I need to like pretend I'm travelling to the US for english class and I have no idea where to go and what to pretend to see. Gief meh sum answars beach.

Go see the Grand Canyon, then the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, The MET, The Guggenheim, Mount Rushmore, Niagara falls, Rout 66, all that fake huge fantastic plastic crap at Las Vegas, Disney Land and Disney World, go to Cape Canaveral and look at the cool space stuff, the memorial at the visitors centre at Pearl Harbour naval base and all the cool volcanoes in Hawaii, um Yellowstone national park with Old Faithful and stuff… Look at the Giant Redwoods, packs of timber wolves that're being reintroduced into the wild, and then there's always the Grizzly bears and brown bears… What else? Universal studios in Hollywood, the Hollywood sign, tour the star's mansions, look at the ‘walk of fame’ thingo with all the stars on the pathway… Seattle Space Needle, the Golden Gate Bridge, that big arch thing in St Louis, look at all those lovely Art Deco buildings in Miami…. etc.

I dunno, that's the crap they always go on about in TV shows and movies anyway.
I really honestly wouldn't know, but it was fun to chuck up all those famous TV/movie landmarks up there in one big unordered stream of consciousness.

Come to Florida, and see the world's biggest gathering of human scum! Come to my place and I'll introduce you to my neighbors, the cream of the crop of crap! See the snaggletoothed crackhead nextdoor who has a chicken and a rooster for some reason even though we're within city limits! See the fat guy who sits every night with his garage door open and no shirt on! See the guy who lives in a tiny camper trailer with at least four pets! See the guy who looks JUST LIKE SANTA CLAUS!

There's an old limestone tunnel near Fredericksburg, Texas that has a bat emergence every night (before winter, I think). Millions of bats come streaming out of it over the course of about an hour. If you're lucky, you can go down to the observation platform that puts you close enough that you could (but shouldn't) reach out and touch them as they stream past.

The smell is pretty nasty (bat poo), the noise is eerie (squeals and leathery flapping) and it looks amazing as millions of bats create this giant black cloud that reaches up into the sky. Hawks and other Raptors dive in and out of the cloud, getting their dinner as the bats get theirs eating insects.

It was pretty gol' darn cool. I'll tell you what.

It's amazing how little Hollywood romanticizes DC when the city is basically just a giant tourist trap. Museums, monuments, the zoo, even the government buildings are often built around the tourists. Plus, since just about everything in the city is government funded, it's all free.

isukun
It's amazing how little Hollywood romanticizes DC when the city is basically just a giant tourist trap. Museums, monuments, the zoo, even the government buildings are often built around the tourists. Plus, since just about everything in the city is government funded, it's all free.

Yeah, but you have to admit the Smithsonian is pretty darn cool … the first time.

Hey the Smithsonain is cool, and the Air and Space Museum (course it's been YEARS since I've gone) I also find the dessert in New Mexico to be rather pretty to see.

Awesome city skylines, if you are into that. Chicago and NY especially.

I personally would like to see The Appalachians (at least part of the trail), Yellowstone Park (Wyoming, Montanta, Idaho), White Sands (new Mexico), Acadia National Park (Maine), and Yosemite National Park (California), to name a few.

I'd say come to Staten Island and see the world's largest garbage dump - but it's closed now. Well, it's still there, so you /could/ still see it, but not breathing in the noxious fumes just isn't the same.

isukun
It's amazing how little Hollywood romanticizes DC when the city is basically just a giant tourist trap. Museums, monuments, the zoo, even the government buildings are often built around the tourists. Plus, since just about everything in the city is government funded, it's all free.

What? That's not what I get from DC at all, and I've lived here all my life. Just curious, is this your impression from a visit or do you live here? There's an aaawwwful lot more to the city than tourism. In fact, it seems significantly less geared towards tourism than the stuff they show in movies. To me, it's always been “a place of infinite political business” and “oh jesus look at all the ghettos”, with a sprinkling of incredibly hip showing districts (tourist-free).

Ahh I had to rewrite that paragraph like 4 times to make it sound less confrontational and I don't think I did a good job. …Sorry, not trying to be mean sounding, defensive, etc. Damn internet.

Los Angeles is a city that is worth visiting. The beauty lies in the north and the east. Cities like Hollywood, Santa Monica, Century City, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Ray and West Hollywood all lie in the North and East. Here you will find the Los Angeles they show in the movies. There are various fun things to do there like Universal Studios (and all the other studios) and the beach.

The despair lies in the south and east. From the poor neighborhoods of Alhambra, East Los Angeles, and Boyle Heights to the dangerous “hoods” of Compton, Watts, and South Los Angeles (South Central really.) Basically, anything south of LAX is not a good place to be. One thing is for sure. The food in East Los Angeles is good and inexpensive.

What about the middle? Well there's nothing there aside from Downtown Los Angeles, where you can find almost anything (now 60% bum free due to urban renovation) The Staples Center and the LA Convention Center. Maybe even Exposition Park, where the Coliseum is, and where the California Science Center lies.

The nightlife in Koreatown is also fun.

SpANG
Awesome city skylines, if you are into that. Chicago and NY especially.

YES!

I had a wonderful time in Chicago and a very good time at New York City. I love the balance of green space and cityscape in Chicago and the Art Institute was wonderful! I was there looking at their collection until I literally couldn't walk anymore. New York City is fun and Time Square is a great place to visit if you're a city girl like me. MoMA is very awesome to visit. But still, I perfer Chicago~

Florida is a tourist and senior citizen dumping ground :P

As far as NYC goes, anything that a tourist does a typical New Yorker probably doesn. Ie - many New Yorkers have never been to the top of the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty.
Times Sqaure has a lot going on in it, and the only reason to go there is for the Toys R Us, or if you're seeing a Broadway Show.
The real places to visit in NYC are the non-tourist places (well, places that aren't designed for tourists). The Village is a realy nice place to walk around - you can forget you're in the city in some areas. Of course Central Park.
I think with NYC what tourists should really do isn't just go to Chinatown, Little Italy, Times Square, and Central Park, but also walk around the neighborhoods and find a hidden place that might not be in a tourist book. There's a great Vietnamese place on Baxter that serves some of the best food I've ever tasted, with really good prices - a rice dish costs about 5 - 10 bucks, and you get a huge portion. And, trust me, you probably won't find it in a “must see” guide of NYC.
I'm not suggesting that you shoudn't see the sights - of course you should. The Natural History Museum, The Met, MoMA, etc… are all worht seeing - but to really experience NYC, you gotta' visit those places not in the books.

But maybe I'm a bit biased towards these places because they don't pander to tourists. *shrugs*

a monkee in the white house