US - 50 states - what to do About This Page:

[TinkerbellJenn99]

everyone...

My significant other and I decided that we want to visit each state together. This will take quite a bit of time, I am sure, since we both work full time (the US isn't very generous with time away from work). We are looking into stuff to do in each state. Some nature-y and some city stuff - we are both big zoo people and love aquariums.

Since ya'll love to travel, and are from all over, I thought this would be a fantastic place to ask -- what are your favorite things to do in the states?

PS - Alaska and Hawaii are last, just due to the sheer cost.

Thanks bunches!

[bluejn]

NYC christmas time, it's crazy busy but beautiful, rockefellar plaza the tree, the store windows are decorated, Bryant park shopping outside, grand central station shopping, eating, it's just beautiful.

[Her Dotness]

In New Mexico, Santa Fe is also particularly lovely at Christmas. The lavish homes along Camino Monte Sol go all out with real paper bag and candle farolitos, hundreds of them, all handmade and positioned (what most people know as luminarias. A luminaria is actually a huge bonfire atop one of the ridges, also done at Christmas time.). A spectacular sight on Christmas Eve that literally causes traffic jams. A tour is the best way to see the farolito displays.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a pain to get there as you must fly into Albuquerque and then drive an hour northish to get into Santa Fe. You can also take a Mears-type bus called the Shuttlejack which is the cheapest means of getting there from Albuquerque. Trying to fly into Santa Fe is ridiculously expensive for its being a state capital.

At Christmas or not, Santa Fe lives up to its nickname of the City Different. Marvelous place to walk, but the altitude can get to you if you don't take frequent breaks, and you definitely want to limit alcohol consumption strictly. Most people can get tipsy on very little alcohol due to the effects of the 7000 ft. altitude. Try to go in the fall or spring for fewer tourist mobs.

Favorite sights of mine there are the Miraculous Staircase in the Loretto Chapel which is now deconsecrated and attached to a Best Western that used to house a Catholic girls school; the Georgia O'Keeffe museum; the Cathedral; and Governor's Palace on the famed Plaza. The Indian museum near the Cathedral is also interesting.

For fabulous New Mexican food, try Cafe Pasqual a short walk off the Plaza. Their huevos rancheros are superb. Get those "Christmas tree" with both red and green chile sauces. And Tomasita's in the old train station is equally fantastic for lunch or dinner with killer margaritas.

As for info about St. Louis where I now live, Oh Toodles! can do better than I by far at describing the St. Louis zoo. About the only thing I can tell you is it has free admission as does the nearby art museum. Toodles's thread "What We Do In the Lou" will give you a terrific preview of the zoo.

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...we-do-lou.html

[HiddenMickey]

Have you thought about trying out a National Park in each state you visit? There are National Park passports you can get and then have filled in at each park you visit.

For those that don't have a national park, find a State park to visit.

For North Carolina, we have a great variety of landscapes and experiences. Beach, Mountains, Rural, City. We do have a really nice zoo, but it's not really near much else.

Here's two suggestions:
Wilmington area. Stay at one of the nearby beaches like Oak Island, visit the Fort Fisher Aquarium, day trip to Bald Head Island and rent bikes to ride around, USS North Carolina Battleship memorial, as possibilities. If you do it at the right time of year, you could come during a festival in Wilmington.

Asheville area. Biltmore Estate and Winery. Whitewater rafting nearby, hike in the Pisgah forest and look for waterfalls, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Arboretum, Folk Art Center

[Her Dotness]

I suppose I really should suggest what to see in my native state, Kansas. Truth be told, there's nothing much to see other than miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles unless you're particularly fond of wide open landscapes.

Truthfully, fly into Kansas City and rent a car which will enable you to drive into Kansas City, Kansas and westward along I-70 toward Topeka. It's by far the most scenic and attractive countryside in the state until Topeka. South and west of there, you get nothing much for scenery but enormous expanses of farmland, the occasional small town and vast stretches of sky interrupted here and there by water towers and grain elevators.

Should you ever decide to drive across Kansas, stay on I-70 for the best sense of what the landscape is like from hilly and wooded in the eastern third to much flatter and largely treeless in the rest.

