USA travel guides

Museum of Modern Art

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Since its inception in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art has continually redefined the idea of the museum in contemporary Western culture. Originally conceived by its founders as a place for Modern art to come and go (because what makes up modernism is constantly changing), MoMA, as it is commonly known, established a permanent collection … Read more

National Air and Space Museum

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The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It is also a vital center for research into the history, science, and technology of aviation and spaceflight, as well as planetary science and terrestrial geology and geophysics. Almost all space and aircraft on display are originals or backup crafts to the originals.National Air and Space Museum is a Awesome Place For Vacations.

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Four Corners Monument

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The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado,New Mexico and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to this area being called the Four Corners  Monument region. The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous native American governments, theNavajo Nation, which maintains the monument as a tourist attraction, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation.

The origins of the state boundaries marked by the monument occurred during the American Civil War, when the United States Congress acted to form governments in the area to combat Confederate ambitions for the region. Claims are sometimes made that the monument was misplaced in the initial surveys. The accuracy of the surveys has been defended by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey and the monument has been legally established as the corner of the four states.

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Bodie Ghost Town

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An original ghost town from the late 1800’s. Bodie Ghost Town stands today in a state of “arrested decay”. So coined by the State of California when they took over the town in 1962 to make it a State Historic Park. In 1859 William (a.k.a. Waterman) S. Bodey discovered gold near what is now called Bodie Ghost Town Bluff. A mill was established in 1861 and the town began to grow. It started with about 20 miners and grew to an estimated 10,000 people by 1880! By that time, the town of Bodie Ghost Town bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters and prostitutes of all kinds. At one time there was reported to be 65 saloons in town. Amongst the saloons were numerous brothels and ‘houses of ill repute’, gambling halls and opium dens. Needless to say that there was entertainment for every taste.After a long day working the claims, the miners would head for the bars and the red light district to spend their earnings. The mixture of money, gold and alcohol would often prove fatal. It is said that there was a man killed every day in Bodie Ghost Town. Presumably, the undertaker never had a slow day.

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Empire State Building

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The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York.It stood as the world’s tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center’s North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City and New York State. The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America’s Favorite Architecture according to the AIA.

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