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OT: Off the beaten path, but interesting/historic US landmarks you have visited

YeOldeCup

YeOldeCup

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Jan 27, 2005
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I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Lane" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • Westminster Hall (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
 
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YeOldeCup said:
I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Road" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • The Westminster Church (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
Click to expand...

Milepost Zero. Alaska pipeline.
 
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I've been to each of the ten below. A mix of oddballs, interesting and off-the-beaten path "landmarks." The first 10 that came to my mind. Great exercise though!
  • Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona. The 2nd biggest "hole in the ground" in that part of the country. :)
  • Geographical center of the lower United States, in Lebanon, Kansas. It looks like you expect it to - the Kansas prairie and near nowhere in particular.
  • The Nebraska Sand Hills. A remarkably unique place - wetland miles upon miles upon miles of rolling sand hills in the middle of ..... Nebraska.
  • The highest point in all of Ohio - outside of Bellefontaine, Ohio. In something that is uniquely Ohio, I suppose - the high point of the state is in the middle of a vocational school's parking lot (!?!?).
  • Old Mission Lighthouse north of Traverse City, MI. At the very end of a small peninsula that extends into Grand Traverse Bay, surrounded by vineyards. The Lighthouse itself is nearly exactly on the 45th parallel.
  • Hiked up to the peak of Cumberland Gap, along the Kentucky/Virginia/Tennessee tri-border. The key passageway to the west for early colonials.
  • Ka'ena Point State Park, at the very northwest tip of Oahu. Very remote and a multi-mile hike to get to the point, but a stunning place to see a sunset. Tons of Albatrosses during the winter season, and always whales off shore.
  • The Dalton Highway, Alaska. Goes from Fairbanks north to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Circle. Not a drive for the faint-of-heart, it's an adventure. But the scenery is something not many people get the honor of seeing.
  • Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Tremendously HUGE maples, hemlocks and spurces in an area that's as green as anything you'll ever see. Also Ruby Beach down the road - a remote beach right on the Pacific.
  • Ames Monument in SE Wyoming. The transcontinental railroad was finally connected, famously, in northern Utah. But this pyramid marks the point on the wind-blown high plains scrubs of Wyoming where the railroad reached its highest point (8400+ feet). Finding a way for the railroad to get over the Laramie Ridge was arguably more difficult than even getting over the Sierras.
 
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YeOldeCup said:
I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Road" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • The Westminster Church (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
Click to expand...
It's Bloody Lane.

hires
 
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Nauvoo, Illinois, the home of the Mormons before they went to Utah. Very interesting historically. Recreated town--some buildings are original.

There's an overlook on US 6 in NE PA (west of Scranton) on the area bought up by some French folks for Marie Antoinette to live in exile (French Azilum, I think it's called).

Lincoln's New Salem, a reconstruction of a village Lincoln lived in in the 1830s.

West Quoddy Head light--easternmost point of the continental US in Maine (and also East Quoddy head light on Campobello Island in New Brunswick nearby--but you have to be careful not to get caught by the Bay of Fundy tides).
 
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1. Veedauwoo park, Wyoming
2. Wall drug sd
3. Dreihaus museum, Chicago
4. Woodford distillery, ky
5. High island me (stayed in cabin where the double helix was written, just up the hill from the guy who coined the term “black hole”)
6. AT midpoint ice cream store, pine grove furnace pa
7. Yogaville va, and not too far away, foamhenge, va
8. St ignatius church, chapel point md (oldest continuously operating Catholic Parish in 13 colonies, oldest continuous Jesuit residence, and site of John Carroll investiture)
9. Going to the sun road, mt
10. Stone Mountain ga (and man was it weird watching a large aa family reunion sitting on the hotel porch cheerfully watching the evening light show projected on the carving of lee, Jackson, and Davis)

bonus: ex us, triple continental divide at ice fields parkway, Alberta.
 
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michnittlion said:
I've been to each of the ten below. A mix of oddballs, interesting and off-the-beaten path "landmarks." The first 10 that came to my mind. Great exercise though!
  • Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona. The 2nd biggest "hole in the ground" in that part of the country. :)
  • Geographical center of the lower United States, in Lebanon, Kansas. It looks like you expect it to - the Kansas prairie and near nowhere in particular.
  • The Nebraska Sand Hills. A remarkably unique place - wetland miles upon miles upon miles of rolling sand hills in the middle of ..... Nebraska.
  • The highest point in all of Ohio - outside of Bellefontaine, Ohio. In something that is uniquely Ohio, I suppose - the high point of the state is in the middle of a vocational school's parking lot (!?!?).
  • Old Mission Lighthouse north of Traverse City, MI. At the very end of a small peninsula that extends into Grand Traverse Bay, surrounded by vineyards. The Lighthouse itself is nearly exactly on the 45th parallel.
  • Hiked up to the peak of Cumberland Gap, along the Kentucky/Virginia/Tennessee tri-border. The key passageway to the west for early colonials.
  • Ka'ena Point State Park, at the very northwest tip of Oahu. Very remote and a multi-mile hike to get to the point, but a stunning place to see a sunset. Tons of Albatrosses during the winter season, and always whales off shore.
  • The Dalton Highway, Alaska. Goes from Fairbanks north to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Circle. Not a drive for the faint-of-heart, it's an adventure. But the scenery is something not many people get the honor of seeing.
  • Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Tremendously HUGE maples, hemlocks and spurces in an area that's as green as anything you'll ever see. Also Ruby Beach down the road - a remote beach right on the Pacific.
  • Ames Monument in SE Wyoming. The transcontinental railroad was finally connected, famously, in northern Utah. But this pyramid marks the point on the wind-blown high plains scrubs of Wyoming where the railroad reached its highest point (8400+ feet). Finding a way for the railroad to get over the Laramie Ridge was arguably more difficult than even getting over the Sierras.
Click to expand...
Michnittlion, isn't the Dalton Highway featured in Ice Road Truckers? Was it icy when you drove/road on it? What took you to that part of Alaska? Yours is a really cool list but this one in particular caught my attention.
 
