Photos: 10 All-American Must Sees for All Americans

11.06.09 | 11:07 AM ET

While there is more to see in America than we could see in a lifetime of travel, certain sights are so key to our understanding and appreciation of all we have here in Our Beloved 50, we can scarcely call ourselves Americans without having seen them. Some of the 10 sights that follow will make you proud, others may make you want to holler and throw things at me. Have at it.

Yellowstone

Everybody in America is within a day’s drive of at least one National Park. These have not received the official love for nothing. From the crashing coastline of Acadia in Maine to the prickly beauty of Big Bend in West Texas, our national parks are national treasures. See Yellowstone and at least two more.

Monument Valley

This isn’t actually America, it’s on Navajo land, but they are kind enough to share it. Aficionados of the great Southwest all have their own favorite moonscapes but I will stick my neck out and call Monument Valley the most stirring spectacle. It’s no wonder the Navajo and other indigenous Americans worship the land on which we live.

Mount Rushmore

Honestly, I find it hard to believe this even exists, it’s so over-the-top. And it’s quintessentially American—ambitious, self-confident, larger than life and, not altogether in the best of taste. But loveable.

The National Mall

Do I really have to spell this out? This is where it all happens. You can smell the power in the air. And no matter how cynical you might be about our government, you will be moved by the National Mall. No, really.

The Country by Car

Drive east to west, west to east, it doesn’t matter. It just matters that you get the full sense of the awesomeness that is America, sea to shining sea and everything in between. You could spend a lifetime doing nothing but this and never get bored. Well, I could, anyway.

Walt Disney World

Disney World is a big, pushy, crazy, commercial endeavor. Like America. Disney inspires mad passion in many, it is among America’s most pervasive exports (what do Tokyo and Paris have in common?) and the park itself really is an astonishing accomplishment.

Ellis Island

My grandparents, who came to the United States from Poland through Ellis Island, accompany me in spirit every time I visit this remarkable museum about American immigration. Immigration is all of our stories and the voices you hear and read walking through the museum will stick with you long after you forget the artifacts.

Grand Canyon

It’s bigger and more breathtaking than anything your imagination can invent. Can you imagine, way back in the far-off day, hiking along through trees and desert and stumbling upon ... this? I stop by the South Rim for a peek any time I’m in the neighborhood. And the less-visited North Rim is worth the special trip it requires.

Las Vegas

Yeah, yeah. I know. Am I kidding? But this is a basic philosophical question: Do we travel to see what we want, or to see what is? I subscribe to the latter philosophy. Vegas IS,  like it or not, in a very big way. It’s more quintessential America—it’s big, loud, razzle-dazzle, and unapologetic and, by the way, it’s full of Europeans, who wouldn’t dream of skipping it.

USS Arizona

My husband and I entered the theater to watch a film about the bombing of Pearl Harbor alongside a mob of chattering teenagers. At the film’s end, the kids’ eyes were red-rimmed and they filed out of the theater silently. We did too. I didn’t expect to be so affected. Most moving: oil still seeping from the wreck, where at least 900 crewmen still rest.

 

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved