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MISSOURI
Over seven million visitors a year are attracted to what's become known as the "Ozark Disneyland"
featuring thirtyplus music venues, a few theme parks and lots of good ol' family fun. "The Strip"
is a thriving center of theme parks and theaters owned by and featuring big-name stars. The spectrum
ranges from Japanese fiddler Shoji Tabuchi and ancient crooner Andy Williams, to banal mountain humor
joints like Baldknobbers and Presleys' (not that Presley). Lesser lights include Russian comedian Yakov
Smirnoff and Jim "Spiders and Snakes" Stafford's place. Tickets for a twohour show are fairly priced,
at around $20, and there's no shortage of takers in summer for most, if not all, of the town's 57,000
seats. Branson shows are firmly geared toward families; you won't find anything remotely progressive or
avant-garde. When you're finished it with Branson, escape to nearby Table Rock Lake, a beautiful area
offering hiking, biking, camping, water-skiing and world-class fishing.
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| Nevada is desert, and the desert can induce strange visions. Even stranger, Nevada's curiosities are real: a
huge blue lake appears in the midst of a parched landscape; a brothel materializes at a remote crossroads; a
marginally talented performer named Wayne Newton becomes a millionaire. The Hoover Dam turned a great river
into the electricity that powers Las Vegas. Combine the mortal temptations of gambling and all-you-can-eat
buffets, and you've built yourself a tourist attraction. Obviously, people did not create Nevada's beautiful
desert landscapes, which can be even more wondrous than a city of flashing neon. Nor did they manufacture the
pyramid at Pyramid Lake or the hundreds of remote mountains that pepper the state. With both isolated wilderness
and bustling casino towns, Nevada is a place where you can get back to basics and also relish in some of mankind's
guiltiest pleasures, plus you do them both on the same vacation. |
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| We can't confirm or deny the incident, but if aliens did crash their UFO in Roswell, they certainly picked the right
state: New Mexico is knee deep in the mystical and the mysterious. Disappearing civilizations, secret atomic test sites,
Native American healers, divine dirt and miraculous staircases are just some of the things that can't be explained or
that someone says can't be explained. The unknowable can be fun, but it's only a part of New Mexico's allure. Whether
or not they hold powerful energy vortexes, the mountains and desert are beautiful to view and thrilling to hike, bike,
ski or raft through. Regardless if Pueblo people have the remedy for the ills of Western Civilization, their art is
engaging and their communities fascinating. We think you'll have a completely enjoyable time taking in New Mexico's
scenery and activities at face value. |
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NEW JERSEY
The real-life model for the board game Monopoly, it has an impressive history of popular culture, boasting the nation's
first Boardwalk (1870), the world's first Big Wheel (1892), the first color postcards (1893) and the first Miss America
Beauty Pageant (cunningly devised to extend the tourist season in 1921 and still held here yearly). During Prohibition,
Atlantic City was a center for rum running, and the town was packed with speakeasies and illegal gambling dens. Thereafter,
in the face of increasing competition from Florida, it slipped into decline until forward thinking city officials decided
in 1976 to completely freshen the area with the opening of several of the nation's most luxurious casinos and resorts. The
"Vegas of the East" now hosts millions of visitors yearly.
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