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fuckyescalifornia:

…show them this! All of these beautiful natural wonders and a lot more, are located in California, the state that has the perfect combination of both the natural and city life. Click on photos for the name of the photographer(names below are clickable as well).

1. “California Lake” by Donnie Shackleford  
2. “Rainy Day” by Catherine  
3. “Upper Yosemite Falls Moonbow” by Marc Crumpler  
4. “For Purple Mountain Majesties” by Bill Wight  
5. “Clear Cool Water on a Hot Summer Day” by Lynn Fagerlie
6. “Lasting Impressions” by Jim Patterson  

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Untitled by maxxsmart | Panther Beach in Davenport, CA

California coast at Whale Point

Venice Beach, California (Photo: Getty Images)

Climb a steep mountain trail to discover a view so striking that you simply can’t stop snapping photos. Take a Jeep to a deserted beach. Fly kites high into the sea breeze. Salute the setting sun as it drops into the sea. Beautiful (and fun) beaches abound in the U.S., and here are some suggestions for finding some of the best. 

Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California
For: Oceanfront fun L.A. style

Three-mile-long Venice Beach, its sand perfectly kept, its Pacific Ocean water bluer than blue backed by green hills, is the place to go for a pickup game of beach volleyball or tossing a Frisbee. Seeking something more active? Rent surfboards and tackle the 5-to-7-foot waves that roll in during winter. Stroll out to the end of the recently restored Venice Pier to get a great view of the pink and orange Pacific sunsets. Walk the funky Venice Beach Boardwalk, lined with street performers and vendors. Watch a daredevil walk barefoot across broken glass, get your fortunes told, and revel in the free spirit of the place. You will be in good company. Such Hollywood names as Anjelica Huston, Eric Clapton, and Julia Roberts have lived in Venice, and Arnold Schwarzenegger built his physique on the beach there.
   

Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida (Photo: Courtesy of visitsarasota.org)

Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida
For: Beautiful beach walks

In 2011, Dr. Beach rated Sarasota’s broad and beautiful Siesta Beach No. 1  in the United States, and with good reason. Couples find that this strand of white-as-powdered-sugar sand is perfect for walking, on a beach so wide that it never seems crowded. Go early in the morning, when the only competition is the occasional yoga class or Frisbee game. Afternoons are prime times for swimming, snorkeling to see coral and caves, and for sand-castle building. Folks gather on the beach again in evenings to watch the sun drop into the sea, leaving behind a glorious palette of pastel colors. Nearby Siesta Key Village is charmingly low key, with good restaurants. It is possible to camp at Turtle Beach, within walking distance of Siesta Beach. The 8-mile-long Siesta Key sits between the Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. 

Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii (Photo: Getty Images)

Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii 
For: Two miles of spectacular beauty

Ask 10 Hawaii residents to name the state’s most beautiful beach, and you are sure to get 10 different answers—and all of them will be right. One name that keeps coming up, however, is Hanalei Beach on the north shore of the island of Kauai, just opposite Princeville. Fans of old movies will recognize it as “Nurses Beach,” in the classic musical South Pacific, which showcased the crescent of white sand backed by deep green mountains to perfection. This 2-mile long strand of sand rings the lovely bay, backed by sheer cliffs (walk the beach in the early morning and you will see the cliff wall reflected in the water). Hanalei is popular with local surfers, and it is great fun to watch them zoom into shore, but this beach might be best for strolls and snapping photos, as swimming can be hazardous due to currents and drop-offs.      
  

Trunk Bay, Virgin Islands National Park (Photo: Getty Images)

Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands  
For: Breathtaking nature

If your idea of romance includes walks through wilderness, where you may never encounter another person … the opportunity to camp on the beach, under a canopy of glittering stars … some leisurely sightseeing … and time simply to chill out, a vacation in St. John—the least developed of the U.S. Virgin Islands—is sure to please. Two-thirds of the island is dedicated to national parkland, and visitors who book well ahead can camp on the pretty beach at Trunk Bay or at equally charming Cinnamon Bay. Grab paddles and get out on the water in a kayak. Charter a boat for some serious deep-sea fishing. At Trunk Bay, put on snorkel masks and fins to tackle the Underwater Trail, complete with signage, in waters as tranquil as a bathtub. Book a sunset or full-moon horseback ride along forest trails on the island’s east end. Rediscover one another.  

