Places erichecker Wants to Go

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.

America's first public mental health facility.

Giant busts of 42 U.S. presidents sit, crumbling in a field in Virginia.

The final resting place of a man who claimed that he could tame even the mightiest of bears.

Once a kitschy symbol for a gift shop, this 38-foot seahorse is now a staple roadside attraction.

Louisa May Alcott based “Little Women” on her experiences growing up in this house with her sisters.

Tucked away in downtown Westerly is America's first shark history museum.

This location holds the truth to what truly happened that faithful night.

The site where chief Miantonomo of the Narraganset people was captured.

A tiny monument to the classic American candy.

This castle constructed in 1928 was crafted from drawings of Lismore Castle in Ireland.

The graves of a Connecticut family thought to have been plagued by a vampire.

Beautiful steampunk ghosts of early Massachusetts.

The often-overlooked ruins of one of the first buildings designed by famous landscape architect Frederick Olmsted.

The bears may be gone, but their old cages can still be found.

Ralph Waldo Emerson spent two years living here decades before it became a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park.

This small shop walked so America could run on Dunkin'.

This evocatively named natural crevasse was created by a torrent of water that smashed right through a granite deposit.

Unlike other abandoned asylums this empty institution welcomes visitors, just don't go in the buildings.

This mysterious artificial cave has long puzzled New Englanders.

This clock tower is all that remains of Bird Hall, constructed by one of the founding families of this Massachusetts town.

Some big-name visitors have patronized this small-town library named for an oil man's daughter.

This large granite seal outside a Massachusetts funeral home comes with a surprising dedication.

This fairy tale-themed amusement park is now abandoned, and childhood metaphors abound.