America in 250: Part 36-40

Welcome back to this week's recap of our America in 250 series. Where we show you 250 things to do across America to celebrate the 250th anniversary. This week concluded the eighth week of this series that has been posted across all of our social media channels.

1. Visit the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum sits right along the National Mall in Washington DC. There is over 160,000 square feet of space filled with aviation history. Everything humans have done since the Wright Brothers first flight to the Apollo missions in showcased here in one of the most popular Smithsonian museums in DC.

This was actually our second visit to the Air and Space Museum. During our first trip to DC in 2023, half of the museum was closed for renovations. This was a common occurrence around DC at that time since everything was being cleaned and repaired for the 250th celebrations. It only took us a couple hours to see everything on this trip and we knew that we'd want to revisit on our next trip to see what we had missed.

Turns out, we missed a lot. The museum reopened areas in phases throughout the past couple of years with the last phase opening in Fall 2026. We visited shortly after Phase 3 had finished and reopened on July 1st, 2026. It reopened to the public with 18 galleries. On this visit, this museum took us most of the day and we didn't even get to read everything.

One of our favorite exhibits was Destination Moon. This exhibit included pieces from the Apollo missions and talked about the science and history behind the moon landing. Inside the exhibit are real Apollo era artifacts including the Apollo 11 command module and the suit Neil Armstrong wore on the moon. There is also a piece of moon rock you can touch that was brought back by Apollo 17.

Another great exhibit is the Pioneers of Flight. This one focuses on a lot of the record breaking achievements throughout the early 20th century that kept pushing aviation farther. This includes a replica of Amelia Earhart's plane and the actual Spirit of St. Louis that Charles Lindbergh flew on the first solo, nonstop, transatlantic flight. This was a really interesting section to see how all of these people kept pushing the limits of aviation by speed or distance.

A great exhibit that has one of the coolest aircrafts inside is the Wright Brothers exhibit. They have the original Wright Flyer that flew in 1903 there on display. They also have one of their bikes from the Wright Brothers' bike shop. This section was really interesting to read about how they got their ideas and built the Wright Flyer to be the first people to ever fly.

On top of these 3 awesome exhibits, there are tons more that talk about World War I and World War II. It was very interesting to learn about how aircraft changed warfare. They had to do a lot of engineering to figure out how to add guns to planes and protect them from enemy fire. There are also exhibits showing off rockets, the advances in commercial flights, and the planets and stars around the galaxy.

This museum is free and can easily take up a full day on a trip to Washington DC. It is open from 10 AM - 5:30 PM every day of the week. Make sure to check out the Smithsonian Air and Space museum website to reserve a free timed entry pass. They can sell out on busy days so make sure to book this in advance.

2. Walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is probably one of the most famous tourist attractions in the entire world. Everyone knows about the stars that like the sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard, but that's why you need to do it at least once.

If you're visiting Los Angeles for the first time, odds are you probably have a few spots on your list that everyone visits like Hollywood, Santa Monica Pier, and Griffith Observatory. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's what we did when we went to LA together.

We hopped off the plane at LAX, grabbed our rental car and drove to Hollywood. We knew we only had time for a quick stop that day before our scheduled plans so we parked at the parking garage that is beneath the shopping center and came up to street level to start our walk.

We started off at the TCL Chinese Theatre. An iconic landmark on Hollywood Boulevard that has handprints and footprints of movie stars and directors in the concrete outside of the entrance. We didn't go inside the theater but looking at pictures shows you just how beautiful it is inside. We stopped to look at the concrete hall of fame and noticed lots of our favorite actors, actresses, directors, and movies represented. Sometimes it's just one celebrity in the concrete square and other times it's all the stars of a particular movie, like the original 6 Avengers.

After checking that out, we went walking down Hollywood Boulevard, stopping to take pictures of our favorite celebrities. We saw artists, musicians, directors, actors, actresses, and even fictional characters like Mickey Mouse and the Muppets. There are over 2,800 stars on the Walk of Fame so we didn't see nearly all of them. We only walked a few blocks in both directions from the theater and figured that was plenty for us to see lots of different people we knew.

To get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, first a person must be nominated. Then they'll be voted on by a committee to see whether they've made a meaningful contribution to entertainment history. After that, it costs about $85,000 to actually get the star made and placed into the Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard.

Let me also set the proper expectations incase you've never been before. It is an extremely touristy spot that is similar to other spots around the country like Times Square in New York. That said, it can be a little dirty and run down. There is often grime and dirt on the sidewalk which is unavoidable. There are often a few homeless people lining the street. There are lots of vendors that are trying to charge you insane prices for little trinkets or to put your name on a star that you can take a picture with. There are also people dressed as characters that walk around to try and take pictures with you and try to get you to pay them a tip afterwards.

All of that to say, it is an iconic spot that you should visit, but you could probably just visit it once. Be aware while you're walking around and don't fall for any of the tourist traps or scams that people try to run around the area. If you just ignore all of that but stay aware, it can be a fun little stop on a visit to Los Angeles. We wouldn't stay for more than an hour or so though.