Wildwood, New Jersey (Photo: Courtesy of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority)

Wildwood, New Jersey 
For: Reliving childhood memories 

Sometimes romance blooms in settings rich in nostalgia. Couples who remember cones filled with swirly Twin Kiss frozen custard, braving the Wild Mouse as it zoomed up and down tracks high above the boardwalk, and diving into just a few more waves even though your mother swore that your lips were turning blue, can find remarkable romantic nostalgia in Wildwood, New Jersey, a beach resort that has stayed true to its delightful past. Wildwood lacks gambling and mega-hotels but is rich in old-fashioned pleasures—including its remarkable 1950s-era doo-wop architecture. The incredibly wide white sand beach is perfect for flying kites, or just putting up a beach umbrella and taking a snooze. Bicycle the 38-block-long boardwalk to start the day. Return by night to ride an old-fashioned wooden roller coaster or a huge Ferris wheel, grab some cotton candy and feel like kids again.   

Cannon Beach, Oregon (Photo: Getty Images)

Cannon Beach, Oregon 
For: Quiet walks along a windswept beach

Cannon Beach, the loveliest in a string of Oregon beaches, is perfect for couples seeking quiet, seclusion, and long lazy walks on a windswept shore. Clearly this northern strand of sand isn’t meant for swimming, but is perfect for strolling, sharing special conversations, and daydreaming. Walk out to get the best view of the massive Haystack Rock, one of the largest monoliths in the world. Fly colorful kites in the brisk breeze. Admire—but don’t bother—the marine life that dwells in the tide pools. Save time to visit nearby Ecola State Park, with its panoramic vistas of Oregon’s rugged coast. Grab your binoculars to see picturesque Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, far out to sea. The cozy beachfront Surfsand Resort offers perfect sunset views. 

Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (Photo: Getty Images)

Ladies Beach, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts 
For: Mingling with the rich and famous 

For all its old-fashioned New England charm, Nantucket Island, 26 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, and accessible by air from Hyannis and by ferry from Woods Hole, is a high-end-but-worth-it destination. The beautiful people, drawn by a bevy of equally beautiful beaches, have arrived in droves, with prices rising to meet demand. That said, this romance-packed island, ringed with glorious strands of sand, is well worth a splurge. Get away from it all on pretty, ultra-private Ladies Beach. Best strategy: book into the classic, gray-shingled Wauwinet, a Relais et Chateaux hotel about 10 miles from town, rent a Jeep and drive out to catch some sun on this pretty beach, accessible only by rugged dirt road. In town, snap photos of the pretty Brant Point Lighthouse. A stroll along the graceful dunes is magic, made more so if you spot someone whose famous name you know. 
 

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina (Photo: Bill Russ / visitnc.com)

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
For: History and solitude by the sea

As North Carolina’s Outer Banks become increasingly developed, pretty Ocracoke Island, population 948, offers visitors 16 miles of utterly pristine seashore. This most southerly island in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is accessible only by ferry or private plane, keeping crowds away and frequently earning a place on Dr. Beach’s list of top ten beaches. Visit the Ocracoke Lighthouse, its light visible 14 miles out to sea, and the Ocracoke Preservation Museum, to learn about everything from the local accent to the island’s role in the Civil War. Stop by the tiny British Cemetery, where four British sailors, whose bodies washed up on the island after their ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in World War II, are buried. Take a day trip to nearby Portsmouth Island, once the largest settlement along the Outer Banks, now uninhabited. 
  

La Jolla, California (Photo: Getty Images)

Horseshoe Beach, La Jolla, California 
For: A beautiful beach in a chic setting

California’s commitment to keeping every beach public ensures that even tony Horseshoe Beach, in the upscale seafront town of La Jolla, just north of San Diego, is available to every person seeking some sun and sand. That is, of course, if you can manage to find it. Travel+Leisure magazine “outed it,” and so will we, advising readers that this tucked-away treasure can be enjoyed only by locating the understated stairwell that leads down to the sand, just off Coast Boulevard near Prospect Street. Best of all, when you have finished your swimming-bodysurfing-sun tanning afternoon, this upscale suburb of San Diego offers great shopping and excellent restaurants. For some added romance, check into the posh La Valencia Hotel, favored by Hollywood names you would know, and book a couples massage fit for superstars.

