What is the best landmark you have visited?

[begin_within]

Either a natural feature or man-made, historical or whatever.

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Glacier NP

It's hard to describe how beautiful it is.

[swag]

15. I'm with this guy. Columbia River Gorge a close second.

[EstimatedProphet]

25. Yeah, that's way up the list too

[begin_within]

27. I've been to Rooster Rock State Park

yes, the nude section!

[Jade Fox]

88. so amazing.....

I love the Columbia river gorge.

[AlCzervik]

2. Hoover Dam!

[underpants]

51. Been there

[EstimatedProphet]

77. Seen it from the bottom

[SoxFan]

3. Mt. Rainier NP

Absolutely stunning terrain

[skygazer]

4. Gettysburg affected me the most

I think it was you, wasn't it, who mentioned Gettysburg on the other thread? Someone did, who'd gone on a school trip.

When I was there, I saw several busloads of schoolkids and thought what a waste of time that was. I don't think most kids that age have the capacity to visualize what was actually going on and at stake in 1863.

I went by choice when I was 26 and had been studying the Civil War for several years. I could recognize landmarks and I could almost see the troops moving.

[begin_within]

5. It wasn't me, I've never been there.

[Burma Jones]

37. When you stand on Cemetery Ridge and look at the field and think about how

that was a turning point in world history and then walk over to the Cemetery and read the Gettysburg Address and you get goosebumps because nobody has said so much with so few words since, then you "get" Gettysburg. I've been there dozens of times, but I live nearby.

[Courtesy Flush]

96. For me it wasFort McHenry

But then, I've never been to Gettysburg

[soleft]

6. My apartment building

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES025.htm

[two gun sid]

7. Chile's Inland Waterway...

from Puerto Montt to Punta Areanas. I can't even describe how beautiful it was.

[HERVEPA]

8. Ankgor Wat

http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/cambodia/angkor_wat.html

[stuntcat]

9. Golden Gate Park

:patriot: :patriot:

[stuntcat]

11. (that's bigger than a landmark maybe ,sorry :)

:patriot:

[begin_within]

32. What's the best thing there?

[stuntcat]

34. the Butterfly Exhibit's the favorite thing I saw there lately!

Every time I go there I'm amazed at all the different plants though, the whole park is just beautiful :loveya:
http://www.astronomy-images.com/day-images/Butterflies/conservatory+moth+butterfly.KI8Q9246.jpg

(my favorite landmark is really Stonehenge, or the catacombs or graveyards in Paris, but I have to be more patriotic :patriot: If the mountains could be considered a landmark then I'd pick the Blue Ridge over everything else in the world!)

[IntravenousDemilo]

10. The Empire State Building. And I still use the sippy cup I got in the souvenir shop at the top.

(You know, the big plastic cups with the lid and the bendable straw coming out through the hole in that lid)...

[terrya]

31. Well, I almost got to the Empire State Building.

The White Castle across the street was a nice place for lunch. :-)

SHMILY

[IntravenousDemilo]

33. Damn! White Castle! I knew there was something I forgot to do when I was in Chicago! n/m

[terrya]

44. Damn indeed!

And there's one not too far from my place.

:-(

[mainegreen]

12. The Normandy American Cemetery.

Not flashy, but god damned.
Damned. That's about all you can say, standing there with endless rows of white markers, looking the same in all directions.
Overwhelming. Really got to me more than any other place I've ever visited.

[GOPisEvil]

64. I want to go to Normandy very much.

I want to see it all for myself.

[Rhythm]

13. The outside observation deck at the WTC

The view was breathtaking... the wind unsettling...
and you could feel the ever-so-slight sway from up that high.

[skygazer]

17. That's something I'll always be grateful for experiencing

Taken in April, 2000 -

[MrScorpio]

70. I only did the inside observation deck

I did, however, do the outside of the Empire State Building

Loved the art deco design work

[Rhythm]

86. Outside at the Empire is spectacular as well...

I shot this in 1995... maybe one of the best photos i have ever taken.

[YankeyMCC]

92. I think it was 1988 or 1989

My then finance and I went to New York for an overnight visit. We tried to squeeze in as much as we could and while we were up in the Statue of Liberty we looked over at the WTC and we were running out of time I said, "We'll come back someday it's not like they're going anywhere."

We did not make it back before 2001.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. The Eiffel tower

[underpants]

52. Been there

[GreenPartyVoter]

59. Did you make out on it? We did :^P

[underpants]

65. You can ask but I still can't tell

I was there on a weekend trip via the Army.

I still have a gargoyle from a little crappy shop near Notre Dame. It guards our backdoor.