3. Watch the elk rut in Colorado

For years, I've dreamed of seeing an elk. They're not native to where I grew up outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm used to seeing white-tailed deer roaming but they're not as big and they certainly don't bugle like a bull elk in the fall. So when we were heading to Colorado and I learned our trip would be right in the middle of elk rut season, I was so excited.

From the minute we got to the mountains, I was always on the lookout. The first few days we didn't see any elk at all. Then we saw a couple but that was only because they were standing right in the middle of the road and I almost hit them on multiple occasions driving in the dark.

As we were leaving Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw a photographer taking pictures of the mountains. Shortly after we parked to do the same, she got in her car. But suddenly, she got right back out and started getting her gear set up again and we didn't know why. We looked to where she was pointing her camera and there was a bull elk walking through the aspens behind our car. He was maybe 50 yards away and he was massive. We only got to see him walking for about a minute before he went too deep into the woods to see him anymore.

I was starting to give up on seeing a herd of elk up close. But as we came into Telluride on one of the last evenings of our trip, we looked off to the left side of the road and saw maybe 50 elk in a huge herd. There were cows, calves, and a bull. We stopped the car on the side of the road, got out and watched them until the sun went down. We were amazed watching them all interact. We saw the calves feeding, the bull moving around and chasing the cows a little bit. Then we got to see the bull bugle right up close. We had already heard bugles throughout our trip but seeing the bull bugle right in front of us was so cool. If you've never heard the sound, I recommend listening to it, it's incredible and the sound can carry over a mile.

Seeing this kind of group dynamic is something that was incredible to us. Being from Ohio, I'd never seen any animal herd like this besides cattle. Juliana, being from Brazil had never seen anything like it either.

The elk rut takes place from September to October in Colorado. The best times to see them are either sunrise or sunset. From our experience, we saw the herd near Telluride at sunset. If you're anywhere in Colorado in the fall, make it a part of your trip to try to see one of these herds, it's so cool.

4. Paddle along the Florida Springs

One of the best things to do in Florida is to visit the springs. Florida is home to over 1,000 freshwater springs and they're all so unique. We love paddling and swimming at all the different springs we visit.

It's a great year round activity in Florida because the springs all stay around 72 degrees Fahrenheit no matter what the weather is like. The water is really refreshing on a hot day. But it feels better outside to go paddling when it's a little cooler in my opinion.

The springs are home to tons of different wildlife including alligators, fish, manatees, otters, raccoons, bears, deer, and more. So much of Florida has been developed but the springs provide a great escape to really get out and connect with nature a little bit. Always remember to leave these places better than you found them. Pick up after yourself and don't litter or damage any of the environment around you. Always remember the Leave No Trace principles.

Some of our favorite springs to paddle in Florida are Kings Landing on the Rock Springs Run, the Rainbow River, and around the Kings Bay in Citrus County. There are several springs in that area including Three Sisters Springs. This is a great area to spot manatees in the colder winter months. They love that the water stays 72 degrees year round and the springs give them an escape from the cold waters in the Gulf.

5. Explore Nevada's first settlement - Genoa

Genoa is probably somewhere you've never heard of. That was the case for us before our recent trip out to the Reno-Tahoe territory of Nevada. It's somewhere that neither of us had heard of, but once we visited, we loved it. We ate breakfast and got coffee at the Flutter and Buzz Cafe. Then we stopped at the Sierra Chef for a cannoli. All the food there was really tasty. After that we went and explored the town.

Genoa is the oldest settlement in Nevada. Originally founded as Mormon Station, a trading post and place to rest on the California Trail before settlers would traverse over the Sierra Nevada. You can walk through a recreation of Mormon Station today and read about life in early Genoa, as well as see some of the equipment that would've been used during that time.

We checked out the Genoa Courthouse Museum, which had exhibits on the Washoe People native to the region, the Pony Express, local legend John "Snowshoe" Thompson, the annual Candy Dance and life in early Genoa. We got to chat with the woman working the museum and learned more about her favorite exhibits, life in town, and some more of the history of these exhibits.

One of the best stories she told us was about the town's annual Candy Dance. It's been going on for over 100 years now. Originally, the townspeople wanted to get street lights added to town and needed money to pay for it. So people got together and made candy, sold it, and they had a dance. This gave them enough money for the street lights. However, over the next year they realized they would need more money to pay for the electricity costs of running the lights, so they held another Candy Dance and this started the annual tradition that still goes on today.

Genoa is a really nice town with a lot of history. We definitely recommend checking it out if you're visiting the Carson Valley area or if you're visiting Lake Tahoe. Everyone we met was really nice and loved the town they called home.

So that wraps up our recap of episodes 36-40 of America in 250. All of the episodes are available to watch on our social media channels @americantravelarchives. Check back next week for another post of America in 250.