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.
Located deep inside The Golden Nugget on Fremont Street is a golden nugget, one of the largest on display anywhere in the world. The “Hand of Faith” weighs an astonishing 61 pounds, 11 ounces. Kevin Hillier found the nugget near Wedderburn, Australia, in 1980. A year later, it made its way to the casino where it is on display for the world to see. The nugget — said to be the second largest ever discovered and the largest in existence — is valued at more than $3 million.
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Along a busy stretch of Windy Hill Road lies a 19th century cemetery, the last vestages of the antebellum residence of Asbury Hargrove. Roughly 20 people are buried in the cemetery. Hargrove was born in 1809 and died in 1879. Between July 6-15, 1864, Brig. Gen. Edward M. McCook used the residence as his headquarters.
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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.
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While many know the Harry Ransom Center as an internationally renowned humanities research center, it hosts many exhibits of interest to the general traveling public. The center, located at The University of Texas at Austin, is home to 100,000 works of art, 5 million photographs, more than 42 million manuscripts and nearly 1 million books. The collection’s highlights include one of only 20 complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world.
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The Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida, is a historic building that served as the winter White House of President Harry S. Truman during his presidency. Originally built in 1890 as the naval station’s command headquarters during the Spanish-American War, it was later used as a vacation home by several presidents before Truman. The house is now a museum that is open to the public for tours, which offer visitors a glimpse into the life of Truman and other presidents who stayed at the house. The museum features exhibits, artifacts, and photographs that highlight the history of the house and its famous occupants.
This post incorporates text generated with GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model.
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The Hato Caves were once located beneath the sea, but as the ocean levels lowered, they emerged from beneath the waves. The caves, made of marine coral limestone, are located on the northern coast of Curaçao. Caiquetio Indians are the first humans to inhabit the area, but they apparently did not venture too far inside the caves. Later, they served as a popular hiding spot for runaway slaves. Interestingly, the caves are hot caves, and the tempature inside is not cooler like many caves.
The story of Arizona would be far from complete without the Native American perspective. While it is at times a difficult story to tell and a difficult story to hear, the Heard Museum does a magnificent job brining the Native American Experience to life. Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard founded the museum in 1929 to house their personal art collection. Today, the 130,000-square-foot museum features more than 40,000 items in its collection, including the Barry Goldwater collection of Hopi kachina dolls.
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Hearst named his mansion La Cuesta Enchantada (or The Enchanted Hill), but it is commonly referred to as Hearst Castle. The Casa Grande that stands atop the hillside, the symbol of the mansion, features two towers were inspired by the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Mayor in Ronda, Spain. The Castle is filled with Hearst’s collection of treasures from around the world, ranging from medieval tapestries to Renaissance furniture to 19th century sculptures. But, perhaps the most intriguing element of the mansion is Neptune Pool , which features the façade of an ancient Roman temple as its centerpiece.
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The rail line between Riverhead and Helensville opened in 1875. The Helensville Railway Station opened in July 1881. It closed in 1987, though it reopened temporarily in 2008 and 2009.
The 10-acre Hemenway Park features standard park fare: playground equipment, tennis and basketball courts and gazebos for parties. But, the real attraction here is the Bighorn sheep that descend from the nearby mountains to water, graze and rest. Located in Hemenway Valley on Ville Drive, the park also offers fantastic views of Lake Mead and is the perfect pull off between Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam.
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