South Padre Island, Texas (Photo: Getty Images)

South Padre Island, Texas
For: Lazy days of summer

South Padre Island, located in the Gulf of Mexico, is so close to Mexico that it almost tickles the border, but it is truly all about Texas … and about relaxing in sun and sand. This isn’t a place for roiling roller coasters or big sticks of cotton candy. It is more about towering white sand dunes, a few laid-back beach bars, and keeping your binoculars handy to spot colorful birds, including the lovely roseate spoonbill. Watch dolphins play (you’ll bet money that they are smiling at you). The sand on South Padre is so abundant that you may well find yourselves competing for best sand castle architecture. Mind the turrets, and be aware that some competitors actually sneak glue onto their construction site. Surfing can be good, but in general, this pretty barrier island is all about lazy afternoons, spending time together, and, maybe fishing for blue marlin.

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What makes a place essentially American? Besides being within our borders, of course? When the Budget Travel editors set out to compile a list of can’t-miss destinations in the United States, we knew there was no one answer. 

A place couldn’t be just historic, or only very beautiful, or merely iconic. But in the best cases, it might be all three. For days (and weeks), ideas were floated, debates were had, some favorites were voted down and others prevailed. The list we arrived at is no American-history textbook quiz—although historic sites are there, along with a sampling of cultural, nostalgic, and guilty-pleasure spots that, we think, evoke the kaleidoscopic American experience. 

So why not map out a detour to one of these spots the next time you hit the road? Who knows—you might never think of this country in quite the same way again.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.Yellowstone National Park (Photo: Hugoht / Dreamstime.com)

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. Amazingly, visitors can get the same thrills today for nearly no cost. For the fullest experience, stay the night. The lack of light pollution in northwest Wyoming’s Big Sky country reveals an astonishing canopy of stars that is virtually unchanged from the time of native tribes, fur trappers, and pioneer explorers.


French Quarter (Photo: Lawrence Weslowski Jr / Dreamstime.com)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. 

Stroll this district, which is bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street and Canal and Esplanade, and you’ll glimpse nightclubs lit up in neon, French colonial townhouses draped in ivy, Creole cottages built on stilts, and antebellum mansions whose balconies are laced with intricate ironwork. 


Highway 1, CaliforniaHighway 1 (Photo: Wangkun Jia / Dreamstime.com)

Considering that the United States has more miles of paved roads (over 2.5 million) than any other country on earth, is it any wonder thatroad trips are practically a rite of passage here? One of the most meditative—and celebrated—drives you can take in the States is the 135-mile stretch of California’s Pacific Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Monterey. Expect view after astonishing view of land meeting sea, as the road snakes and swerves high above the Pacific, past bright-green grasslands and redwood-forested canyons.


Times Square (Photo: Paul Hakimata / Dreamstime.com)Times Square, New York City

Sure, the crowds can be pushy, but Times Square—the stretch of Broadway between Manhattan’s 42nd and 47th streets—delivers the most intense straight-up celebration of round-the-clock visual stimulation in the free world. Three-hundred sixty-five days a year, it’s all lights, cameras, and action. And in summer, when the city sets out a slew of lawn chairs in its pedestrian-only core, you can take a seat and gaze southward, imagining the scene every New Year’s Eve when a million revelers watch the ball drop—an all-American tradition for 105 years.


Grand Canyon, Ariz.Grand Canyon (Photo: Radkol / Dreamstime.com)

Many American landmarks inspire people to think big, but none can match the leviathan scale of the Grand Canyon. As with anything worthwhile, a mind-melting view of the fire-hued, half-mile-long rock faces at the Grand Canyon must be earned. Take a half-day or overnight mule trip, which involves a guided ride along the canyon rim and down to the Colorado River. 

Your souvenir—aside from a newfound appreciation for more comfortable forms of transportation—will be the vivid sense of timelessness that you can only get from observing a geological wonder more than a million years in the making.


Taos Pueblo (JTB Photo / SuperStock)Taos Pueblo, N.M.

At the northern edge of the artist colony of Taosand a couple hours’ drive north of Santa Fe, Taos Pueblo is a set of adobe dwellings, ranging from two to five stories tall, whose walls gleam in the sun of the high desert. Some of the 2,000 Tiwa-speaking people who live on an adjacent reservation continue to use this six-century-old settlement for ceremonial rites, such as for the Deer and Matachines Dances, which are usually performed to the sound of heavy drum beats. The Taos Pueblo contains the largest collection of multi-story pueblo dwellings in the country—well worth its UNESCO World Heritage status—and provides an uncommon insight into the culture of the first Americans.


