# Places of interest near you: Have you been? Worth a visit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055 "2011-04-03T17:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/61 "2011-04-06T00:49:36Z")
Lewiston, Idaho is 25 miles south of my home. The old northbound road out Lewiston, now named “Spiral Highway”, is the location of the true story hyperbolically related in the song “Hot Rod Lincoln.” By the time Commander Cody did his cover of the song several years later, the lyrics had been altered to suggest Los Angeles as the locale. The guy who drove the car, wrote the song, and originally performed it, kept performing it locally well into his old age. Have I been there? I’ve driven up and down it a couple of times. It’s far more interesting (but much slower) than the modern four-lane freeway which replaced it decades ago. Worth a visit? Only if you’re already in Lewiston. . ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/62 "2011-04-06T01:29:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [America’s Stonehenge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Stonehenge) is not far from us. You should come to Texas, where everything is bigger. Except [Stonehenge](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/7819) 😉 - but Easter Island is there too - both are free. If you’re ever in Austin, the [bats](http://www.videocityguide.com/austin/listings/congress-bridge-bats) are well worth the totally free admission price. A few miles down the road, we recently went on a [glass bottomed boat](http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/Glass-Bottomboats.html). Actually worth paying for. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/63 "2011-04-06T02:15:34Z")
From my workplace in central Tokyo: A five-minute drive in one direction takes you to **Yasukuni Shrine** , where Japan honors its war dead, and the **Yushukan War Museum**. I’ve taken many out-of-town visitors there. Around this time of year, there are sakura (cherry blossoms) in the area. A five-minute drive in another direction is **Korakuen**. It is an entertainment center home to **Tokyo Dome** , a sports/concert stadium, and an amusement park with an indoor spa. Also nearby is **Koishikawa** botanical gardens which feature koi-filled (carp) ponds and Japanese-style gardens. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/64 "2011-04-06T02:27:07Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Lewiston, Idaho is 25 miles south of my home. The old northbound road out Lewiston, now named “Spiral Highway”, is the location of the true story hyperbolically related in the song “Hot Rod Lincoln.” > > By the time Commander Cody did his cover of the song several years later, the lyrics had been altered to suggest Los Angeles as the locale. > > The guy who drove the car, wrote the song, and originally performed it, kept performing it locally well into his old age. > > Have I been there? I’ve driven up and down it a couple of times. It’s far more interesting (but much slower) than the modern four-lane freeway which replaced it decades ago. There’s a pretty good picture of it [here](http://www.cardcow.com/images/set313/card00582_fr.jpg). I’ve been over it a number of times, before the new highway was built, when it was the _only_ direct link between northern and southern Idaho. One particularly intense memory…returning from a family vacation to the panhandle, I was 14 and had just got my driver’s license. Dad, in a moment of weakness let me take the wheel of our old Dodge over that stretch…he must have been apprehensive (I certainly would have been, had I not had the dumb confidence of youth), I guess he figured if I could drive that I was good for just about anything. I managed it all right…even got a few chuckles at the flatland tourists inching along with their white knuckles. Interestingly, I’ve spent quite a bit of time around Lewiston, but had never heard that the hill was the inspiration behind “_Hot Rod Lincoln_”. SS ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/65 "2011-04-06T03:40:32Z")
Unfortunately, I work on the opposite side of the building, but if I walked to the back of where I work, I’d have a great view of an [old sign](http://www.hollywoodsign.org/) that a lot of people come to see… I guess I could also walk a few blocks and [reminisce about the good old days](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame), but I’d have to fight my way through crowds - so I tend to just jump in my car and fight traffic on my way home instead… ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/66 "2011-04-06T05:52:33Z")
Within a couple hour drive we have [**Hells Canyon**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hells_Canyon) [\*\*Crators of the Moon](http://www.nps.gov/crmo/photosmultimedia/index.htm)\*\* [**Yellowstone National Park**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park) [**Sun Valley**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Valley,_Idaho) [**Jackson Hole**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Hole) [**Redfish Lake**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redfish_Lake) [**Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagerman_Fossil_Beds_National_Monument) [**Shoshone Falls**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshone_Falls) [**thousandsprings**](http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/thousandsprings.aspx) [**Grand Tetons**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tetons) and for the science minded [**EBR-I**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBR-I) I’ve been to all more than once, all were worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055/67 "2011-04-06T13:36:32Z")
I live 20 minutes from this: > **[Ohio Caverns – America's Most Colorful Caverns](https://ohiocaverns.com/)** > > Ohio Caverns, located in West Liberty, Ohio is one of Ohio's most popular attractions. Open all year except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Very impressive, if I may say. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-of-interest-near-you-have-you-been-worth-a-visit/577055.md?page=3)