2024 other attractions

A summary of roadside attractions from 2024, and other attractions that didn’t fit in other summary posts.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the roadside attraction category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

Total solar eclipse in Paris, Texas:

Diamond ring

Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa:

Iowa 80

Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota:

Amusement park

Mitchell Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota:

Corn Palace

Custer Battlefield Trading Post & Cafe in Montana:

Tipis

Oregon Cabaret Theatre: Legally Blonde, the Musical in Ashland, Oregon:

Stage

Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon:

Theater

Scenic drive along Dead Indian Memorial Road and Green Springs Highway in Oregon:

Ducks

Shields Date Garden in Indio, California:

Shields entrance sign

The Thing? in Arizona:

What if?

McGinn’s PistachioLand Home of the World’s Largest Pistachio in Alamogordo, New Mexico:

World's Largest Pistachio

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights in Galveston, Texas:

Holiday lights

Fun stuff.

2024 towns

This summary is about cities and towns I’ve posted about. I don’t tend to do these posts very often, so there aren’t many.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the town category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

Carrabelle, Florida:

World's smallest police station

Key West, Florida:

Southernmost point buoy

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:

Myrtle Beach Welcomes You

Washington, North Carolina:

Main Street

Driving around Wasington DC:

US Capitol

Ashland, Oregon:

Creekside restaurants

Marathon, Marfa, and more in Texas:

Giant Marfa mural

Marathon aerials and stars in Texas:

Marathon

Some interesting places.

2024 food

A summary of food- and restaurant-related posts in 2024.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the food category (with earliest or latest posts at the top)

Robert is Here fruit stand in Homestead, Florida:

Robert is Here

Our first Buc-ee’s in Smiths Grove, Kentucky:

Buc-ee's

Custer Battlefield Trading Post & Cafe on the Crow Indian reservation in Montana:

Tipis

Oregon Cabaret Theatre: Legally Blonde, the Musical in Ashland, Oregon:

Dinner

Ashland wineries: Quady North & Belle Fiore in Ashland, Oregon:

Belle Fiore

Ashland food in Oregon:

Mains

Shields Date Garden in Indio, California:

Food

Red Bay food and shopping in Red Bay, Alabama:

Cardinal Drive In

Tasty stuff.

2024 theme parks

Not sure what it says about us that it’s worthwhile to have a summary post about theme parks, but here we are.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the theme park category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

Universal Islands of Adventure Theme Park in Orlando, Florida:

Islands of Adventure

Universal Studios Florida Theme Park in Orlando, Florida:

Diagon Alley dragon

Disney World: Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida:

Castle

Disney World: Epcot in Orlando, Florida:

Epcot globe

Disney World: Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida:

Millennium Falcon

Disney World: Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida:

Tree of Life

Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee:

Entrance sign

Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California:

Cars Land

Disneyland in Anaheim, California:

Marching band

Fun times.

2024 baseball parks

This is a summary of baseball-related posts from 2024.

One of our stretch goals in exploring the US is to attend a game at every Major League baseball stadium. As with our other goals, we have a spreadsheet to track this. Back in 2023, we visited just two, The Coliseum of the Oakland Athletics (which is now closed) and T-Mobile Field of our Seattle Mariners.

In 2024, we visited seven more: Truist Park of the Atlanta Braves, Oriole Park of the Baltimore Orioles, Nationals Park of the Washington Nationals, Busch Stadium of the St Louis Cardinals, Target Field of the Minnesota Twins, Oracle Park of the San Francisco Giants, and Dodger Stadium of the Los Angeles Dodgers (plus we revisited the Mariners).

We also visited some minor league stadiums, and the Field of Dreams movie site.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the baseball category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

Atlanta Braves vs Cleveland Guardians in Atlanta, Georgia:

Baseball

Baltimore Orioles vs Atlanta Braves in Baltimore, Maryland:

Baseball

Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins in Washington, DC:

Baseball

Bowling Green Hot Rods in Bowling Green, Kentucky:

Ballpark

St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs in St Louis, Missouri:

View from elsewhere

Cedar Rapids Kernels vs Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:

Another angle

Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa:

Field

Minnesota Twins vs Philadelphia Phillies in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Twins win

Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets in Seattle, Washington:

Baseball

Seattle Mariners T-Mobile Field guided tour:

Suite

Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets:

Mariners win

San Francisco Giants vs San Diego Padres in San Francisco, California:

View from our seats

Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres NLDS game 5 in Los Angeles, California:

View from our seats

Play ball!

2024 parks and museums

In the previous post I covered the National Parks we visited in 2024, but we also visited many National Monuments and other National Park Service units, plus state parks, museums, and such. So this post summarizes those.

Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the park category (with earliest or latest posts at the top), and the museum category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida:

Alligator

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Florida:

Cannon beach

Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center in Florida:

Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in Florida:

Tents

Island ‘Ting with Sebago Watersports in Florida:

Boat

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida:

Pond and bridge

World of Coca‑Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia:

Gift store

Myrtle Beach State Park beach in South Carolina:

Beach

Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina:

Visitor Center

Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina:

Bodie Island Light Station

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in North Carolina:

Visitor center

The Birthplace of Pepsi in New Bern, North Carolina:

The Birthplace of Pepsi

Colonial National Historical Park: Yorktown in Virginia:

Yorktown

Colonial National Historical Park: Jamestown in Virginia:

Smith

Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia:

Street

Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and Virginia:

Horses

Blue Ridge Parkway north end in Virginia:

Visitor center

Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, Virginia:

