Yellowstone National Park, Wyo
Think you know America's essential sights? Compare your past trips with our picks for domestic destinations every citizen should visit -- from pop culture icons to patriotic landmarks. Consider it your star-spangled bucket list.
1. Highway 1, Calif. - Considering that the United States has more miles of paved roads (over 2.7 million) than any other country on earth, is it any wonder that road trips are practically a rite of passage here? One of the most meditative -- and celebrated -- drives you can take in the States is the 145-mile stretch of California's Pacific Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Monterey.
2. French Quarter, New Orleans, La. - No other American neighborhood provides as much eye candy as the cobblestone streets of New Orleans' French Quarter -- known as "the Quarters" to locals -- and we're not referring to the annual Mardi Gras parades, with their thousands of taffeta-draped harlequins strutting to funk, R&B, and Dixie. No, it's the architecture that's intriguing.
3. National Mall, Washington, D.C. - There's no place in America where you get more historical bang for your buck than the National Mall -- fitting, since two of its most famous memorials (to Lincoln and Jefferson) are stamped on our smallest coinage.
4. Civil Rights District, Atlanta, Ga. - Atlanta's Sweet Auburn neighborhood draws thousands of visitors each year to pay respects to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the renowned African American preacher and civil rights leader who was born here and whose messages on dignified protest still resonate worldwide.
5. Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nev. - Glass pyramids. Faux Venetian canals. The 1,148-foot tall Stratosphere Tower. A couple of $100 million daredevil circuses called Cirque du Soleil.
6. Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. - Wide-open space is a unique inheritance for every American, and Yellowstone is the most dramatic example of what "wide-open space" really means. In 1872, two-million-acre Yellowstone debuted as America's first national park, and visitors began flocking to soak in its hot springs, see elk and bison roam its grasslands, gawk at its geyser known as Old Faithful, and hear gray wolves sound chill-inducing howls at dawn.
7. Nashville, Tenn. - Soaking up country music in its native habitat is an American music experience like no other. Leafy, laid-back Nashville, Tenn., deserves its nickname Music City U.S.A.: It's dotted with twang-accented institutions, including the Country Music Hall of Fame.
8. Grand Canyon, Ariz. - Many American landmarks inspire people to think big, but none can match the leviathan scale of the Grand Canyon (nps.gov/grca).
9. Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, Calif. - In 2013, Helen Mirren, James Franco, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Ron Howard, and another 19 actors and musicians will be added to the more than 2,400 celebrities who've left their handprints and bronze-engraved names in the pavement along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street since 1958.
10. Pearl Harbor, O'ahu, Hawaii -This year marks the 52nd anniversary of the USS Arizona Memorial (nps.gov/usar), which honors the men who died on the famous battleship sunk in 1941's Pearl Harbor air raid.
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