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YeOldeCup said:
I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Road" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • The Westminster Church (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
Click to expand...
Beartooth Pass Highway. Spectacular drive.
Rocky Mountain N P Ditto.
Pikes Peak. Ditto.
Monument Valley Drive. Ditto.
Little Bighorn.
Glacier Point.
Capital Reef N P. Miles and miles of nothing.
Cliff Dwellers Stone House Arizona. Hundreds of huge boulders that fell off cliffs laying all over the place.
Lookout Mountain.
Rt 120 over the Sierras from Yosemite to Lee Vining Calif. Another great drive.
 
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Aardvark86 said:
2. Wall drug sd
Click to expand...

YeOldeCup said:
"Bloody Road" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
Click to expand...

kgilbert78 said:
West Quoddy Head light--easternmost point of the continental US in Maine
Click to expand...

WDLion said:
Little Bighorn.
Glacier Point.
Click to expand...

psuro said:
2. Hemingway House in Key West
Click to expand...

psuro said:
to match the south end in Key West
Click to expand...

WDLion said:
Going to the Sun Road.
Click to expand...

WDLion said:
Mt Washington. Drove
Click to expand...

Mister Magoo said:
Fenway Pahk
Click to expand...

NittanyBuff24 said:
Grand Canyon
Click to expand...

Been to those of all listed above.

Pony Express museum in Marysville Kansas.

Horseshoe Curve near Altoona.

I’m sure plenty more but it’s early AM.
 
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  • Topaz Relocation Center (WWII Japanese-American internment camp) in Utah
  • Wounded Knee Massacre site, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
  • Dick Winters burial site, Bergstrasse Church Cemetery, Ephrata PA
  • Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, VA
  • Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska (10 days hiking and camping)
  • Fort Laramie, Wyoming
 
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Not sure if any of these are considered interesting

1. Rain forest in Washington State
2. Hemingway House in Key West
3. Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton NJ
4. North end of US 95 at Canadian Border
5. North end of Route 1 at Canadian Border (to match the south end in Key West)
 
Royal Gorge. Took the train ride up the gorge and back. Next morning drove up to the park, drove across the bridge and parked, walked across the bridge and back then drove back across the bridge.
Going to the Sun Road.
Meteor Crater.
Painted Desert Petrified Forrest N P.
Colorado sand dunes.
Mt Washington. Drove and cog railroad both.
Whiteface Mt.
 
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I've been to a number of those places on people's lists, many of which are haunting, beautiful and fascinating, but none of which can compare to Pothole State Park in NEPA, site of the world's largest pothole located around 7 miles down-valley from Carbondale -- which doubles as a fitting symbolic tribute to the general quality of Pennsylvania roads.

An especially neat thing is that it's also just a few miles away from the Windsor Inn in Jermyn, famous throughout the region for its trademark World's Second Best Hot Wings. Gosh knows if the establishment is still there or will be able to survive these lockdowns. But if so, the combination of the pothole and the hot wings is unbeatable. Nobody should die without experiencing it.
 
Great Sand Dunes National Park in Co
sandunes_nps.jpg

Ripley Oh- its where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin,
also the birth place of US Grant
South Park, Co
Wheeler Geologic Area CO is the most remote and interesting place though..
zzdata-32947_721x480.jpg


One of the most astounding geologic sites in Colorado, the area is accessed by hiking a 7-mile trail or driving a 14-mile 4WD road. The 640 acre area is filled with ghostly spires and flowing folds of earth. the 14 mile 4WD road took about 2.5 hrs.
Ace High Tavern in Golden CO.
USS Spiegel Grove Key Largo FL remote? its about 100' below the surface
 
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YeOldeCup said:
I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Road" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • The Westminster Church (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
Click to expand...

