SamS's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Three Rivers, California

Moro Rock

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.
Lusby, Maryland

Calvert Cliffs State Park

Captain John Smith thought these cliffs were amazing in 1608 but sharks thought so 20 million years before him.
East Molesey, England

Hampton Court Maze

England's oldest surviving hedge maze has been confusing visitors for over 300 years.
Mawnan Smith, England

Glendurgan Garden Maze

The twists and turns of this serpentine maze are over 170 years old.
Castlewellan, Northern Ireland

Peace Maze of Northern Ireland

A peace symbol in Northern Ireland is among the world's largest hedge mazes.
Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto Botanical Garden

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.
College Park, Maryland

College Park Airport and Aviation Museum

The world's oldest continuously operating airport was founded by the Wright Brothers.
Lanham, Maryland

NASA Goddard Rocket Garden

A lawn full of retired spacecraft on display at one of NASA's first research labs.
Staten Island, New York

New York Chinese Scholar's Garden

This small and serene place for quiet reflection on Staten Island was built in China based on the gardens of the Ming Dynasty.
Maincy, France

Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte

This stunning French estate was so lavish that it landed its original owner in jail for the rest of his life.
São Miguel, Portugal

Chapel of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias

This fairy-tale, neo-Gothic church in the Azores is a world of magical realism.
Kuwana-shi, Japan

Nabana No Sato

These Japanese gardens are blankets of light for dark winter nights.
Washington, D.C.

Glenwood Cemetery's Chainsaw Sculptures

The towering figures were created from the cemetery's fallen old-growth trees.
Washington, D.C.

Catacombs of Washington, D.C.

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

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Largest Roman Catholic church in North America.
Washington, D.C.

Mary's Garden

An overlooked oasis of quiet on the grounds of Washington's monumental basilica.
Washington, D.C.

Tudor Place

A historic estate packed with George Washington's heirlooms, and its own nuclear bunker.
Boston, Massachusetts

Mapparium Globe

An enormous, inside-out glass globe built in 1935.
Boston, Massachusetts

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (The Gardner)

Two thousand artifacts from around the world collected by one woman who loved to travel.
Barcelona, Spain

Jardins de Ca n'Altimira

Bask in the 19th century grandeur of an eccentric Freemason millionaire's private gardens.
Berlin, Germany

Gärten der Welt (Gardens of the World)

Gardens representing parts of Asia, Europe, and the Mid East are tucked away among the Soviet-style buildings in East Berlin.
Toronto, Ontario

Casa Loma

A 98-room castle in the middle of Toronto that bankrupted a 19th century electricity multimillionaire.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Shofuso Japanese House and Garden

Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.
Derbyshire, England

Renishaw Hall

This lovely ancestral home inspired the author D.H. Lawrence, and features a tunnel made out of a living willow.