Things to Do in North America

Grand Lake is a town in the Colorado Rockies that will literally take your breath away. At an elevation of 8,300 feet, the town is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, and is set on the shores of shimmering Grand Lake"”the largest in Colorado. The beauty and recreation here compete with the best in the state, where biking, hiking, golf, and fishing are just a few of the popular activities. In summer, the town is abuzz with outdoor enthusiasts all heeding the call of the mountains, and since Grand Lake sits at the National Park entrance, it also teems with visitors driving the famous Trail Ridge Road. When staying in Grand Lake, make a stop in the Kauffman House Museum for a dose of Colorado heritage. This classic log cabin opened as a hotel in 1892, and housed thousands of frontier travelers and settlers up until 1946. At night, catch a show at the legendary Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater, where it's surprisingly possible to find Broadway shows in a town of only 500 people. 

Opened in 2008 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards, the music industry's biggest accolade, this major attraction at Downtown L.A.'s blockbuster entertainment complex, L.A. Live, celebrates all aspects of the music industry. With four stories and over 30,000 square feet of space, this is the largest music-themed museum in Los Angeles, which is itself the center of the American music industry.

Permanent exhibits at the Grammy Museum include elaborate outfits worn by past Grammy winners like Kanye West and Beyonce, as well as sound booths where you can record a song and remix it in different musical styles. Rotating exhibits have included tributes to deceased stars Whitney Houston, Roy Orbison and John Lennon, as well as retrospectives of Muzak, hip-hop, heavy metal and more.

In the 1950s, the Grammy Awards themselves were created to honor the music industry in the same manner as the Oscars and the television Emmys, and were named for one of music's most significant technological inventions, the gramophone.  The awards were devised by the same L.A. Chamber of Commerce members who originally developed the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a history alluded to by a block's worth of sidewalk outside the Grammy Museum, inlaid with marble stars honoring high-profile music performers and producers.

As part of L.A. Live, the museum is surrounded by two hotels, The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles and the J.W. Marriott, several restaurants, various parking lots and a subway stop on the Metro's Red Line. It is open daily, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fort Sumter is an iconic name in US history, for it was here that Confederates fired the first shots of the Civil War in 1861. The fort was reduced to rubble by shelling over the ensuing years of war.

The Fort Sumter Visitor & Education Center is located at the ferry terminal for trips out to Fort Sumter. It's well worth taking some time to learn more about the Civil War and the role Fort Sumter played, before catching your ferry to the fort.

Rangers can answer questions, and visual displays put the history into context.

Owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company, this ornately restored 1926 movie palace was part of real estate developer Charles E. Toberman and showman Sid Grauman's original Hollywood theater district (along with the neighboring Chinese and Egyptian theaters). Now used primarily to host premieres and special runs of Disney films, the El Capitan is bordered by a Disney store and soda fountain, the latter of which features ice cream flavors named for the theater's current feature.

Though successful, the original incarnation of the El Capitan increasingly faltered in the 1930s, a casualty of the Depression. Financial desperation forced it to accept the premiere screening of Orson Welles' controversial Citizen Kane, which had been largely blackballed by powerful friends of the film's target, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Shortly after this premiere, the theater closed for one year, re-opening with a new modern look, a new sponsor (Paramount Pictures) and a new name -- the United Paramount Theatre.

After a couple of decades of the theater changed ownership as Disney finally purchased it in 1989. At this time it was thoroughly restored it to its initial Spanish Colonial Revival splendor and re-opened in 1991 with its original name. The El Capitan today includes a vintage Wurlitzer organ and a museum room beneath the main theater which exhibits artwork and set pieces from the movie of the moment.

Movie tickets range from $13-22 for both adults and children, and include a pre-screening stage show. Parking at the Hollywood & Highland mall complex across the street is partially validated by the El Capitan; the mall is also a stop on the Metro's Red Line.

For a wedding experience that is anything but prim and proper, the Graceland Wedding Chapel is just the thing. It's one of the oldest wedding chapels in Las Vegas (55 years and counting).

It's also the home of the 'original' Elvis impersonator wedding. Nowadays the Graceland Wedding Chapel hosts celebrity weddings and plenty of Elvis-themed nuptials.

Stationed just beyond the small mountain town of Garcia, about 30 kilometers outside of Monterrey, Parque Grustas de Garcia in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park is a popular destination among travelers to northern Mexico. The picturesque caves house 16 different chambers, including el salon de la luz, where natural light cascades down through the rock ceiling onto the cave floor below. Several other natural rock formations, like El Nacimiento (the Nativity) and La Torre China (the Chinese Tower) make for unique photo ops reminiscent of haunted deserts well below the surface of this spectacular park.

San Diego's El Prado is located in the center of Balboa Park and is considered by many to be the heart of this most beloved San Diego park. The beautiful Spanish Colonial House of Hospitality is located here, and fully restored to its 1915 splendor. Inside you'll find visitor information and historical highlights of the park. The El Prado courtyard holds The Prado restaurant, famous for its cuisine and outdoor seating. Just steps away you'll find the Spreckels Organ Pavilion "“ an open space containing the world's largest pipe organ and home to free concerts during summer Sundays. This is the best of Balboa Park, and it would be a shame to miss it.