park project. And it’s a magnet for downtowners of all stripes, from local families with toddlers in daylight to mobs of young gay kids who flock here at night from all over the city (and beyond) because of the pier’s long-established history as a gay cruising hangout. That’s been the source of ongoing conflict in the neighborhood, where moneyed West Village residents say that the clutches of youths…
reviewed
-
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
In the summer of 1885, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens rented an old inn near the town of Cornish and came to this beautiful spot in the Connecticut River Valley to work. He returned summer after summer, and eventually bought the place in 1892. The estate, where he lived until his death in 1907, is now open to the public as the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Saint-Gaudens is best known for his public monuments, such as the Sherman Monument in New York’s Central Park and the Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Park in Washington DC. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the Robert Gold Shaw Memorial across from the State House in Boston. Recasts of all of these…
reviewed
-
Statue of Liberty Tall Ship Sailing Cruise
Varies (Departs New York City, New York)
by Viator
Step aboard a historic sailing ship and cruise around New York Harbor, taking in magnificent views of this grand city by day, at sunset or by night. You will…Not LP reviewed
-
J
Cloisters Museum & Gardens
On a hilltop overlooking the Hudson River, the Cloisters is a mesmerizing mish-mash of various European monasteries. Built in the 1930s to house the Metropolitan Museum’s medieval treasures, it also contains the beguiling 16th century tapestry The Hunt of the Unicorn. Summer is the best time to visit, when the garden's flowers and herbs are in bloom.
The frescoes, tapestries and paintings are set in galleries that sit around an airy courtyard, connected by grand archways and topped with Moorish terra-cotta roofs. Among the many rare treasures you’ll get to gaze at are a 9th-century gold plaque of St John the Evangelist and an English-made ivory sculpture of the Virgin…
reviewed
-
K
NBC Studio Tours
The NBC TV network has its headquarters in the 70-story GE Building that looms over the Rockefeller Center ice-skating rink (which is transformed into a cafe in the summer months). The popular TV show created by Tina Fey, 30 Rock, gets its name from this building (and is a fictional take on Saturday Night Live behind the scenes). And the Today show broadcasts live, 7am to 10am daily, from a glass-enclosed, street-level studio near the fountain, drawing plenty of admirers below who thrill over waving to and hamming it up for the camera. You’re free to join them – or instead opt for a tour of the NBC studios, which leaves from inside the NBC Experience Store (where you can…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
World Trade Center Walking Tour
2 hours (Departs New York City, New York)
by Viator
The World Trade Center once stood tall and prominent, one of the world’s largest financial complexes and a symbol of New York City. This New York City walking…Not LP reviewed
-
L
Guardian Angel Cathedral
If you get the urge to save your soul Sunday morning after letting it all go to hell Saturday night, you won’t have to venture far off the Strip. Adorned with stained glass murals and mosaics, this small Catholic church, which resembles a ski chalet, looks rather alien on the Strip. Even more strangely, it was built with mob money from Moe Dalitz, who donated funds expressly so that graveyard shift workers at casino hotels would have someplace to worship. The iconic 1960s structure was designed by SoCal modernist Paul Revere Williams, the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects, who also collaborated on the landmark Googie-style Theme…
reviewed
-
M
Henry Ford Museum
Few could ignore the historical impact of one of earliest artifacts of the 20th century: the first ever Henry Ford automobile. The museum remains much as Ford originally planned and is - surprise! - a massive shrine to the automobile and its impact on America. The Wienermobile used in 1936 by Oscar Meyer hot dogs is a particular knockout.
Henry Ford and 11 associates opened the Ford Motor Company in 1903. They kicked off their tiny operation in a converted Detroit wagon shop and employed 10 people. Today, Ford is the second largest car and truck maker in the world, with a staff of 370,000.
Ford was born and raised in Dearborn, a small town not far from Detroit. In 1915,…
reviewed
-
Boston Freedom Trail Day Trip from New York
13 hours (Departs New York City, New York)
by Viator
Take a day trip from New York to explore Boston, a city of culture and old world charm. You'll follow the famous red-brick Freedom Trail through downtown…Not LP reviewed
from USD$149.00 -
N
Kilohana Plantation
Amid sprawling, manicured lawns, Kilohana Plantation is now a tourist magnet featuring Gaylord's restaurant, estate tours and one-stop upscale shopping. Sugar baron Gaylord Parke Wilcox, once the head honcho of Grove Farm Homestead, built the house in 1935. Trivia buffs take note: the Wilcox family was the model for James Michener's famous epic, Hawaii.
The 15,000-sq-ft Tudor-style mansion has been painstakingly restored and its legacy as one of Kaua'i's distinguished historic houses is unquestioned. Antique-filled rooms and Oriental carpets laid over hardwood floors lead you past cases of poi pounders, koa bowls and other Hawaiiana to a row of gallery shops.
Clydesdale…
reviewed