Things to Do in Usa

Kauai's capital city is Lihue, though with a population in the low thousands, "˜city' may be overstating things a little.

It is the island's main shopping destination, however, with a Macy's and other big-name department stores you'll recognize. You'll also find a variety of good restaurants in Lihue.

The town's proximity to the airport makes scenic air tours a major reason to visit.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), set within L.A.'s Hancock Park beside the La Brea Tar Pits, is an exciting place to explore both the world of art and the art world. Here you can purchase a ticket to the latest big-budget show (like lily-pad-loving Monet or local anti-hero Tim Burton), take a comfy seat in the busy lecture/movie hall, or immerse yourself in rare and varied collections.

Much of LACMA's art represents the area's diverse citizenry. Mayan sculptures honor the city's huge Mexican community; the spiral-path Asian wing reflect three of L.A.'s most influential populations "” Japanese, Korean and Chinese; Persian tile-works and intricate paintings allude to the city's thriving Beverly Hills community of Iranian expats; and mysterious carvings and totems from Tonga, Papua New Guinea and more are a nod to L.A.'s often-direct-flight proximity to the islands of the Pacific Rim.

Wander through historically important European artworks, then take a spin through the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, LACMA's newest section, to experience the state of modern art collecting. Established in 2008 and resembling a futuristic sailing vessel, this wing of the museum was funded by LACMA founding chairman and real estate magnate Eli Broad and his wife Edythe. Many of the Broad's works are by controversial art stars Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons; be sure to see Koons' beautifully detailed Train, a miniature cast from pure silver and bourbon.

Outside the Broad, Chris Burden's Urban Lights invites you to wend your way amongst cast-iron street lamps salvaged from across the city. To the left of these lights, you can wander amongst Rodin castings in the sculpture garden, and back on LACMA's north lawn, stroll without fear beneath Michel Heizer's enormous Levitated Mass, a 340-ton granite boulder suspended over a concave walkway. After exploring the museum and grounds, take a seat at the resident Ray's & Stark Bar, which offers lunch, dinner and one of the best happy hours in L.A.

LACMA is open daily except for Wednesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Klondike is synonymous with the gold rush days of the late 19th century, when the frontier settlement of Skagway exploded from a population of just two to 20,000 in a mere 10 years.

The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park protects the memory of these days, preserving the trails, towns and buildings of the gold rush era. Skagway was the gateway town to the gold of the Klondike, which lay 550 miles (885km) north, near the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers in Dawson City.

The Chilkoot Trail is the most famous of the gold rush routes followed by the miners, originally created by the Tlingit people. The park also preserves the downtown Skagway Historic District and its prized collection of authentic 100-year-old wooden buildings, including the fun Mascot Saloon and historic Moore House and Cabin.

Drop into the park's visitor center to watch the video about the area's gold rush history and pick up information about the local trails, including the famous Chilkoot Trail.

Rangers lead a range of activities, including walking tours and talks through the historic buildings and countryside.



Photo by Reywas92 sourced from WikiCommons

When compared to the sun-drenched beaches of Poipu or Hanalei, Koke'e State Park is a brisk mountain outpost where bikinis and boardshorts are replaced by flannels and hiking boots. Located at 4,000 feet in the uplands above Waimea Canyon, the air is cooler than down on the shoreline, and flocks of nene goose meander through the low clouds that linger on the forested mountain slopes.

In addition to being a mountain outpost, Koke'e State Park is known as having Kauai's best hiking. No fewer than a dozen trails depart from the immediate vicinity, with trailheads leading either towards the colorful ravines of famous Waimea Canyon or into the lush interior which ranks as one of the wettest spots on the world. Still other trails lead towards overlooks which gaze down on the Na Pali coast, and the 3,000-foot, near-vertical drops are definitely not for the faint of heart.

For those who would prefer the dramatic overlook without having to hike to get there, the road which runs through Koke'e State Park reaches its upper terminus at the Kalalau and Puu O Kila overlooks where visitors can peer deep into the remote Kalalau Valley. Or, if you would prefer to learn about the island's varied natural history, the Koke'e Natural History Museum outlines everything from the introduced game animals of the Garden Isle to the effect that Hurricane Iniki had on the island's wildlife.

Camping is available for those who want to experience the early-morning calm of the mountains, and the entire park is a breath of fresh air where the crashing surf of the shoreline is replaced by whistles of native song birds as they flit their way through indigenous treetops. Rugged, rustic, and completely undeveloped, you can even make out the Forbidden Island of Niihau as it looms on the distant horizon.

One of only three historic Japantowns in the United States, Downtown L.A.'s Little Tokyo is a compact commercial district centered around the Village Plaza, a warren of food stalls, restaurants, and shops jam-packed with Japanese products. Home of the first California Roll (created at the now-closed Tokyo Kaikan sushi restaurant) and the oldest food purveyor in Los Angeles (mochi bakery Fugetsu-do), the Village Plaza sits across from the 85,000 square-foot, Smithsonian-affiliated Japanese American National Museum, dedicated to the 130-plus year history of Japanese people in California and beyond.

Though Little Tokyo had been a thriving residential and commercial center for L.A.'s large Japanese community since the early 20th century, the U.S. policy of relocating Japanese-American immigrants to internment camps during World War II all but emptied this neighborhood in the early 1940s. When the war ended, some original residents returned, but many moved out to the nearby San Gabriel Valley. The district remained culturally important to the local Japanese community, however, and when Japanese-owned businesses and banks began investing in the area in the 1970s and '80s, it experienced a financial resurgence that has continued to protect it from most non-cultural re-development.

Today, area attractions include a monument to Japanese-American astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986; a small Japanese garden on the rooftop of the Kyoto Grand Hotel; the Go For Broke Monument, which honors Japanese-Americans who served in the U.S. Military during World War II; the Geffen Contemporary, a special-exhibition space affiliated with the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA); and several early 20th-century Buddhist temples.

Little Tokyo offers street and public-lot parking, lies within walking distance of The Walt Disney Concert Hall and MOCA, and is easily accessed by subway stations at Union Station (the Red Line) and Little Tokyo itself (the Gold Line).