[GreenPartyVoter]

74. Ooh, I wish I had thought to buy a little gargoyle

[Archae]

16. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

(BIG SIGH)

[EstimatedProphet]

78. It's a good'un

[Shakespeare]

18. California Redwoods in Humboldt County.

It's one of those rare and great things that leaves you feeling changed for the better.

As far as manmade--multiple places in Washington DC. I was lucky enough to live there for several years, and loved that city every second I was there. The Empire State Building is a good runner-up.

[ceile]

19. Ring of Kerry

Not a particular place, I know, but the most beautiful drive I've ever been on.

[LibDemAlways]

20. Yosemite Valley

When you reach the valley floor and take in the vastness of El Capitan, which is a huge slab of granite like nothing you've ever seen, it's just awe inspiring. The beauty of the entire valley is magnificent.

[AlCzervik]

21. My daughter is going camping there for a week with her class.

she is so looking forward to it.

[LibDemAlways]

23. She is so lucky. Yosemite is one of those places everyone

should experience! She'll love it.

[AlCzervik]

24. i bought her a larger flash card for her camera and i cannot wait to see the pics

she takes. they went to Sequoia last year and loved it so i think this trip will be just awesome.

[LibDemAlways]

28. It's frustrating to take pictures in Yosemite because

you don't know where to point the camera. Everything is incredibly beautiful! Going in the off-season is especially great because the crowds are gone and the weather is cool. I am jealous!

[begin_within]

26. We were planning to go there in October, but

we found out Yosemite Falls is completely dry and the others are just a trickle. So we'll go there in the spring.

[flvegan]

22. Château de Chenonceau

We took a guided tour and spent a good afternoon there.

[Pacifist Patriot]

29. Tower of London

Inspired a life-long love of history when I visited at the age of 7. I am beyond thrilled I'm getting to take two of my children there in a couple of weeks.

[AlCzervik]

38. we went there 2 years ago and it was wonderful, we had a fantastic guide.

We're going back to London in April. albert and Victoria and the imperial war museum are the 2 i didn't get to see last time so those are the first things on my list of places to see.

[RebelOne]

30. The Rocky Mountains and the Smoky Mountains

Also, Loch Ness in Inverness, Scotland.

[EstimatedProphet]

79. Both the Rockies and the Smokies are beautiful, in different ways

[fizzgig]

97. i loved loch ness

i was there five years ago...took a day trip that ended with a boat trip down the river ness from the loch to inverness. inverness was beautiful

[Throd]

35. The Alcazar de Segovia

It is that castle with the pointy towers that appears on half the travel posters for Spain.

[yellowdogintexas]

82. I loved the Alcazar, but I liked Alhambra better. Spain in general was awesome though. nt

[QueenOfCalifornia]

36. The whole island of Santorini

It is spectacular..... sigh

[Seashell Eyes]

39. Yellowstone

It's nature's masterpiece

[yellowcanine]

40. The Dunkard Church at Antietam. The poignant irony is palpable.

http://news.webshots.com/photo/2598664830039048026VrtWds]

The Dunkards were pacifists who opposed slavery and war. So it was indeed ironic that their little meeting house was in the middle of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. After the battle blood from wounded soldiers stained the benches and floor of the church.

[BOSSHOG]

41. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Nothing more moving

Alcatraz also left quite an impression.

[jobycom]

45. Damn straight.

I'm a lousy poet, but I saw it in 83 on a senior trip soon after it opened, and wrote a poem about it that night. The poem sucked, but I didn't think I could express what it felt any other way. It probably taught me more about war and American history than any book or teacher.

[BOSSHOG]

I bet the poem was great My Friend

It came from the heart and I just know it was an awesome reflection of your thoughts. I've only been there once, I don't think I can ever go back.

[lost-in-nj]

49. Yeah thats on of the places

I was overwhelmed at.....
All the things people leave, letters, booze, cigs, and the pictures.....
The nurses memorial at the end is wonderful to... They are real people the artist used, I think it was done from a picture.... the face of the wounded soldier came out so perfect the artist was asked to cover it some how so the mother would not recognize the soldier..... thats why he his eyes are covered...

lost

[dropkickpa]

73. Yeah

I got chills and an overwhelming sense of sadness when I went there, and I am so glad that their names are tehre for all to see, they need to be remembered.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. pantheon. vatican. louray (?) caverns

[BOSSHOG]

43. Thorncrown Chapel near Eureka Springs Arkansas

An architectural Masterpiece.

[JCMach1]

47. It is beautful... My wife and I had our honeymoon in Eureka

and visited there on a roadtrip with my family this Summer

[BOSSHOG]

58. We spent our 10th anniversary

in Eureka but that was before Thorncrown was built. I did a story on it for a Fayetteville TV Station shortly after its opening.

Nestled in the peace and quiet of an Ozark Hillside
Thorncrown Chapel awaits the visit of a wayward traveler.