South Beach, Miami, Fla.South Beach (Photo: Richard Cummins / SuperStock)

Even in typically overstated Miami terms, no place in the country captures Latin-tropical chic like South Beach, with its 23 pastel-hued blocks of hotels, shops, restaurants, and cocktail bars south of Dade Boulevard. Glamorously restored art deco and art moderne hotels dominate Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, which run parallel to the Atlantic. Check out the high-rise Raleigh, with its curvaceous swimming pool; the Delano, a glossy white Philippe Starck confection; and the Mondrian, with its super-sized chess pieces standing guard near an ebony staircase. Given an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees, SoBe always draws a pretty crowd for people-watching along its ocean promenade.


Gettysburg Park (Photo: Ken Cole / Dreamstime.com)Gettysburg National Military Park,Gettysburg, Pa.

Compelling battlefield tours are difficult to pull off, as there’s often little to see. But Gettysburg, the most visited of Civil War battlefields, manages the trick. At the four-year-old, $135 million visitor’s center, a 20-minute film narrated by Morgan Freeman explains how the three-day fight unfolded, while an 1884 Cyclorama depicts an infantry assault in a 359-foot-long-by-27-foot-high wraparound oil painting. Once you’re oriented, drive the park’s paved roads (a rented audio guide enhances the experience). 

The landscape you’ll see is close to what the blue and grey saw, as the park service is slowly restoring tracts of land and forest to how they would have looked during the battle. Be sure to stop at Little Round Top, where 1,600 soldiers died in just a few hours of fierce fighting—a small portion of the overall grim death toll.


Pearl Harbor, O’ahu, HawaiiPearl Harbor (Photoquest / Dreamstime.com)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the USS Arizona Memorial, which honors the men who died on the famous battleship sunk in 1941’s Pearl Harbor air raid. A scale model of the ship inside the monument’s museum gives a sense of what it must have been like to be on the vessel while it was under attack, and public tours include a 22-minute movie presentation, followed by a visit to the Memorial itself. Nearby, a nonprofit group maintains the Battleship Missouri Memorial, which was the site of the formal Japanese surrender, while a preserved World War II submarine can be explored at the adjacent USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, run by another independent group.


National Mall, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. (Photo: Shairad / Dreamstime.com)

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. This less-than-two-mile stretch of our capital city packs in those memorials, plus the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, among others, and it’s lined with Smithsonian Institution museums—none of which cost a dime to enter. 

See more places every American should visit.

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San Francisco’s Secret Mosaic Staircase

If you’ve ever wanted to find a hidden art gem in San Francisco, head to 16th and Moraga to discover The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps. Read more

Oh my Jesus… This is beautiful.

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Tamalpais Glory - Marin County, California (by PatrickSmithPhotography)

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“A Day in California” by Ryan Killackey

10,000 photo shots and over a year and a half to assemble this absolutely breath-taking time lapse video of various locations throughout the state of California. Watch it, it’s worth your time.

Oh and watch this too.

mentalfornication:

Rapture, Malibu ca by ™ Pacheco on Flickr.

mellowmushrooms:

one of my favorite spots in california. sunset cliffs, san diego. 

One of my main goals right now is to see a west coast sunset. <3

Take a trip down one of these meandering marvels for breathtaking aquatic landscapes.

By Tanya Mohn

The Singapore Helix Bridge, Singapore
Courtesy of Andrew Rowat/Getty Images More from Yahoo! Travel

• Explore Resort and Weekend Travel

Starting with simple logs from fallen trees or a few stones strategically placed across a stream, bridges and humans have had a long history. Many are designed exclusively for people on foot or on bike; others are for use by cars, boats or trains. Some bridges connect continents; others are known more for their histories and the cultural interest they inspire.

“Few man-made structures combine the technical with the aesthetic in such an evocative way as bridges” wrote David J. Brown, a bridge historian and author of Bridges: Three Thousand Years of Defying Nature. With the help of Brown, and Judith Dupré, a structural historian and bridge expert, we’ve searched the globe for incredible specimens of architecture that span physical obstacles — better known as bridges.

In Pictures: The World’s Most Incredible Bridges

The Singapore Helix Bridge, Singapore

The almost 1,000 foot long curved Singapore Helix Bridge connects Singapore’s Youth Olympic Park with the new Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Designed by architecture firms the Cox Group and Architects 61, and international engineering firm Arup, the Singapore Helix is the world’s first bridge in the form of an interlocking double helix, and also utilizes lights to highlight its unique structure, Brown said. The bridge has viewing platforms, and also serves as a gallery.