Titan Missile Silo in Sahuarita, AZ
St. Xavier Mission, Tucson, AZ
Taos Pueblo, Taos, NM
Greenmount Cemetery, Balt. MD
Tent Rocks, New Mexico
Bisti Badlands, New Mexico
Georgia O'Keefe house and Ghost Ranch, Abiqui New Mexico
3 Rivers Petroglyphs, New Mexico
 
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Among those already mentioned, I’ve been to:
Kitty Hawk
Meteor Crater
Four Corners
Monticello

One I haven’t noticed coming up yet is the Natural Bridge in Virginia. To me it seems way more impressive and high in person than in photos. You can see where a young George Washington climbed up one of the walls and carved his initials. Very cool outing.
 
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CVLion said:
Among those already mentioned, I’ve been to:
Kitty Hawk
Meteor Crater
Four Corners
Monticello

One I haven’t noticed coming up yet is the Natural Bridge in Virginia. To me it seems way more impressive and high in person than in photos. You can see where a young George Washington climbed up one of the walls and carved his initials. Very cool outing.
Click to expand...
Agreed, and also close to the aforementioned Foamhenge (though I think I read Foamhenge was relocated to Centerville.)
 
- John Brown Tannery, New Richmond, PA. Key stop on the underground railroad during civil war.
- Drake Well, Titusville, PA. Site of the worlds first oil well. Features a replica of the oil derrick and an oil museum. A continuation down the oil creek valley reveals other "oil era" sites e.g. Pithole - went from zero population to over 60,000 during the oil boom days of PA then back to zero.
-Outside US boundary but Red Lake Ontario. In the 1930's was the worlds busiest airport due to the discovery of gold in the area. Located about 400km North of International Falls, MN
 
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Non US thrown in for spice.

Fort Yukon, AK. Above the Arctic Circle.

Rafting on the Tonsina river, Valdez AK.

Top of the World HIghway from Ak to Dawson city, Yukon. Twice.

Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling House Dawson City.

Leper Colony on Molikai.

Father Damien's Church, Molikai.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Novosibirsk, Russia.

US Embassy, Moscow

Arizona Memorial.
 
Archbald Pothole
Cape May NJ WWII bunker
Kitty Hawk NC
Cape Hatteras NC
Ocracoke NC
Roanoke Island
Colonial Williamsburg
Hot Dog Johnny’s Butzville NJ
H & H Soul Food Macon Ga
The Big House Macon Ga ( Allman Bros.)
Rose Hill Cemetary Macon Ga
Spy Museum Washington D.C.

Next time we visit MaccnNitt in Macon will try to hit the original Capricorn Studios
 
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In addition to some of those listed above:

Donner Party Memorial near Truckee, CA
The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining
London Bridge, Lake Havasu, AZ
875 S Bundy Dr. Brentwood, CA That's right this was OJ Simpson's house. It was demolished years ago but one time I was in the area and I had to find it and check it out.
 
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Drake's well - Titusville, PA. World's first oil well
World's largest glacial pothole - Eynon, PA
 
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CvilleLion said:
Good choice. One of the best state parks anyone could visit.
Click to expand...

Yes it was really nice.
I'll add another State Park that I liked a lot and that was Kodachrome St. Park in Utah.
Beautiful and after a day of being over run with people at Zion it was a welcome relief.
 
YeOldeCup said:
I don't mean the typical, popularized places that many have been. More so those places that are less accessible or lesser known. For example, I've been to Gettysburg many times, but to Antietam only once. Here's my list:
  • OK Corral and Boot Hill - Tombstone, AZ
  • "Bloody Lane" - Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD - one of the most horrific encounters of the Civil War
  • Kitty Hawk, NC
  • Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, MD (treated John Wilkes Booth)
  • Gravity Hill - New Paris, PA - yes, your car and any spherical object will contradict your level
  • (now Omni) Bedford Springs Hotel - site of senior Japanese official interment in WW II
  • Westminster Hall (Baltimore) - resting place of Edgar Allen Poe. Oddly enough, my younger brother was married there.
Technically not USA, but:
  • Point Udall (U.S. Virgin Islands), the easternmost point of any US territory
(please, no Clark Griswold, "the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth" references...)
Click to expand...
Toured the U.S. Relocation, underground facility, beneath the Greenbriar Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
 
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Mine Fire- Centralia PA. Crap it has become a "hotspot" with all these NY and NJ people
to party along the roads.
 
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In addition to many of the above, including the Archbald Pothole and the Windsor Inn, we were driving up to Quebec City with a planned overnight stop in Burlington, VT. We planned to take the car ferry from Port Kent on the NY side, across Lake Champlain, to the Vermont side in Burlington. Right before you make the turn from the main road to the road for the ferry we came across this bridge that crossed over the Ausable Chasm. We stopped, took a few pictures then went on to catch our ferry. Later we learned this Ausable Chasm bills itself as the "Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks" and there is much more to it than what you see from the main road.
 
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The O, Dirty O, the Original , Oakland section of Pittsburgh. Owners just announced it's closing was a great place for a 2 AM nosh. Trying to post a link but to no avail today
 
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