Navy Pier Chicago Aerial

Located just to the north of the mouth of the Chicago River, Navy Pier endures as a 3,000-foot-long exclamation mark in the Chicago tradition of public works.

Aerial view of a city, Navy Pier, Lake Michigan, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA Poster Print by Panoramic Images (27 x 9) 

Municipal Pier (renamed in 1927 to honor navy veterans of World War I) represented a compromise between the hopes of Daniel Burnham in his Plan of Chicago for two recreational piers and the city's desire for a modern harbor facility. The design by architect Charles Sumner Frost offered a little of both, with twin two-story freight and passenger sheds along with classically designed buildings at the head and foot of the pier, including an auditorium. Resting on a foundation of over 20,000 wood pilings, the pier opened in the summer of 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million.

The pier has been a jail for draft dodgers in the summer of 1918; the site of two annual Pageants of Progress (1921 and 1922); a terminus for lake excursion ships; and a convention center.

During World War II, the U.S. Navy used the pier as a training center. Afterward, the pier proved a ready facility for the University of Illinois. More than 100,000 students attended classes from 1946 to 1965.

The pier was in serious decline by the early 1970s. A refurbishing for the 1976 bicentennial revived interest in the pier, and in 1989, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority oversaw a $200 million renovation. The result is much as Burnham envisioned, with the pier again a site for recreation. Get a guide on Chicago here.

Visit Miami- a city located on the Atlantic coast

Miami  is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County. The 42nd largest city proper in the United States, with a population of 413,892, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of the Miami metropolitan area, and the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States after Washington, D.C. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the eighth most populous and fourth-largest urban area in the United States, with a population of around 5.5 million. Get a travel guide on Miami here.

Miami is a major center and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2010, Miami was classified as an Alpha- World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory. In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked thirty-third among global cities. In 2008,  magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power. Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America", is the largest U.S. city with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.
Miami Travel guide here.

Visit the Four Corners

The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, northwestern corner of New Mexico, northeastern corner of Arizona and southeastern corner of Utah. The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint where the boundaries of the four states meet, where the Four Corners Monument is located. It is the only location in the United States where four states meet. Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region is part of a larger region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged and arid. In addition to the monument, commonly visited areas within Four Corners include Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The most populous city in the Four Corners region is Farmington, New Mexico, followed by Durango, Colorado.

Visit Las Vegas- Alias the Sin City

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County.Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and nightlife and is the leading financial and cultural center for Southern Nevada.  Get a guide to Las Vegas here.The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its consolidated casino–hotels and associated entertainment. A growing retirement and family city, Las Vegas is the 31st-most populous cityin the United States, with a population at the 2010 census of 583,756. The 2010 population of the Las Vegas metropolitan areawas 1,951,269. The city is one of the top three leading destinations in the United States for conventions, business, and meetings. Today, Las Vegas is one of the top tourist destinations in the world.

Established in 1905, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in that century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. There are numerous outdoor lighting displays on Fremont Street, as well as elsewhere in the city.Get a guide to Las Vegas here.

Travel and Tourism Spending

The budgets on tourism that an average person spends is very high. You can see all the related facts about this travel and tourism spending on the image above. Very interesting facts.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve occupies the northernmost section of the southeastern Alaska coastline, between the Gulf of Alaska and Canada. The Canadian border approaches to within 15 miles (24 km) of the ocean in the St. Elias Mountains at Mount Fairweather, the park's tallest peak at 15,300 feet (4,700 m), transitioning to the Fairweather Range from there southwards. The Brady Icefield caps the Fairweather Range on a peninsula extending from the ocean to Glacier Bay, which extends from Icy Strait to the Canadian border at Grand Pacific Glacier, cutting off the western part of the park. To the east of Glacier Bay the Takishna Mountains and the Chilkat Range form a peninsula bounded by the Lynn Canal on the east, with the park's eastern boundary withTongass National Forest running along the ridgeline. The park's northwestern boundary, which also abuts Tongass National Forest, runs in the valley of the Alsek River to Dry Bay. The preserve lands comprise a small area at Dry Bay — the majority of Glacier Bay lands are national park lands. The park boundary excludes Gustavus at the mouth of Glacier Bay. The lands adjoining the park to the north in Canada are included in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park.

Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).


The Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874.The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.99 sq mi; 145.02 km2) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location.