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, ItalyCourtesy of Wang Qingqin / Newscom

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy

Florence’s Ponte Vecchio (which means “Old Bridge”), crosses the Arno River, and is an inhabited bridge, common in Europe during the Middle Ages when merchants and residences occupied the space. “The Ponte Vecchio is more than a bridge. It is a street, a marketplace, a public square, and an enduring icon of Florence,” Dupré writes. Today, she said, the bridge houses gold shops and, on the top level, the “secret” Vasari Corridor that Renaissance nobility once used to cross between the Pitti and Vecchio palaces. The bridge is considered to be the first segmental arch bridge built in the West, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and “is an outstanding engineering achievement of the European Middle Ages.” Built in 1345, it required fewer piers than the Roman semicircular-arch design, as the shallower segmental arch offered less obstruction to navigation and freer passage to floodwaters. Its design is generally attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, better known as a painter and pupil of Giotto. During World War II, it was the only bridge in Florence spared from destruction by German bombs, because Hitler took a fancy to it.

Sundial Bridge, Redding, CaliforniaCourtesy of Russ Bishop / Alamy

Sundial Bridge, Redding, CA

Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge stretches across the Sacramento River in Redding, California, linking the two campuses of Turtle Bay Exploration Park. Opened in 2004, the bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists also serves as a gateway to the Sacramento River Trail system, and its soaring backward-leaning mast with cables stretched like the strings of a harp, is a working sundial, said David J. Brown, a bridge historian and author of Bridges: Three Thousand Years of Defying Nature. The bridge is also environmentally sensitive to its setting. The free-standing construction allows the bridge to avoid impacting the nearby salmon-spawning habitat, as there are no supports in the water, yet its glass-bottom encourages public appreciation of the river, according to Turtle Bay Exploration Park. The Sundial Bridge is one of about fifty — and the first built in the United States — designed by Calatrava, writes Brown.

“Golden Horn” Bridge, Aas, NorwayCourtesy of The Leonardo Bridge Project

Leonardo’s “Golden Horn” Bridge, Aas (near Oslo), Norway

Designed in 1502 by Leonardo da Vinci to span the “Golden Horn,” the famous waterway in Istanbul that separates Europe and Asia, the stone bridge was never built because the Turkish sultan feared that it was not technically feasible. A scaled down, laminated wood and stainless steel version based on the famous artist’s original plan is now a footbridge near Oslo, Norway. “For 500 years the beauty and symbolism of this graceful bridge remained an obscure drawing in one of Leonardo’s notebooks, until it was brought into being in Norway in 2001 by the contemporary artist Vebjorn Sand,” according to the website of The Leonardo Bridge Project, a global public arts project. Built in collaboration with the Norwegian transportation ministry, the bridge was the first civil engineering idea by Leonardo to be realized.

Millau Viaduct, Millau, FranceCourtesy of Stephane Compoint

Millau Viaduct, Millau, France

Rising above the clouds, the Millau Viaduct is the tallest road bridge in the world, said Brown, a bridge historian and author of Bridges. With its loftiest pier higher than the Eiffel Tower, it was financed by the same company that built the famous French monument. Conceived by engineer Michel Virlogeux and designed by architect Sir Norman Foster, the cable-stayed bridge (in which the deck is supported from towers by a series of cables), comprises seven concrete piers and a steel deck, and spans more than one-and-a-half miles across the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Completed in 2004 after only three years’ construction, the Millau Viaduct was created to have the “delicacy of a butterfly,” said Foster in news reports. “A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth,” said the English architect, who was interviewed by a regional paper and quoted in a BBC news report.

Ponte Sant’ Angelo, Rome, ItalyCourtesy of iStockphoto

Ponte Sant’ Angelo, Rome, Italy

Ponte Sant’Angelo spanning the Tiber in Rome, one of the eight stone bridges the Romans are known to have built over the Tiber between 200 B.C. and A.D. 260, is the most celebrated of the six “massive beauties” still in use, said Judith Dupré, author of Bridges. “The Romans perfected the masonry arch,” she said, allowing them to span much greater distances than previously. “Much of Roman engineering genius is underwater, hidden from view, but their inventions — including the cofferdam, cutwater piers that divide water current, and pozzolano, a type of waterproof concrete—are still used today,” Dupré said. Ponte Sant’ Angelo, originally named for Hadrian, the emperor who reigned during its construction, leads to his mausoleum, Castel Sant’ Angelo, a popular tourist attraction in Rome.

In Pictures: The World’s Most Incredible Bridges

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