America in 250: Part 16-20

Over the last week we posted episodes 16-20 of America in 250 on our social media accounts. This week we showed a new experience, a new city we just visited recently, a war memorial, and a couple things that America has the largest of.

1. Be in the live audience of a competition show

Everyone knows that America has no shortage of competition shows on TV. Every form of competition you can imagine exists, physical competitions, dancing, intellectual tests, trivia, and of course singing. And no singing competition is as famous for creating stars as American Idol.

We've always thought it would be a lot of fun to watch one of these competition shows live but we don't live where they normally are filmed in Los Angeles so we thought we'd have to wait a long time before we saw one live. To our surprise, on our honeymoon in Hawaii, they told us at the front desk of our resort that they would be filming episodes of American Idol during our trip. It would be free to watch and first come first served.

So on one of the evenings of our trip, we decided to get in line to watch the show live from the beach of Aulani on Oahu. We were joined by hundreds of others that wanted to do the same thing. During that day the anticipation grew. We saw Luke Bryan floating down the lazy river as they filmed segments for the show and heard several people saying they were family members of contestants or people who worked for the show.

That night we saw contestants give performances, heard opinions of the judges, watched as they filmed takes, and even got to participate when they gave us directions since we were going to be on camera. All of the performances were very good and it was a fun experience getting to be an active participant in the audience.

Most of these competition shows are free to attend since the audience is part of what makes the show complete. Look online for information on where your favorite shows are filmed and how you can sign up to get one of the tickets and watch the show in person. It's a really cool experience that lets you be part of America's television culture.

2. Explore all 22 of Savannah's historic Squares

Savannah is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful cities in the United States and it's historic squares are definitely one of the biggest reasons why. Savannah was the first planned city in the United States founded by General James Oglethorpe in February 1733. His statue stands in Chippewa Square in the picture above. You might also recognize it as the square where Forrest sits on a bench waiting for the bus in the movie Forrest Gump. The city was designed around 24 public squares, 22 of which are still around today.

As we walked around Savannah, we saw the beauty of the antique buildings and homes that surrounded the squares. Each square had it's own unique feel. Some had fountains, others had statues, and one had a basketball court. A few of the squares even have the final resting place of important figures like Nathanael Greene, an American military officer during the American Revolution, or Tomochichi, head chief of the Yamacraw people who helped General Oglethorpe found the Georgia colony.

There's so much history around Savannah and it's beautiful squares that you should definitely do a tour to learn more. We went on a walking tour around the city with Savannah True History Tours that lasted two hours and only covered history related to the Civil War. Our guide, Brandon, was extremely knowledgable and you could tell he was really passionate about all the historical events that took place around Savannah. Their tour company offers different tours about different subjects, like the Revolutionary War, general Savannah history, and even a nighttime tour called the Savannah Dark History Tour.

If you prefer, there are also trolley tours. We booked ours with Old Town Trolley Tours. You can hop on and off at any stop around the city and they give you facts as you drive around. This was really helpful since it was so hot and Juliana was pregnant during our trip. They have 16 stations throughout the city in key spots so you can get off close to any of the top spots you want to see around Savannah.

Savannah is a beautiful city with so much history and charm. If you haven't been before, it's definitely worth spending a weekend or more to really have a full experience.

This section was sponsored by Visit Savannah.

3. Visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

This is the largest Catholic church in North America and it’s one of the ten largest churches in the world. It's called is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located by the Catholic University of America campus in Washington DC. We visited for Mass during our most recent trip to Washington DC and spent way more time looking around than we thought we would.

Construction lasted almost 40 years on what’s known as America’s Catholic Church. It pulls in close to a million visitors a year including 3 popes, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, as well as Mother Teresa. The United States is known as a melting pot and inside there are more than 70 different chapels and oratories, each one honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of our nation through traditions of different cultures that can be found in the United States.

We went thinking we would need about an hour to see it all. We had no idea how massive this church really is. There are so many beautiful mosaics and stained glass windows that we spent almost 3 hours trying to see it all. There is an upper and a lower floor to the church. It felt genuinely awe inspiring being inside. It's free to visit and open daily, with Mass times and guided tours posted online.

4. See the world's largest trees - Giant Sequoias

America is home to the largest trees on Earth and they only naturally grow in one location, along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. You've definitely heard of these trees before but hearing about their size and seeing them in person are drastically different.

Just like many people, I had heard that Giant Sequoias are the world's largest tree by volume. Sounds like a pretty unimpressive stat until you start hearing numbers with it. Typically, Giant Sequoias can be around 250-300 feet tall, while their diameter which is usually 30 feet or more. They also can live for thousands of years with the oldest known tree being 3,266 years old.

Interestingly, the Sequoias have fire resistant bark and fire is an important part of their life cycle. During forest fires, debris from the ground is burned which clears the soil and deposits nutrients into the soil from the organic material. The heat from the fires opens the cones above that contain seeds and clears spots in the canopy for sunlight. When the seeds drop from the cones on the newly cleared, fertile soil, it gives the young trees a better chance at growing successfully.

The largest of these trees is called the General Sherman, located in Sequoia National Park. There is a trail that allows you to walk to the base of the tree. Around that tree is one of the more popular trails in the park, the Congress Trail. Named for the groupings of Sequoias called "The House" and "The Senate". These groupings are a great way to see how the seeds drop from the cones during fires and can lead to really tight groupings of Sequoias.

It's hard to judge how big these trees are based on pictures. It's worth the trip to check out these trees in California. Remember to follow Leave No Trace principles to protect these trees and the surrounding habitat for future generations to enjoy as well.

5. Pay respects at Pearl Harbor National Memorial

There's a place at the bottom of Pearl Harbor that has been bleeding for the past 85 years. On December 7th, 1941, a bomb went straight into the USS Arizona's forward ammunition magazine, and the ship went down in under 9 minutes. 1,177 sailors and Marines died on that one ship, and more than 1,100 of them are still down there right now.

One of the things that impacted us the most is that 23 sets of brothers died together on the Arizona. Whole sets of brothers gone in the same 9 minutes. Thinking about their families receiving the news really impacted us. It must have been devastating for parents to hear about multiple or all of their children being taken.

I remember hearing in my high school history class that the oil that was sitting in the tanks of the USS Arizona that morning is still rising to the surface today. They call it the black tears of the Arizona. It was something that always stuck with me. On each of our visits, we were able to see drops of oil rising to the surface before being dispersed into the water every few seconds. The Battleship Missouri is right in front of you when you're on USS Arizona Memorial and it gives you a scale for just how big this ship was that sits underneath you.

We've been to Pearl Harbor twice now, on both our trips to Hawaii, and it gets us every time. We stood on the memorial and watched that oil bubbling up right below us, and hearing the stories of the soldiers that were in that ship make you feel connected to them, and it is such a heavy place.

The boat out to the memorial is one dollar, but the tickets go fast, so book them on recreation.gov before you go. Give yourself a half or full day, so you can explore the rest of Pearl Harbor as well. There's several exhibits and other things to see including the Battleship Missouri, a hanger with airplanes inside, and the USS Bowfin submarine that you can walk inside.

For America's 250th, we’re partnering with the American Battlefield Trust because some stories can only be told by the places they happened in. And those places need protecting. America's historic sites and battlefields allow us to experience history and sacrifice where it actually happened. It’s much more impactful than just reading about it.

This section was sponsored by American Battlefield Trust

So that wraps up episodes 16-20. 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.