There are a couple of sites along I-70 worth stopping to see. In Lucas, near the center of the state, is a real oddity--The Garden of Eden, created from concrete by an eccentric Civil War veteran who also built his own "log cabin" using limestone for logs. You can tour the house and his sculpture garden of cement figures, definitely weird folk art.

However, the crypt which he also built himself is most peculiar. He demanded to be buried above his first wife so he "could keep an eye on her" and stipulated a coffin with a glass panel in it and a window the length of the coffin in the wall of the crypt. If you like, you can actually see into his coffin, a rather macabre experience.

Doesn't cost much and not far off the interstate for the experience of a lifetime.

It's also worth a stop at the natural history museum in Hays, KS to see the world famous fossil fish-within-a-fish. It's quite spectacular, the complete skeleton of a smaller fish swallowed whole by a larger one that died shortly afterward. It's unusual enough for a fish fossil to be intact. For two such, one inside the other--truly a marvel.

No matter how much hype for Boot Hill in Dodge City that you see or hear of, don't bother. It's a trumped up tourist trap that will only leave you wondering why you drove that many miles off I-70 for so little worth your time and effort. The same is definitely true for Dorothy's House further southwest in Liberal. If you just happen to be driving through Dodge or Liberal and desperately need a break, maybe. As deliberate stops thinking you'll see something, don't bother.

[TinkerbellJenn99]

Originally Posted by bluejn

NYC christmas time, it's crazy busy but beautiful, rockefellar plaza the tree, the store windows are decorated, Bryant park shopping outside, grand central station shopping, eating, it's just beautiful.

While this sounds amazing... and I hope to do it someday, wouldn't be possible in the near future. Between my 4 families and SO's one, plus the Christmas time shared custody of the kiddos, travel plans become nearly impossible around the holidays. For now at least. Someday though - I'd love to see all that NYC has to offer over Christmas

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

In New Mexico, Santa Fe is also particularly lovely at Christmas. The lavish homes along Camino Monte Sol go all out with real paper bag and candle farolitos, hundreds of them, all handmade and positioned (what most people know as luminarias. A luminaria is actually a huge bonfire atop one of the ridges, also done at Christmas time.). A spectacular sight on Christmas Eve that literally causes traffic jams. A tour is the best way to see the farolito displays.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a pain to get there as you must fly into Albuquerque and then drive an hour northish to get into Santa Fe. You can also take a Mears-type bus called the Shuttlejack which is the cheapest means of getting there from Albuquerque. Trying to fly into Santa Fe is ridiculously expensive for its being a state capital.

At Christmas or not, Santa Fe lives up to its nickname of the City Different. Marvelous place to walk, but the altitude can get to you if you don't take frequent breaks, and you definitely want to limit alcohol consumption strictly. Most people can get tipsy on very little alcohol due to the effects of the 7000 ft. altitude. Try to go in the fall or spring for fewer tourist mobs.

Favorite sights of mine there are the Miraculous Staircase in the Loretto Chapel which is now deconsecrated and attached to a Best Western that used to house a Catholic girls school; the Georgia O'Keeffe museum; the Cathedral; and Governor's Palace on the famed Plaza. The Indian museum near the Cathedral is also interesting.

For fabulous New Mexican food, try Cafe Pasqual a short walk off the Plaza. Their juevos rancheros are superb. Get those "Christmas tree" with both red and green chile sauces. And Tomasita's in the old train station is equally fantastic for lunch or dinner with killer margaritas.

As for info about St. Louis where I now live, Oh Toodles! can do better than I by far at describing the St. Louis zoo. About the only thing I can tell you is it has free admission as does the nearby art museum. Toodles's thread "What We Do In the Lou" will give you a terrific preview of the zoo.

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...we-do-lou.html

These sound great Dot - The altitude might hand me my keester as it did in Utah when I gave Angel's Landing a go -- FAIL -- I needed my "haven't used in over 7 years" inhaler. I do want to see the hot air balloon hullaballoo that I keep hearing about. I am adding the sights you mentioned above!

For St. Louis - we do have the zoo on the list, and a pre-season Blue's game. We are actually headed to St. Louis, and Memphis in a couple of months

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

Have you thought about trying out a National Park in each state you visit? There are National Park passports you can get and then have filled in at each park you visit.

