Places Natasha Leyk Wants to Go

Two small markers remember the Alamo's feline protectors.

The quirky gift from West Berlin for the 1968 World's Fair still stands in Hemisfair Park.

An enormous pink granite batholith, long attributed with spiritual powers by the Tonkawa Indians.

A tribute to the "toughest woman on the Texas frontier," who survived a famous battle and five husbands.

Life's work of sculptor Elisabet Ney remains preserved in her last studio.

A monument to the one-armed geologist who led the first documented expeditions through the Grand Canyon.

Experience a charming 1930s version of "infotainment."

A Norwegian-born sculptor created these soaring guardian angels at the entrance to Hoover Dam.

A homage to the King at the hotel where he revived his career.

Nevada's largest cactus collection stands outside a candy mogul's small factory.

An overlooked monument to the celebrity gangster who helped put the sin in Sin City.

The second-largest gold nugget in existence, displayed in a Las Vegas casino conveniently named the Golden Nugget.

Back in 1952, you could get a mushroom cloud chaser with your atomic cocktail.

An exotic wildlife habitat right off The Strip.

These banned cigarette vending machines now sell little pieces of pocket-sized art.

Dyed by iron oxide over centuries, these sandstone rocks rise thousands of feet into the sky.

The best Tiki bar in Las Vegas.

The cinder cone volcano with a less than complimentary name.

A mass grave for victims of an airline disaster that led to much-needed safety improvements for commercial flights.

The eroded core of an ancient volcano is now accessible by a short hike.

A nature and cultural preserve named for its multitude of petroglyphs carved by the Northern Sinagua people.

This Arizona observatory is famous for investigations into Martian life, and as the place humans first spotted Pluto.

This grassy, tree-lined hill shares a name with the much-loved novel that it inspired.

See massive fossils that are over 200 million years old in northeastern Arizona.