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The Grand Canyon
Words exist but cannot convey the message “it’s fuckin HUGE” if you haven’t seen it in person.
WWII Memorial in Washington, DC. — For some reason, I feel like the pictures are sort of “oh great, some wreaths and water.” But, yeah, it’s a lot more when you’re there, both in terms of what is there and the feeling/experience.
A very strange opinion from someone living in the GREAT Pacific Northwest, but it’s Wyoming. I’ve done the cross-country road trip on numerous occasions, mostly back in the days of having a road atlas and vague understanding of what lies ahead. There’s never been a trip, where I’m counting the miles and dreading the time involved in crossing Wyoming, that I don’t end up thinking OMG, this state is gorgeous. It’s stunningly colorful, and stopping to look around or driving an hour off-course to see a natural wonder has always proven worthwhile.
Mount Washington. There are some beautiful pictures online but until you are literally on a scree field in 40mph winds inside a cloud at 40 degrees you don’t really know.
And you really don’t know until you are like 4/5 of the way to the summit in February when so much snow is pouring down or blowing off the neighboring ridge that what was near your face 20 minutes ago is now right around your ankles you really don’t know. We scrapped that ascent. I think the weather station was reading constant 30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 that day.
It really is hard to capture how beautiful it can be when the weather is brutal.
Also The Great Lakes. It is hard to capture their true expanse in photos.
The Washington monument.
you just need to be there to understand the true scale of it.
Probably the Redwood Trees.
The Las Vegas Strip
Seeing a photo of it is one thing, being there and being engulfed in the sights and sounds at street level is another thing. It’s a sensory overload.
The view of Manhattan, and especially the Brooklyn Bridge, from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
The twin towers, up close in person. But this is an experience that is no longer possible. They were more beautiful and monumental that you can make out from the pictures.
Zion.
The Gateway Arch. Even if you’re pretty close it doesn’t look that huge……but once you’re directly in front of it you realise how HUUUUUUGE this thing is. Truly impressive
A lot of great places mentioned so far. In a bit of a different vein, I will say The House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI. It may not be your thing, but it really needs to be experienced to be truly appreciated.
On the other way around as a tourist from Australia LA looks a hell of a lot better on tv
Not a US exclusive, but since there seem to be so many people that have never seen the ocean… a good sunrise over the water is something just makes me feel really good and at peace. Sunsets are good too but it’s just the perf2ct view to start your day IMO
Devil’s Tower.
Acadia National Park
Smoky Mountains
Sunsets/sunrises in Nebraska. If you don’t believe me just [google it](https://www.google.com/search?q=sunset+in+nebraska&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj3sbuq1-uCAxV73ckDHe9QA-AQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=sunset+in+nebraska&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQyBwgAEIAEEBhQ9gpY9gpgxBBoAHAAeACAATyIAXOSAQEymAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=YHpoZfeBDvu6p84P76GNgA4&bih=543&biw=1039&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS1070US1070) and realize that this is how almost all of our sunsets and sunrises look and it looks nothing like in person (everyone I know is disappointed in their photos – even professional photographers).
The Hoh rainforest in Washington state
Niagara Falls, especially if you do something like the cave of the winds.
So much more grandiose in person and you can feel the electric charge in the air, it’s a weird sensation.
Pro tip: There’s several awesome state parks with trails descending the Niagara Gorge that are just as breathtaking as the falls themselves.
Mount Rainier from any of the vantage points within the national park is simply jaw dropping. It’s impossible to put the scale into perspective, that mountain is enormous.
As an Arizona resident, the Grand Canyon. There’s something about the scale that pictures just can’t grasp. Also when you start hiking into the Canyon, its eerily quiet cause none of the noise outside the Canyon reaches into it.
The Jefferson Memorial in DC. It’s my favorite monument, especially when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.
On a breezy day, when you’re sitting in or walking around inside its just perfect.
The entire state of Alaska.
Lake Tahoe and Yosemite.
The Great Lakes. It seems like people who have never really seen them can’t really conceptualize just how truly large they are.
Chicago, I was shocked when I first saw it. It was impressive and clean the skyline looks great but there’s so much more to see when you’re on the ground
The Meteor Crater in Arizona. You get there and just stare at that big crater. We sat and looked at it for probably half an hour.
Burbon Street, New Orleans.
A picture does not convey the smell of spilt cocktails/beer/piss/vomit after fermenting in 100-degree heat for several days.
Beware of puddles in the streets: *Liquids of dubious origin*.