For those that don't have a national park, find a State park to visit.

For North Carolina, we have a great variety of landscapes and experiences. Beach, Mountains, Rural, City. We do have a really nice zoo, but it's not really near much else.

Here's two suggestions:
Wilmington area. Stay at one of the nearby beaches like Oak Island, visit the Fort Fisher Aquarium, day trip to Bald Head Island and rent bikes to ride around, USS North Carolina Battleship memorial, as possibilities. If you do it at the right time of year, you could come during a festival in Wilmington.

Asheville area. Biltmore Estate and Winery. Whitewater rafting nearby, hike in the Pisgah forest and look for waterfalls, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Arboretum, Folk Art Center

We have - we have a few of them on the list (and hit Zion last year) -- I think the one I am most excited about is one in Oregon, the name excapes me at the moment, but they have a bridge quite high up with a waterfall. My SO is the nature person, I've grown to like it some, but still flat out refuse to camp much to his shagrin. I am sure he'd love seeing the battleship - thanks for that suggestion!

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

I suppose I really should suggest what to see in my native state, Kansas. Truth be told, there's nothing much to see other than miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles unless you're particularly fond of wide open landscapes.

Truthfully, fly into Kansas City and rent a car which will enable you to drive into Kansas City, Kansas and westward along I-70 toward Topeka. It's by far the most scenic and attractive countryside in the state until Topeka. South and west of there, you get nothing much for scenery but enormous expanses of farmland, the occasional small town and vast stretches of sky interrupted here and there by water towers and grain elevators.

Should you ever decide to drive across Kansas, stay on I-70 for the best sense of what the landscape is like from hilly and wooded in the eastern third to much flatter and largely treeless in the rest.

There are a couple of sites along I-70 worth stopping to see. In Lucas, near the center of the state, is a real oddity--The Garden of Eden, created from concrete by an eccentric Civil War veteran who also built his own "log cabin" using limestone for logs. You can tour the house and his sculpture garden of cement figures, definitely weird folk art.

However, the crypt which he also built himself is most peculiar. He demanded to be buried above his first wife so he "could keep an eye on her" and stipulated a coffin with a glass panel in it and a window the length of the coffin in the wall of the crypt. If you like, you can actually see into his coffin, a rather macabre experience.

Doesn't cost much and not far off the interstate for the experience of a lifetime.

It's also worth a stop at the natural history museum in Hays, KS to see the world famous fossil fish-within-a-fish. It's quite spectacular, the complete skeleton of a smaller fish swallowed whole by a larger one that died shortly afterward. It's unusual enough for a fish fossil to be intact. For two such, one inside the other--truly a marvel.

No matter how much hype for Boot Hill in Dodge City that you see or hear of, don't bother. It's a trumped up tourist trap that will only leave you wondering why you drove that many miles off I-70 for so little worth your time and effort. The same is definitely true for Dorothy's House further southwest in Liberal. If you just happen to be driving through Dodge or Liberal and desperately need a break, maybe. As deliberate stops thinking you'll see something, don't bother.

Ohhhh Dot - the crypt is right up my alley!! We were wondering what the heck to do in KS - other than a tri race I think he wants to do there. I love love love old cemeterys! I could spend hours walking around looking at all the old, and elaborate stones etc.

[Her Dotness]

Well, the drawback to getting clear out to Lucas from KC is that it's around a 3-hour drive. Possibly a bit longer, been a while since I was that far into Kansas.

If you enjoy pro baseball, a Royals game can be a lot of fun, especially now that the Royals have a really good team again, projected to continue to be good, too. Kauffman Stadium is really nice with those gorgeous fountains.

In fact, Kansas City is second only to Rome in the number of fountains it has. It's a lovely city, great if you're jazz or barbecue lovers either one.

As for cemeteries, you can see some very interesting ones right here in St. Louis although the most interesting are kind of a pain to get to. The most historic dates back to the first French settlement in the early 1760's.

Also, Lewis and Clark came through here on their famous expedition. Henry Shaw, the donor of what's now the Missouri Botanical Garden, made his fortune selling tools and other hardware to the pioneers who came through St. Louis heading westward once the Louisiana Purchase was opened to settlers.

