How many have you been to?

chicagoans · Post by **chicagoans** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:43 am

GinaXOXO wrote:So you have been to Iowa. Where did you visit here?

RAGBRAI 3 times. Loved it! Iowa can be a very fun place, especially from the back of a bike. Just can't convince DH and the kids that 500 miles on bike would be a fun way to spend the week...

Some of the others mentioned:
Sears Tower (OK that's an easy one for me)
NY Harbor
Grand Canyon
Ground Zero
Golden Gate (biked and ran across a few times - cool)
Mt. Rushmore
Rocky Mountain National Park
Muir Woods (adding that because it's just so great)
And I'm going to show my Midwestern bias and add: The Great Lakes. Several friends from overseas in addition to people from other parts of the US have told me that they had no idea how big Lake Michigan is -- they thought they'd be able to see the other side. One of my friends from the UK kept calling it the sea -- she just couldn't get over the fact that it's fresh water. (Fresh being a relative term when you're seeing the lake from the Chicago shore.)

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:27 am

... have found the answers to this question interesting - especially how many have been to Monticello.
Not having been back there for at least ten years, I checked the website and re-discovered a favored place.

http://monticello.org/

... learned that there is a newly opened visitor's center (4/2009)

and this link was fun to explore

http://explorer.monticello.org/index.html

soxfan22 · Post by **soxfan22** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:50 am

lprof wrote:... have found the answers to this question interesting - especially how many have been to Monticello.
Not having been back there for at least ten years, I checked the website and re-discovered a favored place.

http://monticello.org/

... learned that there is a newly opened visitor's center (4/2009)

and this link was fun to explore

http://explorer.monticello.org/index.html

Thanks for the link, Iprof. I just watched the short clip on the explorer site...For my money, I'm not sure we have had a more accomplished American.

We were in Northern VA last week...I wanted to take the trip down to Monticello, but Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon won out (GREAT destinations in their own right). Ah well, next time.

NoTanLines · Post by **NoTanLines** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:18 am

5 for me out of the 8:

Sears Tower
Gettysburg - take the self guided narrative tour...it brought tears to my eyes
Monticello
Graceland - yes, I've seen Elvis' grave
Pearl Harbor

Under the considered options:

Philadelphia Independence Hall
Golden Gate Bridge - first time it was so foggy you couldn't see the other side of the bay

XOXO · Post by **XOXO** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:54 am

I am just bumping this. I referenced it in a post to Lex about Yosemite. I really want to see more of what the states have to offer.

We want to go somewhere drivable. So, I am thinking about the badlands, Yellowstone, or Rocky Mountain National Park.

Any opinions?

xoxo

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 1:10 pm

I have a lot of to see, apparently. I haven't seen any of these, although I did tell some friends that I am going to Graceland this summer, no excuses!

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 2:05 pm

I've been to 5 I need to make Pearl Harbor , Mpnticello and the church

chicagoans · Post by **chicagoans** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 2:51 pm

Sadly I can only check off three, and I won't call it Willis Tower either.

Personally I'd encourage people visiting the Midwest to focus on seeing the Great Lakes rather than the Tower. I've had visitors from overseas and the US who have been blown away by their first sight of Lake Michigan and can't get over the fact that it's a fresh water lake. Travel up Michigan's western shore and you will see some of the most beautiful fresh water dunes and beaches anywhere. Oh geez, sorry, I'll get off my melodramatic 'I love the big lake' soapbox.

This is a good list. I'm always looking for an island vacay but want to bring my kids to historic and important US landmarks, too.

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 4:24 pm

I should say I saw the Sears Tower (which is what I will always call it) but just from the street, which I don't think is the same thing.

I need to do some more Great American Road Trips. A few years ago, I had friends who took Route 66 all the way out to California, and that would be so awesome!

XOXO · Post by **XOXO** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 5:27 pm

chicagoans wrote: I've had visitors from overseas and the US who have been blown away by their first sight of Lake Michigan and can't get over the fact that it's a fresh water lake. Travel up Michigan's western shore and you will see some of the most beautiful fresh water dunes and beaches anywhere. Oh geez, sorry, I'll get off my melodramatic 'I love the big lake' soapbox.

This is a good list. I'm always looking for an island vacay but want to bring my kids to historic and important US landmarks, too.

Chicagoans; you mentioned Ragbrai in an earlier post . . . that is something everyone should do. If you are interested at all in seeing what Iowa is about this is absolutely the best way by far to experience Iowa. It is FUN!

When I originally read this thread I started thinking about how much we haven't seen right here in the states. Like Chicagoans we hit the beach almost every time we have a chance to get away. I would like to see more of our history and national parks . . . etc. I am really interested in Maine after seeing the pictures posted here.

I have seen Lake Michigan but only in passing. That is another vacation I would like to take. Wait until my husband finds out about all of my plans. HA!

xoxo

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 5:50 pm

Someday I want to drive all the way around Lake Michigan. And when I lived in Detroit I always wanted to take the Amtrak to Chicago. It's a drive I made a million times (stopping at all of Michigan's lower wineries on my way there and back), but I have never gotten all the way around the lake. I think it'd be a super cool trip.

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 5:59 pm

I've been around 2 of the great lakes Sup. Mich.

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:31 pm

Been to 5
Sears Tower
Pearl Harbor
Gettysburg
Montecello
New York Harbor (on the BiCentennial!)

verjoy · Post by **verjoy** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:38 pm

I have visited all on both lists except Rev. King's church and Ground Zero. My Dad (an energetic tourist) took us to many of these places when I was a child growing up in the late forties and fifties. Twenty years of my Husband's military career and my own career as a travel consultant helped also. The only states I haven't visited are Minnesota and North Dakota. I guess I'd better plan a visit there to complete my bucket list. :^)

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:55 pm

Between traveling in Ohio and going to Niagara Falls, I would guess I've almost been all the way around Lake Erie...

Verjoy, I visited Minnesota and North Dakota in the same weekend. I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday, drove to Fargo in a rental car, and then drove back to St. Paul on Saturday. It was underwhelming, although my friend that I traveled with hadn't seen much snow (she grew up on the beach in Southern California), so she was fun to watch. Maybe I was missing something, but Fargo seemed to be a very boring place.

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