See America

The TCL Chinese Theatre

Hollywood, California. Land of make-believe. If you’ve ever been, you know that a lot of what is glitters, isn’t actually gold. A trip down Hollywood Boulevard these days is chock full of cheap costumed look-sort-of-alikes. The Hollywood walk-of-fame has somehow become the major symbol of this once harrowed place, and it’s a giant pay-to-pay scam. Does anyone really need to get their picture taken with David Spade’s star? Thankfully, Hollywood Boulevard isn’t all urine stench and phony idols. There’s one place where you can still, instantly be whisked back in time. 

This week, Hollywood’s Chinese Theater. 

The American Banjo Museum

Bricktown. Oklahoma city. A museum in this vibrant city tells the story of the only real, truly American musical instrument. It wasn’t just developed in America, it was borne through the struggle for freedom, and tells the story of our country through its percussive draw, its rapid-fire playing style, and it’s expressive and exquisite construction.

Pikes Peak

As anyone who’s visited Colorado Springs can tell you, it sits in the shadow of an ominous mountain - it’s is an amazing sight to behold. The 14,115-foot summit rises over the plains with a sort of ancient majesty. It predates humanity by millions of years and was here long before anyone first settled the region. For centuries and even millennia, it’s been recognized by people of all cultures as one of the most striking landmarks in Colorado. Everyone has had their own name for it, each trying to capture the beauty and splendor of the peak.

 

This week, Pikes Peak.

The Mars Cheese Castle

A glowing white stone castle shines like a beacon of hope to weary travelers in the southeast corner of Wisconsin...but no knights in armor or kings and queens live here. This is a castle of another type, one that enshrines Wisconsin’s most prized product. Cheese. This Week, Kenosha Wisconsin’s Mars Cheese Castle

Central Park

Amidst the hustle and bustle of America’s largest city sits an incredible greenspace that just happens to be one of the most filmed locations in the world, appearing in over 350 films and counting over the years. It’s been home to dozens of iconic concerts and is the second most visited tourist destination in America. Yet it’s so big, it never really feels too crowded. It also happens to be America’s first landscaped public park: New York’s Central Park.

Cedar Point

This week, we journey to the "rollercoaster capital of the word" to hear the history of the second-oldest theme park in America — Sandusky, Ohio's Cedar Point.

Oliver Lee

On the eastern edge of New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains, a few miles west of the rolling dunes of White Sands National Park sit the remains of two unassuming cabins in a place called Dog Canyon. If you walked by them today, you probably wouldn’t realize they sparked a famous conflict that would have ramifications for years to come. 

Today, on See America, Oliver Lee State Park

Fenway Park

Season 4 is here! We kick it off with one of the most American places you could imagine. Nestled in the city of Boston is what is often called "America's Most Beloved Ballpark.” A place where dreams are made, traditions are celebrated and baseball is forever. It’s the home of Red Sox Legends, and a looming Green Monster which has befuddled pitchers for a century: Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox and the pulse of Red Sox Nation.

Monument Valley

Combined with the surrounding mesas, buttes, and desert environment, Monument Valley Tribal Park truly is one of the natural wonders of the world. Set aside by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1958, the park covers almost 92,000 acres in northern Arizona and southern Utah and lies entirely within the Navajo Nation reservation.

Rock Island

Rock Island is one of those towns that pops up in nostalgic culture over and over, but not a lot of people know where it is or much about it. It's almost mythical in a way, due especially to the Rock Island Line, a real train route, short for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, memorialized in the folk song of the same name. But Rock Island's story is steeped in real history — especially the actual Rock Island, the largest island on the Mississippi River, for which the town is named.

This week, the island now known as Arsenal Island in Rock Island, Illinois.