[chezp]

I was going to suggest the national parks as well, as you love the countryside. Outside of that, most of our trips have been to cities. Here are some ideas of what we've done:

Arizona - I know some of Monument Valley is in this state and that's well worth seeing and so is the Grand Canyon, which is stunning.
California - well, naturally Disneyland, but I have to also recommend Death Valley, although go in the cooler months, then you'll get to see Scotty's Castle, as from memory, it's only open out of season. We were very impressed with the variety of scenery there.
Illinois - Chicago, we loved going up the various towers there for views of the city and thoroughly enjoyed the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd Aquarium was excellent too
Massachusetts - Boston, it's packed with history and there's so much to see there.
Nevada - well you've got Las Vegas, but there's also Red Rock Canyon a close drive from there, which is lovely and Hoover Dam.
New York - NYC, well others have already mentioned it and we haven't been there for some years now, so my knowledge isn't that up to date, but I can thoroughly recommend the Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
Pennsylvania - we've been to Philadelphia, visited Longwood Gardens a couple of times before and that's very impressive during the holidays with all the poinsettias and illuminated trees. From memory, that's on for a good few weeks around the holidays.
Utah - I think you've got covered, but probably our favourite thing there was Bryce Canyon, just beautiful
Washington - Seattle, we really enjoyed our visit there and it was nowhere near as wet as I'd expected!

That's all I can think of right now...

[B.M.]

I have this same goal... We have been traveling every summer for the past four years- we are two states shy of reaching the 50 states goal....

As several others mentioned- the national parks are definitely worth checking into!

Enjoy!

[TinkerbellJenn99]

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

Well, the drawback to getting clear out to Lucas from KC is that it's around a 3-hour drive. Possibly a bit longer, been a while since I was that far into Kansas.

If you enjoy pro baseball, a Royals game can be a lot of fun, especially now that the Royals have a really good team again, projected to continue to be good, too. Kauffman Stadium is really nice with those gorgeous fountains.

In fact, Kansas City is second only to Rome in the number of fountains it has. It's a lovely city, great if you're jazz or barbecue lovers either one.

As for cemeteries, you can see some very interesting ones right here in St. Louis although the most interesting are kind of a pain to get to. The most historic dates back to the first French settlement in the early 1760's.

Also, Lewis and Clark came through here on their famous expedition. Henry Shaw, the donor of what's now the Missouri Botanical Garden, made his fortune selling tools and other hardware to the pioneers who came through St. Louis heading westward once the Louisiana Purchase was opened to settlers.

Loving all of this. I do enjoy a good baseball game - especially since our home team has not done well this year

Originally Posted by chezp

I was going to suggest the national parks as well, as you love the countryside. Outside of that, most of our trips have been to cities. Here are some ideas of what we've done:

Arizona - I know some of Monument Valley is in this state and that's well worth seeing and so is the Grand Canyon, which is stunning.
California - well, naturally Disneyland, but I have to also recommend Death Valley, although go in the cooler months, then you'll get to see Scotty's Castle, as from memory, it's only open out of season. We were very impressed with the variety of scenery there.
Illinois - Chicago, we loved going up the various towers there for views of the city and thoroughly enjoyed the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd Aquarium was excellent too
Massachusetts - Boston, it's packed with history and there's so much to see there.
Nevada - well you've got Las Vegas, but there's also Red Rock Canyon a close drive from there, which is lovely and Hoover Dam.
New York - NYC, well others have already mentioned it and we haven't been there for some years now, so my knowledge isn't that up to date, but I can thoroughly recommend the Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
Pennsylvania - we've been to Philadelphia, visited Longwood Gardens a couple of times before and that's very impressive during the holidays with all the poinsettias and illuminated trees. From memory, that's on for a good few weeks around the holidays.
Utah - I think you've got covered, but probably our favourite thing there was Bryce Canyon, just beautiful
Washington - Seattle, we really enjoyed our visit there and it was nowhere near as wet as I'd expected!

That's all I can think of right now...