Me thinks some of my best work was born just wandering around that incredible structure. I did not want to leave, but deadlines.

[Burma Jones]

46. Manmade and Natural

Manmade: Engine 24/Ladder 5/Battalion 2 Fire House on 6th Avenue and Houston in Manhattan in the days immediately following 9/11

Natural: Yosemite

[Hell Hath No Fury]

48. From what I have seen so far...

it would be Yosemite. Standing on Glacier Point and looking out over the entire Valley takes my breath away every time I go there. I have been there easily a dozen times, yet each times is like the first. I consider that park my "church". :)

[LibertyLover]

50. Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau

comes to mind, so do the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, the Serengeti, Table Mountain, the Himalayas, Teotihuacan - Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, Baalbek, Petra, Temple Mount, the temples in Nara, Meteor Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Mt. Etna, Malta (whole island), Mt. Vesuvius, Mauna Loa, Fujiyama, Ngorogoro Crater, Stonehenge, the Hill of Tara, the Normandy beaches - so many places and each one beautiful and special in its own right.

[underpants]

53. I was told by 2 friends and they understated how the GRAND CANYON affects you

if you are a religious person it IS proof that God exists
if you believe in the "religion" of mother nature it affirms that too.

Truly awe inspiring.

[EstimatedProphet]

80. The first time I saw the Grand Canyon was under a huge full moon

The way the light was that night, I thought I could reach out and touch it. It was magic.

[Arugula Latte]

105. Yes. The Grand Canyon is still the most spectacular thing I've seen

I've weighed it against some great ones: Yosemite, redwoods, Mt. Rainier, Empire State Bldg., Eiffel Tower, Tower of London, Colosseum, Venice itself, etc. etc., but I keep coming back to the big G.C. as the most spectacular.

[Chemical Bill]

87. Yeah, GC gets my vote.

I thought it was intense from the rim, but halfway down was my favorite. You could take in the wonder of it all both towering above you and spread out below.

Bill

[greatauntoftriplets]

54. Cape Cod National Seashore.

One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

[ironflange]

55. Crater Lake

That damn thing just absolutely blew me away. Pictures just don't do it justice, you can see where the mountain was, and imagine what it was like when it collapsed. We brought home some big hunks of pumice, we didn't take them from the NP, but from the side of the road about 30 miles away.

[JCMach1]

56. Cedars of Lebanon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9008613@N06/1418288069

[Beaverhausen]

57. Uluru -/Ayers Rock - I'm going there next month

so excited. Great Barrier Reef, too.

But the Grand Canyon is it for what I have visited.

Edit - also, Cathedral Grove in the John Muir Woods. I wept at the beauty.

[graywarrior]

60. Mt. Washington

I feel so connected to that mountain.

[sarge43]

61. The Temples at Karnak Egypt.

Absolutely mind blowing.

[MilesColtrane]

81. The answer is....Egyptian erections, Barry Bond's injections, and stolen elections.

[WinkyDink]

62. Westminster Abbey, closely followed by Notre Dame de Paris.

[Whisp]

63. caves of Rio Frio

Belize.
could have my spelling off, it's been a while
close by falls where you stand on a ledge and watch birds flying below you.
not too far from Francis Coppola's place there.

[MilesColtrane]

66. The Most Moving.....Hiroshima Peace Memorial

Ticket




A Bomb Dome





Eternal Flame





Ringing the Peace Bell

[MilesColtrane]

67. Most Interesting...Joint Security Area, Korean DMZ

Looking into North Korea





Freedom House Pagoda manned by ROK soldiers





Inside the Military Armistice Commission meeting room.
This side of that table is in South Korea, the other side North. (note two KPA guards looking in the window)

[Omphaloskepsis]

68. Blue Lagoon

http://www.maion.com/photography/weblog/2004-04-01.html

[MrScorpio]

69. The Lincoln Memorial

[lost-in-nj]

98. yanno

I walked up those stairs...
looking at that statue. I thought pffft its just a statue

well when I got to the top...... there was no noise, no one talked, no outside noise... nothing..... sent chills down my spine.... I could swear i heard some one read the words of the Gettysburg address

and this

"IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER."

this was humbling.....

lost

[pokerfan]

71. Can't pick just one, so a short list

First, my backyard:
Glacier NP
Columbia River Gorge
Grand Coulee Dam
Dry Falls
Mt. Rainier NP
Yellowstone NP
North Cascades NP
Crater Lake
Hells Canyon
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper

Other sites in west:
Redwood NP
Golden Gate Bridge
Alcatraz
Grand Canyon
Hoover Dam
Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas

National Air and Space Museum
Arlington National Cemetery and The Tomb of the Unknowns
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The National World War II Memorial
The Alamo

Out of country:
The Eiffel Tower
The Arc de Triomphe
Westminster Abbey
The Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza

[TZ]

72. Its a tie between Rocky Mountain National Park

for the sheer majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains and El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico. Imagine being on a mountain in a tropical rainforest and yet when you can look off the mountain you see the prettiest blue green waters of the Carribean. Spectacular!

