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.
The Christchurch Botanic Gardens traces its origin to 1863. That year, an English oak was planted to commemorate the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The gardens are located next to the loop of the Avon River and Hagley Park. The gardens, which cover 21 hectares, are home to a collection of local and exotic plants. Its collection includes plants from across the globe.
Christchurch Tram’s heritage tramcars offer a unique way to explore Christchurch’s inner city. Operating since 1995, the trams offer live commentary from your friendly driver along the 4-kilometer circuit. Your all-day ticket allows you to discover the delights of the central city at your leisure with stops at Christchurch’s major sights, including Canterbury Museum and Botanic Gardens, Arts Centre, Art Gallery, The Terrace and Riverside Market and New Regent Street. Eco-friendly and Qualmark Gold accredited, the Christchurch Tram is a must-do activity on any visit to the city
Christoffelpark is the largest national park on Curaçao and features a variety of local flora and fauna, including wild orchids, the Palabrua, the rare native barn owl and the Curaçao White Tailed deer. The park, which was officially handed made a national park in 1978, is home to eight hiking trails.
To run the government and military during World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill needed a place safe from German bombing raids. He found that place in a sprawling underground complex today known as the Churchill War Rooms. The complex was operational starting Aug. 27, 1939, a week before Great Britain declared war on Germany. The museum complex offers an incredible, one-of-a-kind look at Winston Churchill and England’s approach to World War II. The complex is home to meeting rooms, bedrooms and map rooms, where the war’s progress was plotted and monitored.
Circus Maximus, which means the largest circus in Latin, was once home to chariot races during Roman times. The stadium, located between the Aventine and Palatine hills, could hold more than 150,000 spectators and was a model for circuses across the Roman Empire. It is today a public park.
The City of Presidents in downtown Rapid City is a collection of life-sized bronze statues representing each former American President. More than 40 bronze President statues, sculpted by six different artists, are located on the street corners of Rapid City.
The city of Woodstock, Georgia, unveiled its memorial to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in 2016. The monument includes rail from the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) subway station below the World Trade Center. The marble monument is inscribed with a quote from President George W. Bush. The monument is part of the Park at City Center in Downtown Woodstock.
Clava Cairns near Inverness is a well-preserved Bronze Age cemetery complex consisting of passage graves, ring cairns, kerb cairns, and standing stones. It is a significant and exceptional prehistoric site that dates back about 4,000 years. The cemetery was used in two periods, with the first row of large cairns built around 2000 BC. It was reused a thousand years later, with burials placed in some existing cairns. Excavations have found evidence of previous farming on the site. The cairns replaced the settlement, and some materials used to build them may have been taken from demolished houses.
Opened in 1965, the Clermont Lounge has the distinction as the first and longest continually operating strip club in Atlanta. The establishment is located in the basement of what was once the Clermont Motor Hotel. As Wikipedia notes: “The Clermont is perhaps best known for featuring some dancers who do not meet the traditional physical standards for strippers, the most famous of whom is Blondie, noted for her ability to crush empty beer cans between her breasts as well as for her poetry.”
