Eight hours in America: Nominations for a Tournament.
 

I still need to get the "favorite movie scenes" tournament going, but it's kind of hairy. So let's go with a simple and fun tournament for the offseason.

What is the best place to spend eight hours as a tourist in America?

Assume that a new acquaintance of yours has one day of leisure time to spend anywhere in America. Where do you send them to get the best possible experience?

The rules:

1. They have up to eight hours. It can be less, but cannot be more.

2. The eight hours can be any time of day. If it's not 9 am to 5 pm, please specify the hours. Otherwise, we'll go with a 9 to 5 schedule.

3. You can specify any location or venue, but recognize that they have eight hours. So if you say "The White House", they'll have eight hours there. If you say, "Washington, DC", they'll have eight hours there.

4. Stick to one venue or region. So you can say, "On the Mall in DC" or you can say, "Monticello", but you cannot say, "On the Mall in DC and then Monticello".

5. Assume that the person is not American and has never visited the U.S. He/she has a basic understanding of what America is, but no advanced knowledge. He/she speaks English well and can navigate as well as an American can.

6. Assume that the person is reasonably health, mobile, and intelligent, but you don't know what their particular passions and interests are. They want to "experience America", but you know nothing more than that.

7. It needs to be available to the general public. So you can't propose something like a presidential gala.

8. It needs to be something that a person could reasonably plan and attend. So you can't propose something like "that presidential masonic retreat where rich people eat babies". Try to go with things that are normal tourist activities.

When I get enough suggestions, I'll set up a tournament that will entertain me and hopefully some of you for the next week or two.

Got it? I'll start with a few initial suggestions in diverse categories.

1. The Air and Space Museum.
2. Manhattan (Central Park, Times Square, Broadway, etc.)
3. Key West
4. Arches National Park
5. A Mississippi River Cruise
6. The St. Louis Arch and Expansion Museum

Anyone want to add suggestions?

Not Houston.

1. Yosemite
2. Cedar Point

Mississippi River Cruise?

Never heard of it...sounds interesting. Has anyone here done this?

I haven't done it, but I've seen ads for them and think they'd be kind of cool. But I like ships for some reason. I don't know if you can do an eight-hour cruise, but I figure they exist.

Here's one company that looks interesting, albeit unreasonably expensive.

http://www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com/

Wow....the St. Louis to NO would be fun. Then I saw the price...

Party Cove at lake of the Ozarks
8 hours in a houseboat from forever resorts.com on memorial day or 4th of July

Hiking the Narrows in Zion (I would say Angel's Landing, but that's not 8 hours).
Hiking Iceberg Trail in Glacier National Park
The Strip in Las Vegas starting at 8 pm
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Spokane washington
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Glacier National Park

white water rafting the grand canyon

route 66 inna 62 vette, ending at caddilac ranch at sunset

Yellowstone National Park.

Definitely Grand Canyon. There's so much to do there and immense beauty.

IMO, you're painting Manhattan with a ridiculously broad stroke.

You could easily spend a day in Central Park or the Museum of Natural History or SoHo or Battery Park or even Midtown (Times Square). It's Disneyland for adults.

For an eight hour day, I'd recommend hitting Griffith Park and hiking to the Observatory (which is unbelievably physically demanding). Once you've reached the top, taken pictures that, on a clear day, reach 100 miles or more of ocean and mountains, head down to Santa Monica, rent a bike and ride on the Pacific Ocean bike path to Hermosa Beach.

Once you've reached Hermosa Beach, go to one of several beach side restaurants and/or bars, drink to your heart's content. Call a cab back to your hotel, put the bike in the trunk and return it the following day.

:D