[Bjornsdotter]

75. Ales Stenar

...dates from 500 A.D.




Lund's Domkyrka...between Finn in the crypt and the clock it's hard to resist.






Tivoli Gardens....because I still love to go




Kronborg Castle...because I still believe in Holger Danske



Cheers

[Richardo]

76. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington

I went there on a snowy, cold cold midwinter's day in the mid 1980s. I was very respoectful, but objective about the whole thing until someone mentioned that names are still being added as veterans succumbed to wounds received in battle (this was only 10 years after the war).

I teared up for good when I heard that.

[yellowdogintexas]

83. CAN"'T PICK JUST ONE!!! so....

natural:

Altamira
Yellowstone
Mammoth Cave
Reefs of Cozumel
Carlsbad CAverns


ManMade:

Alhambra
Notre Dame de Paris
Eiffel Tower
Versailles

[Adsos Letter]

84. Shiloh Battlefield in Tennessee...August, 2006

I stopped at Shiloh Battlefield, midweek, about 5:30 on a beautiful warm summer evening. The humidity was low and the park rangers were just leaving, but they said the gates didn't close until sunset (8:30). There was only one other family there, and I was by myself. It was a very moving experience. Despite what happened there it was also quite beautiful and peaceful.


LOOKING FROM THE CONFEDERATE LINE TOWARDS THE UNION LEFT FLANK, WHICH WAS ANCHORED ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER JUST OFF-CAMERA ON THE RIGHT.

[swag]

85. The Prado.

[usaftmo]

89. Anne Frank's House

They have the fake bookcase pulled away from the wall, and you can visit inside the rooms they were hiding in.

While in hiding they put photos, drawings, and newspaper clippings on the wall. Now a clear barrier (probably plexiglass) has been put up so the items aren't damaged or removed by tourists, and it helps to show exactly how things were while they were there.

The experience was sad and inspirational at the same time. It's really hard to use accurate words...

[applegrove]

90. Yes that.

[KatyMan]

91. The Springfield Tire Fire...

Everything it's cracked up to be...

[YankeyMCC]

93. Franconia Notch

Or perhaps I should say the White Mountain National Forest as a whole because Mt Washington is certainly special too, but I have a bit more of a connection to the Franconia Range in particular.

As for a Man Made landmark, I think I'll say the National Archives in DC, and the displays of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

[JTG of the PRB]

94. Arches National Park

It's so beautiful there. Every corner of the park is just beyond amazing. I've been there 4 or 5 times now, and I plan on going back again sometime soon.

A very close second is Mesa Verde National Park:

[lost-in-nj]

95. I am so freekin jealous!!!

2 of the places I want to go to
before I get to old to enjoy them



:hi:

lost

[fizzgig]

100. i want to get to the arches

it can't be more than a six hour drive or so, right?

i went to mesa verde many, many years ago and loved it

[JTG of the PRB]

101. Yeah, Arches is pretty close to us.

It's pretty much a straight shot west along I-70. When I drove there a couple years ago with some friends, it took us about 7 hours driving from Boulder to Moab. I'm hoping to convince some friends to do the same thing with me this spring.

[fizzgig]

102. sounds like a good place for a long weekend

i've been fascinated by the place since i read 'desert solitaire' in high school

[Arugula Latte]

106. I love Arches. I spent part of my honeymoon there.

:)

[BlooInBloo]

99. Chitzen Itza.

[jberryhill]

103. The Bestest of the Bestest....

[dpbrown]

104. Mrs Macquaire's Chair

http://www.discoversydney.com.au/parks/mmc.html

At dawn.

[Cabcere]

107. Stonehenge

but only because I got to go inside. :loveya: It wouldn't have been nearly as awesome from the outside, but I was with an archaeology class, and we got special permission to go inside the circle, which was amazing. :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

108. Chichen Itza is pretty cool.

Also -- Edinburgh Castle, Glacier Park, Westminster Abbey, and the Apostle Islands.

[XemaSab]

109. Officially OFF THE HOOK:

Arches.

Mount Saint Helens.

Vietnam Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial.

EVERYONE should go to DC for a week and see the sights. It's your duty as an American. :patriot:

[begin_within]

111. I went there in 1977, when you could walk through the first floor of the White House.

The most impressive thing to me in DC was the Smithsonian.

[EFerrari]

110. When I die, I want to go to Yosemite.

And, it's funny because no matter how beautiful the images you see, they're not as beautiful as being there.

[lligrd]

112. Yellowstone

Can't get enough of it.