Cadillac Ranch

The grand size of the USA encourages freedom and exploration, with the United States highway network consisting of 4 million miles (6,437,376 km) of roads and streets to take you everywhere. Who wouldn’t want to get in their car and just drive?

One of the unpleasant things about driving on American highways is that they’re kind of boring at long stretches and you don’t see much of anything until you turn off onto the smaller roads. The most famous of the smaller roads is Route 66, also known as "America's highway", "Main Street" or the "Mother Road." Even though Route 66 isn’t traveled as much as it was during the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, there are still so many cool things to see while you're on it.

If you happen to be traveling along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, then you’ll surely pass by the Cadillac Ranch: ten classic Cadillacs (model years 1949 to 1963) driven into a field, half-buried, nose-down in the dirt at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Created in 1974 by a group of hippie-artists known as Ant Farm, this public art installation still stands today. These cars have been defaced (vandalized) in many ways over the years, especially by spray paint (which is encouraged, actually) and the Cadillac Ranch is more popular than ever because it’s a reminder of America’s great automotive heritage.

Wisconsin - A Gangster’s Legendary Hideaway

My state of Wisconsin is a wonderland if you enjoy outdoor sports and recreation, with its boundless beauty and natural surroundings. In fact, forest land in Wisconsin covers 16 million acres (64,749 km²) or 46% of the total state. It’s definitely pretty but it has another benefit, especially if you need to disappear. Let me explain....

During the time of Prohibition in the United States, from 1920 to 1933, it was illegal to sell, manufacture, or transport alcohol. Although it was successful in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed, it also led to the widespread increase of organized criminal activity. So when public enemies needed some peace and a place to hide, that usually meant Wisconsin.

Attracted to the region’s rustic beauty and remoteness, Chicago gangsters and most-wanted criminals regularly sought refuge in Northern Wisconsin hideaways. In some cases these visits were all business (transporting liquor or organizing local prostitution and gambling operations); sometimes they were after highly publicized robberies in other states. Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Baby Face Nelson are among the most notorious criminals who used the dense forests of Wisconsin to hide out, and even though Prohibition ended in 1933, their history and some of their hangouts live on across the Northwoods region.

Al Capone was the most infamous of all Prohibition-era gangsters and legends of his visits can be heard at resorts, restaurants, and bars all across Wisconsin. His Northwoods hideout was called, literally, The Hideout and it remains intact as a seasonal tourist attraction today. The 400 acre (1.6 km²) estate featured a main lodge, lake, bunk house, and jail cell, as well as an airstrip where planes from Canada would land and drop off alcohol that the gangsters would illegally transport to Chicago.

Why not plan your “escape” to Wisconsin? You can live like a gangster on the run (I promise) and visit some of their infamous hideaways.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater

If you love the nostalgia and glamour of Hollywood, a place to visit in southern California is Grauman’s Chinese Theater, one of the most famous and glamorous movie palaces in the USA. This theater is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved of the movie palaces from Hollywood's golden age (A golden age is a period of great prosperity). With its Chinese theme, imported and hand-crafted Chinese artifacts, and gold-and-red decor, the interior is opulant and grand.

For over 80 years, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre has been a legendary movie theater in Hollywood for lavish studio premieres. Crowds of fans gather at these events to see their favorite celebrities arrive and walk up the red carpet into the theater. Rich in movie tradition, with its cement handprints, footprints, and autographs of famous movie stars in the front courtyard, the Chinese Theater receives more than four million visitors from all over the world every year.

Searching for your favorite star's autograph, handprints, and footprints from among the 175 squares in the cement courtyard is great fun. Tourists can't resist comparing their shoe size to the stars' footprints.