1. Roosevelt Island, New York
Roosevelt Island is an oasis of serene tranquility in the midst of the hustle and bustle of restless New York. The narrow strip of land between Manhattan and Queens, stretched along the East River, has recently been a favorite vacation spot for New Yorkers themselves. It offers a magnificent view of the metropolis: familiar skyscrapers appear from an unusual angle. The architecture of the island itself is also unusual: residential eco-quarters have been built here, an octagonal Octagon — the former building of a mental hospital, a 15-meter lighthouse and the Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park with a huge bronze head of the president in a cube of light marble.
You can get to the island by cable car: the panorama from the cabins is beyond praise
2. Lassen-Volcanic, California
About a 3-hour drive from San Francisco is one of the best national parks in the USA — Lassen-Volkanik. It is more impressive than even the famous Yellowstone: volcanoes of all existing types — lava, slag, shield and layered – fit on its compact territory. By the way, the world’s largest volcano with a lava cone — Lassen Peak – is also located here.
3. Mount Salvation, California
Salvation Mountain in southeastern California, in the middle of the lifeless Colorado desert, is like a psychedelic dream come to life. The bright installation covering a hill a few miles from Salton Sea Lake is a figment of the imagination of local resident Leonard Knight, who was later sent to a hospital with a diagnosis of dementia. Having carefully studied the technology of the Navajo Indians, he built an elevation of straw and unfired bricks, spending several thousand liters of paint. To see the mountain dotted with biblical quotations, you need to hurry up: the desert climate is ruthless, and after Knight’s death, the attraction is supported only by volunteers.
Salvation Mountain has become the setting for famous films and music videos: Sean Penn shot “In the Wild” here, and Hurts and Coldplay made videos for their hits.
4. Indian Grinding Rock, California
Indian Grinding Rock Park near Jackson is one of the most eloquent evidences of Native American life in the country. The exposition is dedicated to the life of the Miuok tribe: there are copies of ceremonial buildings, all kinds of tools, wicker products, fragments of rock paintings and “holes” resembling lunar craters in limestone rocks, where Indians have been grinding flour from acorns for centuries.
5. Lost River Caverns, Philadelphia
Americans love cave tours, as if taking them deep into time. The Lost River Caverns complex between Philadelphia and New York is also a kind of time machine: huge figures of dinosaurs meet at the entrance, and 400 m of illuminated paths winding through bizarre limestone formations are waiting inside.
6. Kinzu Bridge, Pennsylvania
The pride of the Kinzu Bridge National Park in Pennsylvania is the Kinzu Overpass, one of the highest railway bridges in the USA. In 2003, it was destroyed by a tornado, and the government decided that repairs were unnecessary: the ruins turned into a clear evidence that nature still often reserves the last word in a dispute with man. A glass observation deck was equipped on the edge of the overpass: dense forests, a valley, a stream and twisted debris lying under the cliff — a quite dramatic sight.
7. Whitney Plantation, Louisiana
The Whitney Plantation in the vicinity of New Orleans demonstrates with eerie honesty how the slaves of the South lived. The impeccably informed, enthusiastic staff tells chilling stories — the same ones that are still ashamed on many other preserved plantations. Statues of children who served here silently gaze at visitors, and quotes are inscribed on some monuments — about, for example, how 60 slaves were beheaded for trying to escape.
8. Winterset, Iowa
A note to moviegoers: the town of Winterset in Iowa has hardly changed since Clint Eastwood shot “Bridges of Madison County” with Meryl Streep here. Even the diner on the old-fashioned central square, and that’s in place. By the way, it was here, in Winterset, that the Oscar-winning “king of the Western” John Wayne was born: his house has now been turned into a museum with a nostalgic exposition and a souvenir shop.
On October 13-14, a spectacular festival with costumed parades, retro car exhibitions and other entertainment takes place in Madison County.
9. Computer Museum, Montana
Small and modest at first glance, the Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana, is unremarkable from the outside and incredibly interesting inside. No wonder it was funded by Apple co—founder Steve Wozniak: ancient manuscripts, original Shakespearean manuscripts, artifacts of Tesla, Edison and Bell, the first robots and ultramodern computers – it seems that all information carriers from the beginning of time to the present day are collected here. And presented to the public completely free of charge.
10. Rampaging Horse Memorial, South Dakota
The Rampaging Horse Memorial in South Dakota is the world’s largest monument carved out of solid rock. This is not just an image of an Oglala Lakota warrior, but a collective image, an ode to Native Americans. The sculptor Kolchak Zylkowski began construction in 1948, but managed to finish only the face of an Indian. Today, his life’s work is continued by descendants and enthusiasts who receive funds exclusively from private donations.