The Travel Bucket List - Top 10 in the U.S.A.

"It's on my list."

Every day I'm inundated with blog posts, press releases, Tweets, Status Updates, Pins, Instagrams, and Stumbles from all over this beautiful planet, and a fair percentage of them get added to my list...the bucket list. The problem is there is just one of me, and I have this little thing called a job, making it impossible to keep up with my list's exponential growth. So I've decided to do a series of posts sharing the places, hotels, and restaurants I'd like to visit in this country, and beyond. I'm thinking of it as a virtual lamination, designed to keep the entire world from eventually making its way onto my bucket list.

Without further adieu, here are the top ten sites I want to see here in the good old U.S. of A.  

10. Seattle

It should come as no surprise that the home of Starbucks is on my list. Beyond my coffee addiction, however, there are plenty of reasons I want to see the Emerald City. The Boeing factory tour appeals to the aviation buff in me, and I'm sure I'd enjoy tossing a fish at my wife in Pike Place Market.
Coffee and Airplanes...Great combination
Credit: Visit Seattle

9. Niagara Falls

Totally cheesy, but also one of those things that everyone should see once. Maybe I could find some sort of deal on a same day return flight, because really how long can you stare at falling water? 

8. New Orleans

This is where I'm supposed to say something about a secret love affair with jazz music, or risk being told to surrender my cool card. Sure, I like jazz, but for me a visit to New Orleans would have little to do with music or Bourbon Street, and instead would center on one thing....food. Keep the beignets and crawfish coming please...
Yes Please....
Credit: Destination360

7. The Rockies

As a native Floridian - the birth certificate says Georgia, but it's a misprint - I have always loved winter travel. While the rest of the country heads south like Canadian geese, I prefer to go north to the cold and snow. Sometime I would like to visit a posh destination like Aspen or Jackson Hole, and break my leg on the slopes in style.  

6. Yankee Stadium

Sadly, the biggest cluster-bomb of my travel career kept me from seeing a game in the original Yankee Stadium.  Undeterred, I would still like to see the guys in pin stripes in their new digs, even if the building lacks the history of the old. I've already filled out an application for a second mortgage to cover the cost of tickets.
The House that Jeter Built

5. California Wine Country 

Riding a bike from one vineyard to another...what's not to like? Plus, I'd be able to start a sentence with "This one time, in Napa..." which is pretty cool too. Just don't ask me to try the Merlot... 

4. Yosemite National Park 

I'm not really an outdoorsy kind of guy, but the amazing photos by my buddy Erik at On My Feet or In My Mind have inspired me to add Yosemite National Park to the list. Now...where is Yosemite? 

3. Chicago 

How I have made it this long without visiting Chicago sort of boggles my mind. Hopefully one day I can visit the Second City, and fulfill a lifelong dream of reenacting Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Cue random parade...

2. Alaska 

From what I understand, in Alaska there are all you can eat smoked salmon and king crab joints on every corner. The corner of what, I'm not exactly sure, because apparently there are also no roads, as evidenced by a state capital that's only accessible by boat or plane.

1. Drum roll please..... Highway 1 - California Coast 

It has long been a dream of mine to hit the Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible, with the theme song from The O.C. blasting on repeat. I'd start in San Fransisco, and make my way down to Monterey and Pebble Beach. Then if I was really lucky, I'd get the honor of shooting 100 on the most picturesque golf course in the world. 
Packing List: A Dozen Titleists and a Camera

So there you have it...my bucket list from the homeland. In the coming weeks I'll also share my list from sites abroad, as well as hotels and restaurants I hope to one day visit. With any luck, these lists should help keep my travel goals a little more organized than the 600 line Excel sheet I currently have going. 

What do you think of my list? What sites in the USA make yours? 

~Insert Dude-like Closing Here~ 

Deej

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