Americas

Whimsy runs riot at Harvey Ladew's Maryland estate, from a library with a shelf that swings open to reveal a secret entrance to the gardens to the topiary hedges, featuring a fat man walking a tiny dog, and a rider and hounds in hot pursuit of a fox.

Ladew Topiary Gardens

Clipped hedges and a house full of antiques are the main attractions for this museum north of Baltimore, Maryland

Brad Penka can't say enough about barbed wire's winning of the West.

The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

With more than 2400 variations of barbed wire, this La Crosse, Kansas, museum has a lot to teach the non-farmers out there

Quack medicine? Inhaling the breath of a duck, according to the exhibit, was once used to cure children of thrush and other disorders of the mouth and throat.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

A throwback to the private museums of earlier centuries, this Los Angeles spot has a true hodgepodge of natural history artifacts

The surf is always up at this "way cool" California museum, which celebrates the sport and its legends.

The California Surf Museum

Learn about the evolution of the surfboard from 1912 through 2008 in this small gallery in Oceanside, California

Visitors to the missile museum may touch a Titan II, which stands 103 feet tall.

Titan Missile Museum

In Sahuarita, Arizona, in the midst of a retirement community, tourists can touch a Titan II missile, still on its launch pad

The Voodoo Museum "is an entry point for people who are curious, who want to see what's behind this stuff," says anthropologist Martha Ward.

The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Wooden masks, portraits and the occasional human skull mark the collections of this small museum near the French Quarter

Springtime visitors to Yosemite National Park are treated to sweeping views of lush landscapes.

Springtime Splendor in Yosemite

As the winter snows thaw, visitors flock to the popular national park to see frazil ice, moonbows and other seasonal sights

The Ahwahnee Hotel was built in 1927 to draw affluent and influential tourists into the park and give them a Ritz-Carlton experience amid Yosemite's wilderness.

Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel, Finally Restored

Interior designers spared no detail in bringing this historic lodge back to its luxurious origins

Recalling vistas created in the 9th to 12th centuries for Japan's aristocracy, islands are connected by a graceful bridge. Landscape architect Hoichi Kurisu's intention was to express "ancient wisdom."

Florida's Lush Japanese Gardens

A thousand years of Japanese landscape designs unfold at the Morikami Museum in Delray Beach

The missions—built between 1769 and 1823 and extending in a chain of 600 miles from Sonoma to San Diego—stand as symbols of California's Spanish colonial past. Pictured is San Miguel's bell tower.

A Tour of California's Spanish Missions

A poignant reminder of the region's fraught history, missions such as San Miguel are treasured for their stark beauty

Northern Michigan's rocky coast, shown here is a Presque Isle cove, has long beckoned as a summer playground. The picturesque region, wrote American naturalist Edwin Way Teale, is "a land of wonderful wilderness."

The Wonderful Wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Immortalized by Longfellow, the Midwest's preferred vacation spot offers unspoiled forests, waterfalls and coastal villages

A view of Lake Superior and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

A Michigan Museum of Shipwrecks

On the shore of Lake Superior, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum details the history of boats lost in the deep waters

Baklava, a pastry called tulumba, Bosnian pita stuffed with potatoes, and Turkish coffee at Berix.

Visiting Bosnia via St. Louis

A burgeoning community in the Gateway City is the place to find lepini, cevapi and other Bosnian treats

"I couldn't resist a call to return" to Cleveland, says Charles Michener. The revitalized East 4th Street is home to high-end bars and restaurants.

Cleveland’s Signs of Renewal

Returning to his native Ohio, author Charles Michener marvels at the city’s ability to reinvent itself

Chef Phillip Tang of East by Northeast rolls dumplings stuffed with Vermont pork and Massachusetts cabbage.

Boston’s Farm-to-Table Renaissance

These New England restaurants stand out as chefs fill their menus with harvests from local farms and drinks from area distilleries

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Wiarton, Ontario, Canada

A small town on Colpoy Bay

The king cake—with the ensconced plastic baby—is the classic Mardi Gras dessert.

A King Cake Special Delivery

One can’t truly celebrate a New Orleans Mardi Gras without the doughy delicacy

The dam, to be built at the confluence of the Inambari and Araza rivers, is one of dozens expected to power South America's economic ascent.

A Mega-Dam Dilemma in the Amazon

A huge dam on Peru's Inambari River will bring much-needed development to the region. But at what cost?

Even though canyoneering started in Europe during the 1970s, Utah is the capital of the sport, attracting rock climbers and mountaineers.

Canyoneering: Much More Than a Hike in the Park

The “Average Joe’s” extreme sport takes athletes high atop mountains and deep into canyons

The first microdistillery in the U.S. was California's St. George Spirits, founded in 1982.

In Texas, a Locavore’s Liquor

Microdistillers are making their mark around the Lone Star State

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