Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Ariz. (Photo by Todd DeFeo/The DeFeo Groupe)
Guidebooks are annoying. Just because some editor who doesn’t know me tells me which restaurant is the best or what attraction is a must-see doesn’t make it a must-see attraction. Sightseers’ Delight is dedicated to the weird, the quirky and the fun. After all, traveling is fun.
If it’s not, you’re doing it wrong.
All of the places highlighted in this ever-growing database are great. Sightseers’ Delight has visited them all. We think you should make a point to see every one of them. But, this is not a guidebook. Just a webpage to help you plan your next adventure.
Leatherlips is one of Ohio’s great historic legends. He was executed in on June 1, 1810, though the precise location is open to some debate. To honor the great Wyandot Native American Chief, the Dublin, Ohio, community in 1990 unveiled a 12-foot high sculpture of Leatherlips’ head. Designed by Boston artist Ralph Helmick and located in Scioto Park, the portrait was made using stacked native limestone. The top is open with stacked stones extending back along its sides, making for a popular picture stop.
In the heart of Hilliard, a bucolic Columbus suburb, stands what is said to be one of the largest Sept. 11 memorials. First Responders Park Memorial is dedicated to first responders nationwide and aims to remind visitors that no matter where they live, they have a stake in what happened on Sept. 11. One of the memorial’s features is a trio of granite walls inscribed with the names of those who lost their lives in the attack. In addition, steel from the World Trade Center was incorporated into the memorial.
The Denison University Cemetery, also known as College Cemetery, was established in 1833 for presidents and professors who want to be interred on campus.
The Old Colony Burying Ground was established in 1805 and is the final resting place of many early Granville pioneers. The first burial was in 1806, and the oldest surviving gravestone is dated 1808. It is the resting place for veterans from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War, along with ministers, farmers, industrialists, physicians, mothers, children, and other citizens of Granville.
The Granville Opera House was destroyed by fire on April 7, 1982. The historic edifice was built in 1849 as a Baptist Church and moved to a location at the corner of Broadway (Ohio Route 661) and Main Street in 1882. The church tower’s bell is still on display in a park built on the site of the Opera House. The bell first rung on June 29, 1872, to announce the death of the Reverend Samson Talbot, Denison University’s fifth president. The bell was also know for sounding on the hour and as the fire alarm.
The Olentangy Indian Caverns, located in Delaware, Ohio, north of Columbus, are a series of natural underground caves formed millions of years ago by an underground river that cut through the limestone rock. The cave’s passages and rooms occupying three different levels. According to the caverns’ webpage, Wyandots used the caverns over the years as a place of refuge from both their enemies (the Delaware Indians) and the weather.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park preserves two farm sites near Hodgenville, Kentucky, in LaRue County: the site where Abraham Lincoln was born and the site where he spent his early childhood years.
The Abraham Lincoln statue in the public square in Hodgenville, Kentucky, was dedicated on May 31, 1909. Adolph Alexander Weinman sculpted the six-foot-tall statue, depicting Lincoln sitting in an Empire-style chair. The marble foundation features stars inlaid on a Greek fret band, and the statue’s eastern facade spells out “Lincoln” in bronze letters. Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, attended the statue’s dedication, and Lincoln’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm, unveiled the statue.
The Historic Railpark and Train Museum is located in the historic former railroad Louisville and Nashville Railroad station in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1979.
Col. Harland Sanders played a pivotal role in the evolution of fast food dining. Before KFC was a staple of modern cuisine, he owned the Harland Sanders Café along U.S. Route 25 in Corbin, Ky. By the late 1930s, Sanders was well known for his culinary offerings, and by 1940 he opened a motel-restaurant complex here.