Henry Hill Loop Trail

Gettysburg National Military Park: museum and visitor center in Pennsylvania:

Cyclorama

Gettysburg National Military Park: memorials and cemetery in Pennsylvania:

Battlefield monument

DC monuments by night tour in Washington, DC:

Lincoln Memorial

Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC:

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington, DC:

Exterior

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia:

Harpers Ferry

Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland:

Cannons

Blue Ridge Parkway south end in North Carolina:

View

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Kentucky:

The symbolic cabin inside the memorial

Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois:

Lincoln's home

Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village National Historic Landmark in Mitchell, South Dakota:

Archeodome

Legion Lake in Custer State Park, South Dakota:

Lake

Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway, Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park, South Dakota:

Narrow and short tunnel

Mount Coolidge, Wind Cave National Park, Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park, South Dakota:

Bison

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana:

Custer National Cemetery

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Santa Clarita, California:

Vasquez Rocks

The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California:

Animals

Museum of History in Granite in California:

Looking from the pyramid to the church on the hill

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas:

Sign

Galveston Island State Park beach in Galveston, Texas (post coming in January; this link won’t work until then):

Beach

River Bottomland Hardwood Trail hike in Springfield, Louisiana (post coming in January; this link won’t work until then):

Bridge

Some fascinating places.

2024 National Parks

One of the main reasons for traveling the United States in a motorhome is to explore the many wonders around the country. In previous years I had four posts of attractions visited in the year, but this year I’m going to split them by the kind of attraction, since that seems like it’ll be more useful for future reference.

This is a summary of the National Parks we visited in 2024. You can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021.

As with the previous summaries, I’ll include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture. Click or tap the link or picture to see more.

You can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the national park category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

We visited 12 new National Parks in 2024 (plus revisited several), for a total of 47 so far of the 63 total National Parks.

Everglades National Park in Florida:

Water lillies

Biscayne National Park in Florida:

Sailing

Dry Tortugas National Park south of Florida:

Approaching Dry Tortugas

Congaree National Park in South Carolina:

Boardwalk

Shenandoah National Park in Virginia:

Shenandoah National Park

New River Gorge National Park: Grandview in West Virginia:

View

New River Gorge National Park: Sandstone Falls in West Virginia:

Sandstone Falls

New River Gorge National Park: Canyon Rim and Bridge in West Virginia:

Bridge viewpoint

New River Gorge National Park: Thurmond and waterfalls  in West Virginia:

Glen Ferris falls

Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina:

Farm exhibits

Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky:

Formations

Gateway Arch National Park in Missouri:

Under the arch

Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Valley in California:

Half Dome

Yosemite National Park: Hetch Hetchy in California:

Hetch Hetchy dam

Yosemite National Park: Wawona and Glacier Point in California:

Glacier Point

Yosemite National Park: Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake in California:

Tenaya Lake

Kings Canyon National Park in California:

General Grant tree

Sequoia National Park: northern side in California:

General Sherman tree

Sequoia National Park: southern side in California:

Tunnel Log

Channel Islands National Park in California:

Relief maps

Joshua Tree National Park: Geology Tour Road in California:

Supermoon

Joshua Tree National Park: Hall of Horrors in California:

Hall of Horrors

Joshua Tree National Park: Wonderland Ranch & Wall Street Mill in California:

Wall Street Mill ruins

Saguaro National Park in Arizona:

Dirt road and saguaros

White Sands National Park, in New Mexico:

Sand dunes

Big Bend National Park, in Texas:

Canyon

Several nice parks.

Marathon aerials and stars

Some bonus aerial photos from my drone of the Marathon Motel and RV Park and the small town of Marathon, Texas, and some pictures of stars from our site:

Highway and RV park

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial

Marathon:

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

Marathon

This park is in a dark skies area, so there were lots of stars visible (photos just from my iPhone with a 10-second night mode):

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Stars

Marathon, Marfa, and more

An assortment of pictures of Marathon and Marfa, Texas and surrounding areas.

In Marathon, we had lunch at the V6 Coffee Bar:

V6 Coffee Bar

V6 Coffee Bar

V6 Coffee Bar

V6 Coffee Bar

The only (very small) grocery store in Marathon, The French Co Grocer:

The French Co Grocer

The French Co Grocer

The French Co Grocer

We got some BBQ from Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue:

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

An interactive map of a drive to Keesey Canyon Hoodoos for a picnic lunch, then Fort Davis National Historic Site (as seen in the previous post), and Marfa:

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area:

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area

Keesey Canyon Hoodoos picnic area

Welcome to Marfa sign:

Welcome to Marfa sign

Marfa

Marfa

The Giant Marfa mural, a tribute to the 1956 James Dean/Liz Taylor film “Giant“:

Giant Marfa mural

Giant Marfa mural

Giant Marfa mural

We enjoy quirky roadside attractions.

Fort Davis National Historic Site

We visited Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas. As the NPS site says, “It is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars’ frontier military post in the Southwest.”

The NPS map; click or tap to see more on their site. The red-roofed buildings on this map are now ruins, often just foundations, but the others are mostly intact, with some furnished:

Fort Davis map

Entrance:

Entrance

Gift store:

Gift store

Museum exhibits:

Museum exhibits

Museum exhibits

Museum exhibits

Officers quarters:

Officers quarters

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Barracks

Cart

Commissary:

Commissary

Commissary

Officers quarters:

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Officers quarters

Hospital:

Hospital

Hospital

Hospital

Hospital

Hospital

Hospital

Officers quarters

Sign