America in 250: Part 11-15
Read the recap of week 3
All the episodes of America in 250 week 3 have been released and episodes 11 through 15 showed some natural wonders, some man made marvels, and places of cultural and historical significance across the United States of America.
1. Visit Mammoth Cave - the world's longest known cave system
I visited Mammoth Cave once as a kid with my family on a camping trip one summer. It was only a few hours away from where we lived around Cincinnati at the time and it was one of the closest national parks we could visit. I remember being amazed by everything I saw and loving the names that they gave certain formations in the cave. Names like "The Bottomless Pit", "The Giant's Coffin", "Frozen Niagara", or "Fat Man's Misery". These helped to solidify the memory of the cave since it put a fun, unique name on something you're walking by.
Years later, my brother mentioned wanting to go back since we were so young when we went the first time. I doubt he really remembered much being that young. Juliana had never been but was fascinated when I brought up visiting together. So on a trip to visit family, my brother, Juliana, and I drove up from Florida and stopped and camped at Mammoth Cave along the way.
During our visit there, we read about how only a little over 426 miles of the cave have been explored and yet they keep finding more to add to that total every year. Scientists have found 200 species living in the dark zones of the cave, including 49 species adapted exclusively for life in total darkness, and other rare creatures only found in Mammoth Cave like the Kentucky Cave Shrimp.
We did two tours during our visit where we got to go down in different parts of the cave and see different formations and see how it looked with the lights off and only a candle to guide us. Tours can be booked through recreation.gov and there are several different kinds depending on what you might be interested in and your mobility. Having the largest cave system in the world in our country is amazing and that's why everyone should take the chance to explore it.
2. Visit the Library of Congress - the world's largest library
The Library of Congress in Washington DC is somewhere that many people have only seen in movies or heard about. But it's actually the largest library in the world with millions of books, films, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts for use by Congress and even you with a library card.
The Congressional Library used to be located inside the Capitol Building until the War of 1812, when the British army burned the Capitol and most of the library's collection with it. Thomas Jefferson, who famously had an extensive library at his home, offered to sell his collection of over 6,487 volumes to Congress for the steep price of $23,950, which is roughly equivalent to $454,440 today. This collection is the base of the over 178 million items in the collection today.
You can visit the Library without a library card by getting a free timed entry pass on their website. This allows you to enter the library, explore the mosaics, walk through the exhibit upstairs, and see some of Thomas Jefferson's original collection on display. While you're in there, they will allow timed entry to walk inside the reading room where you'll see people reading and working. If you want to be able to use the reading room, you'll have to sign up for a library card which you can do on the day you visit.
The Library of Congress is one of the oldest federal institutions in the country and is a beautiful place to visit while you're in DC.
3. Drive through the Zion-Mount Caramel Tunnel in Zion National Park
Ask anyone that has visited the Utah Mighty 5 what the best drive in the parks is and you'll probably get one answer: "The tunnel in Zion National Park". Driving through the tunnel opens into a view one can only truly explain once they've experienced it for themselves. We'd watched the videos before going, and even watching those videos back don't do the view justice when coming out of the tunnel into Zion Canyon.
Construction on the Zion-Mount Caramel Tunnel started in 1927 and finished in 1930. It's 1.1 miles long and cost almost $1.9 million to complete. The people in the area wanted to connect the isolated lower part of Zion Canyon to the higher plateaus above. Before the road and tunnel opened, travelers faced long and dangerous detours.
Six large windows were blasted into the sandstone wall and later they dug small tunnels between the windows before widening them out with more dynamite and drills. The windows are still visible today as you drive through the tunnel. You can look out to the side of you and see glimpses into the canyon before going right back into the darkness of the tunnel.
The tunnel is on the smaller side because of when it was built, so if you're driving an RV or similar larger vehicle, you used to be able to buy a $15 dollar pass to drive through the tunnel. As of June 2026, this is no longer an option and if your vehicle exceeds the dimensions in any way, you'll have to use one of the other routes to get into the canyon. Check out Zion National Park's website for more info.
The entire highway is beautiful on both sides of the tunnel and is well worth a drive while you're visiting Zion National Park. Nothing beats the unique rock formations and towering sandstone walls all around you as you travel through the canyon.
If you've visited one of the major cities in the United States, chances are you've visited a neighborhood with a certain culture attached to it. These neighborhoods are in most of the major cities like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC and more.
One of the most popular neighborhoods to visit in these cities is Chinatown. On our latest visits to Los Angeles and Washington DC, we decided to check out their respective Chinatowns and grab something to eat.
First thing to mention is that each Chinatown is entirely different from any other. Each will obviously have some similarities, similar restaurants, and a similar feel. But the architecture, the people, and the history is where they start to develop their unique feels.
In Los Angeles, they had an entire market district feel in the heart of Chinatown, where the gate you see in the picture above is the entrance. As we walked around, we saw restaurants, shops, people singing karaoke, art on the walls, lots of neon signs, and even a statue of Bruce Lee.
The story was different in Washington DC. The Chinatown was a part of the normal city layout. There was a large gate similar to the one in the picture but still different and much larger than that. Instead of all Chinese businesses, they even had businesses like Raising Cane's and Chipotle with English and Mandarin signs.
The best Chinese food you'll eat is located in these neighborhoods as well. On our trip to DC, we ate at the same restaurant, Chinatown Garden, on 4 separate occasions. By the end of our week there, they were pretty used to seeing us at dinner time.
It's really cool to see how American cities have congregations of people from different cultures that create a unique neighborhood based on their origins and make it feel like theirs. Whenever you're in one of these major cities, make sure to stop by and check out Chinatown.
5. Read the Declaration of Independence & Constitution in the National Archives
The National Archives is home to our nation's most important founding documents. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. Without these documents, especially the Declaration of Independence, we wouldn't be doing a series about 250 things to do across America today. These documents are the foundation of our nation.
It's truly incredible that you can go and see these documents in person. Since they're so important, they sit in cases that are bulletproof, bombproof, and filled with argon gas to keep them stable. When they're not on display, they're lowered into a multi-ton vault underneath the floor to keep them safe. The room is also kept dim to protect the ink and paper from light damage. The words are pretty faint and hard to read but they're still impressive and you can make out a lot of what they say.
The National Archives has free timed entry passes available through their website. You'll enter through airport style security upon entering the building. Inside there is the main rotunda, as well as several exhibits to walk through, and a gift shop.
Even if you can't make it to the National Archives anytime soon. I'd recommend reading these documents online. Many people have never stopped to read what the founding fathers of our country had to say, or how our government is set up in the Constitution. Read and understand these documents because they are the foundation of why our country is so great today.
So that wraps up episodes 11-15. All of the episodes are available to watch on our social media channels under the handle @americantravelarchives. We also have a YouTube recap of this week's episodes available on our YouTube channel. Check back next week for another post of America in 250.