Places brianajreidy Wants to Go

A living snapshot of a different time in America is preserved and maintained by a community of volunteers.

An old saloon in the West filled with history, and according to some, a few dozen ghosts.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

Oversized statues are just the tip of this nostalgic Americana roadside attraction.

The largest hot spring in the United States is, as the name suggests, a stunning show of natural color.

The island of Lanai in Hawai'i is a paradise for cats and cat lovers.

This black shoreline is made up of exploded lava particles.

One of the few surviving "Wigwam"-themed motels.

Elvis's own personal tropical hideaway.

A recreation of the doomed ocean liner in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.

This Memphis recording studio launched the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.

Wild lights and sound effects turn a walk through some caves into an eye-popping 1960s tourist attraction.

For two weeks every June, fireflies in the Smoky Mountains perform an astonishing light show.

This two-room shotgun shack in Tupelo is the birthplace of a King.

This historic motel standing at the "crossroads of America" offers a radio in every room and was saved by local protesters.

A well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan ruin tucked beneath a desert cliff.

Despite sitting firmly in the global cradle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this Hare Krishna temple is host to one of the largest color festivals outside India.

One man has installed bathtubs into the Utah desert floor to harness the powers of a natural hot spring.

Sandstone rock formations that look like they belong on the cover of a progressive rock album.

Here, at the “world’s longest art gallery,” you’ll find forty miles of ancient petroglyphs and pictographs.

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.

Get up close to emus and ostriches, or buy their tasty meat.

The sun acts as a key that only fits this giant keyhole twice a year.