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.
The Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier honors the soldiers who died during the American Revolutionary War. Many of those soldiers were buried in mass graves in Washington Square, where the monument is located. The memorial was conceived in 1954 by the Washington Square Planning Committee and completed in 1957. The monument, designed by architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh, features an eternal flame and a bronze cast of Jean Antoine Houdon’s George Washington statue. An unknown soldier — either British or a colonial soldier — is encased in the memorial. Both the tomb and Washington Square are part of Independence National Historical Park.
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The Philadelphia Mint has been a staple of the city since 1792 when the nation’s first-ever Mint opened here. At the time, the city was the nation’s capital. The Mint has been housed in its current building at the intersection of N. 5th and Arch streets since 1969. Visitors can take free self-guided tours and see the coining operations from a walkway 40 feet above the factory floor.
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The New York Mets’ Hall of Fame & Museum showcases the team’s five-plus-decade history. The 3,700 square-foot museum, located next to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, features exhibits, photos and videos from the Mets’ history. The museum, on the first base side of Citi Field, is open to fans with game tickets. Some notable artifacts include a Casey Stengel jersey from 1962, Tom Seaver’s 1969 Cy Young Award and the 1986 Game 6 World Series ball that Mookie Wilson hit and “trickled” through the legs of Boston Red Sox’s first baseman Bill Bucker. The museum also features an exhibit about Mr. Met and the “Ring of Champions” display dedicated to the Mets’ 1969 and 1986 World Champion teams. The Mets Hall of Fame includes 21 members. The Mets began to play as an expansion team in 1962.
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Housed in the former Court Street station, the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn features exhibits that tell the story of the subway, from its earliest construction to the modern cars that transport tourists and commuters alike every day. The museum opened in 1976. In many ways, the centerpiece of the museum is the station itself. Court Street opened as the terminus for trains on the IND Fulton Street Line. However, it closed in 1946 due to low ridership numbers and sat largely vacant for three decades. It was used at times as a filming location for movies set in New York City. On July 4, 1976, the temporary New York City Transit Exhibit opened in the Court Street, coinciding with the United States Bicentennial celebration. The exhibit proved to be so popular the exhibit was made permanent.
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The National Lighthouse Museum officially opened in 2015 as a dedication to the history of Lighthouses and their keepers. Located in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City, the museum is located on the former site of the United States Lighthouse Service General Depot.
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Standing on the banks of New York Harbor near the Staten Island Ferry terminal is Postcards, a pair of 30-foot-tall white marble wing sculptures that frame lower Manhattan. Designed by New York architect Masayuki Sono and built in 2004, the memorial honors 274 Staten Islanders: those killed at the World Trade Center, one passenger killed when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa., and a resident killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
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The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was established in 1937 and is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The international constellation of museums includes the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. An architectural icon and “temple of spirit” where radical art and architecture meet, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is now among a group of eight Frank Lloyd Wright structures in the United States recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. To learn more about the museum and the Guggenheim’s activities around the world, visit guggenheim.org.
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The four-acre Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is located and named in honor of the Four Freedoms President Franklin D. Roosevelt highlighted in his Jan. 6, 1941, State of the Union address. The park is located next to the historic Smallpox Hospital in New York City at the southernmost point of Roosevelt Island. Architect Louis Kahn designed the park. The park was designed in the early 1970s and completed in 2012.
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The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum features an incredible collection of military and civilian aircraft. The museum housed on a historic aircraft carrier at Pier 86 at 46th Street in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on the West Side of Manhattan.
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Times Square is said to be the most visited place in the world. More than 360,000 people pass through Times Square every day (or more than 131 million per year) for their brush with Elmo or another creepy character. Originally named Longacre Square, the area was renamed after The New York Times relocated to the newly erected Times Building (today One Times Square) in 1904. Approximately 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City is spent within Times Square. The famed New Year’s Eve ball drop was first held on Dec. 31, 1907.
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