We are frequent visitors of Chicago - since we are so close being from right outside of Milwaukee, WI. I do adore that city California (though I have been a few times) is turning out to be a three week jaunt by itself SO wants to see everthing from Napa, to San Diego Zoo, Alcatraz, and Disneyland. Oh and I want to see the trek up to Big Sur - just because it look so purdy in picture -- darn google images LOL

Side Note - we have the following accounted for:

WI - obviously, since we live here
IL - Chicago we've done shopping Michigan Ave, Shedd, and a couple of the museums
MO (fall this year) - Zoo, Blues Game, and whatever else we can fit into 2.5 days)
FL - Disney Trip with the kids next year - though I am sure there is lots more we will see the next time
UT - St George for my SO's tri race and then we hit Zion NP
NV - Vegas
TN (fall this year) Beale Street, Graceland, and some of the museums around Memphis
MI - though we only hit the U.P.
OH - my uncles live here so I am a frequenter here as well. I have a membership to the R&R hall of fame even
IN - we stayed a night on our way to OH last month. Saw South Bend Zoo - tiny, but well done, and Notre Dame.

[Her Dotness]

Add Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park to your bucket list without a doubt. It is magnificent as is nearby Grand Teton National Park.

There was much concern after the horrific earthquake of 1959 if Old Faithful had been disrupted. My family vacationed there in 1960, and happily, Old Faithful wasn't affected. Supposedly, it erupts every hour, but actually can be a bit less and sometimes rather longer than an hour between eruptions. We saw one that was nearly an hour and a half after the prior one, but it turned out to be one of the most dramatic on record as well as one of the highest.

The earthquake memorial site just off the northwest corner of Yellowstone is impressive, too. The entire side of a mountain collapsed, killing several campers and threatening the dam that forms Hebgen Lake. The site is well labeled and informative about how devastating that earthquake was.

Unless you're up for camping and freezing buns off at night even in summer, I suggest finding a room in Gardiner, Montana just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone. It's vastly less expensive to stay there than in the park itself although the rustic cabins near Old Faithful Lodge are fun. They may be somewhat less primitive anymore, but when my family stayed in one, the only heat was from a woodstove, and even in August, we used that stove and heavy wool blankets at night!

The hot springs, many smaller geysers and mud springs of Yellowstone are extremely interesting, some of them smelling dreadfully of rotten eggs, too.

You'll see all sorts of wildlife from bears to elk, deer and antelope.

Yellowstone is the most thrilling national park by far of the several I've been fortunate enough to visit.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

Add Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park to your bucket list without a doubt. It is magnificent as is nearby Grand Teton National Park.

D'oh! I knew I'd forgotten something from my earlier list - Yellowstone is absolutely amazing.

[CynBeth]

Baltimore, MD has a wonderful aquarium and science center plus going to a baseball game at Oriole Park is an experience. There is also Ft. McHenry (the Star Spangled Banner was written due to what happened there), a bunch of museums, and Harbor Place which has a Ripley's Believe it or Not and restaurants. The zoo is ok. It is about an hour from Washington DC and they have a fantastic zoo plus Nats Park for baseball and of course all of the monuments and museums. About 3 hours away from Baltimore is the beach town of Ocean City which I have not been to in years but I have co-workers who visit every year and they say it has a great boardwalk with the best fries and best caramel corn among other things. Nearby to there is Assateague and Chincoteague which has the wild ponies written about in the Misty books and other animals.

About an hour and a half from Baltimore is Hershey, PA. Hersheypark is great and you get free admission to Zoo America with your tickets. It is small but we really like it. There is also a gardens and car museum as well as other area attractions.

I think it is great what you are doing! We would like to try to get to all the states and we are especially interested in seeing as many baseball stadiums and zoos/aquariums as we can.

[HollyH]

I recently found this via Pinterest and thought you might like it:
Top 10 Tourist Attractions, Sights & Travel Guide - Attractions of America

It's very user friendly and easy to navigate. As for the content, I looked at my home state (Connecticut) first and I would agree that the 10 attractions included are probably the top attractions, although I might dispute the rankings. I would probably add the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford to the list. Know that most of these are "warm weather" attractions. Many are not so fun (or even open) during the colder months. I suspect you'll find the same to be true for many of the New England states. If you come to New England, many of the things worth seeing and doing vary with the seasons.

[OhToodles!]

Thanks for the door out Dot! And what a great link Holly!
For st Louis, anything in Forest Park is worth seeing, City Museum is very cool as well and of course there's always a brewery tour!