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For me so far, coastal Maine, especially in Autumn.
St Petersburg Russia, not enough time there, I would love to go back and wander around for a week or two.
In recent years; Russia and former Soviet countries in the Eastern Europe side could be EXTREMELY dangerous if you a person of color (not a Caucasian white) - and travelling alone.
There are some gruesome attacks on blacks and Indians in Russia - YouTube is full of such videos.
I'm guessing that one of the 13 state capitol buildings that you've not seen is the one in Hawaii. Because if you had, you'd be ranking it among the ones on Florida, Nevada, Alabama, West Virginia, and Michigan. (I'm actually surprised you've listed West Virginia's among the bottom; that gold-covered dome -- and yes, it's real gold, or so I've heard -- is pretty impressive.)
Hopefully I’ll get to see all of them eventually. There are a few I don’t hold out hope for and Hawaii’s is one of those. Same’s true for Alaska and New Mexico. But we’ll see.
West Virginia’s outside dome is actually pretty nice. Inside, though, the capitol’s really bland and plain, containing a statue of former senator Robert Byrd and not a lot else. I asked a guide who showed me the Governor’s Mansion about it, and she said that when it was constructed they had to significantly scale back the interior. It was built from 1924-1932 to replace a building that had burned down, and proceeding with the planned fancy interior would have been considered unseemly for a poor state during the Depression.
That's been a travel idea of mine too. As it happens, I did visit the PA capitol years ago,
and indeed it's sumptuous. So I've already seen the best one?
It sounds like you've made the rounds of the eastern states... what's your opinion about CT's capitol?
And the western states are still on the to-do list?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bachslunch
I’ve been to 37 US state capitol buildings over the years, and several of these have been utterly stunning. My top 10 list, all excellent examples of their type:
Harrisburg, PA
Albany, NY
Des Moines, IA
Jefferson City, MO
Topeka, KS
Baton Rouge, LA
Annapolis, MD
Richmond, VA
Lincoln, NE
Springfield, IL
Harrisburg’s is in a class all its own, a truly remarkable place.
What I first started seeing these, I wasn’t expecting them to be so interesting. That’s what I call underrated.
There are a couple of duds among those encountered. Florida is by itself at the bottom, though Nevada, Alabama, West Virginia, and Michigan were no great shakes either. But for the most part, these are every bit as interesting as the best European cathedrals, and that’s saying something.
Northern Arizona, using Flagstaff as a base, there's a huge diversity of awesome sights within a ~1.5 hour radius. This includes the Grand Canyon, which clearly doesn't count as underrated, however many of the other spots fly under the radar and are worth a visit.
~1.5 hour radius from Flagstaff
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Wupatki National Monument
Sunset Crater National Monument
Lowell Observatory
San Francisco Peaks and Arizona Snowbowl
Oak Creek Canyon
Sedona
Meteor Crater
Grand Canyon NP
Petrified Forest NP
Navajo Reservation
Grand Falls of the Little Colorado
Jerome
Grand Canyon Caverns
Slightly farther out at ~2 hours are some other key sights including
Horseshoe Bend
Glen Canyon
Lake Powell
Antelope Canyon
Mogollon Rim
Northern Arizona, using Flagstaff as a base, there's a huge diversity of awesome sights within a ~1.5 hour radius. This includes the Grand Canyon, which clearly doesn't count as underrated, however many of the other spots fly under the radar and are worth a visit.
~1.5 hour radius from Flagstaff
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Wupatki National Monument
Sunset Crater National Monument
Lowell Observatory
San Francisco Peaks and Arizona Snowbowl
Oak Creek Canyon
Sedona
Meteor Crater
Grand Canyon NP
Petrified Forest NP
Navajo Reservation
Grand Falls of the Little Colorado
Jerome
Grand Canyon Caverns
Slightly farther out at ~2 hours are some other key sights including
Horseshoe Bend
Glen Canyon
Lake Powell
Antelope Canyon
Mogollon Rim
May be it’s just me and I have a slight personal bias in it but when I was a little kid, I used to play a car race video game where the back ground scenery would change while you would go through the levels.
There was this one background scene that absolutely fascinated me. I would mostly play the game just to reach to that level and see the scenery which made me feel proud about it - I wouldn’t have much interest left after that level.
I always thought it was an imaginary place that doesn’t exist.
Fast fwd 35 years later, I was planning a family vacation trip to Grand Canyon in 2016
I searched TripAdvisor to see other points of interest in GC area and saw “Forrest Gump Point”.
I searched google images and BOOM !! It pushed me back into my childhood - There it was !! That background scene of that video game! I smiled with joy and pleasure.
And a few days later, There I was! In that magical scenery that I dreamt about 35 years ago and 8000 miles away.
What an experience that was !!
IMO, after GC, I think a visit to Monument Valley and Forrest Gump Point were the two best places that I experienced.
We stayed a couple of days in The View Hotel - I looked into the valley from our balcony during late night in full moon, I then witnessed the sunrise in the valley, and had day trips and strollling within the valley, This whole experience was something else. Absolutely magical!
On our way back, we took the 89/17 South Route.
I don’t think I have ever driven through such a diverse area in such a short drive.
The scenery would immediately change from deserts to lush green fields to rocky mountains to snow to forests and back to cactus trees and deserts - Perhaps it was that time of the year but I think this was one of the Top three best scenic drives I have ever taken after travelling to many countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, and quite an extensive travel within U.S.
Our Au Pair was with us during this trip. She originally came from South Africa and stayed a year with our family. She has long gone back home but this trip changed her life. She still remains under some sort of magical spell.
The Peak District, in (mostly) the north-west of Derbyshire, England. A relatively small area, with stunningly beautiful scenery, market towns, stately homes (Chatsworth is the most well-known), and well-dressings.
Little mention of New Mexico here. New Mexicans still asked to show proof of citizenship! That suits me fine. More for me.
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a capitol idea...
