New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Did Harry Connick, Jr. (see him?) get it right?  "New Orleans lives by the water and fights it, a sand castle set on a sponge nine feet below sea level where people made music from heartache, named their drinks for hurricanes and joked that one day you'd be able to tour the city by gondola." [2018]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Here's vocalist Dawn Richard's view. What's yours? "Growing up, my parents were strict Catholics from New Orleans. I understood the idea in the principle of spirituality. I noticed it in the stories that I read. The Trinity was something that was brought up consistently: the power of three. Things happened in threes, and I thought that was brilliant." [2018]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Do you agree with Tennessee Williams? "America has only three cities: New York San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." Now, substitute state names for cities, and make a quote of your own. Then, look around for the streetcar named Desire. [2018]

Austin, Texas, USA

An eye-catching mural can turn a sedate parking lot into an action-packed racetrack. But does it make you want to park your motorcycle there? Or, does it make you want to get on and ride away? Maybe an urban mural can be more activating than a shot of caffeine? Your assignment: Write an essay on "Murals as Psychoactive Drugs." [2015]

El Dorado, Arkansas, USA

El Dorado is Arkansas's original boom town thanks to the oil, gas, chemical and timber industries. They are still plodding along, but the golden age is long gone. It is commemorated on the landscape now by some industrial era relics that remind post-industrial generations what the industrial-era looked like. [2018]

South Lake Tahoe, California, USA

What is the largest alpine lake in North America? Lake Tahoe, on the border between California and Nevada. In the winter, it becomes a Mecca for skiers flocking to nearby slopes. In the summer, it's perfect for boating. Don't fall overboard, though: Lake Tahoe is also the second deepest lake in the United States. [2006]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Cities succeed by making an urban settlement fabric feel a little more rural. Planners do that whenever they add green space, leafy trees, colorful gardens, walking paths, fresh air, sky views, babbling brooks, reflective ponds, and friendly animals (wild or domesticated). Would you guess you are in a city like Sana Fe? [2017]

Celebration, Florida, USA

Forty-five years ago, Celebration wasn't even a gleam in the Disney Company's eye. On the other hand, forty-five years ago, there was a gleam in a certain groom's eye in the college town of Grantham. What a celebration it was! [2017]

Georgetown, Kentucky, USA

Do you see the octagram? Oct = 8, as in October, the eighth month of the year. But wait, October is the tenth month of the year, you say. Not for the ancient Romans. Their year began with March. Count it off. October is month eight. What was the seventh month of the Roman year? [2017]

Southside, West Virginia, USA

What do you see first: the barn or the quilt square? In this case, a quilt square fashioned after a tulip rewards even the briefest glance through the windshields of passing vehicles. Added advantage: This tulip blooms all year! [2012]

Seymour, Tennessee, USA

What do you see? An aging barn struggling to remain relevant? The ragged edges of the blue cornflower (do you see a cornflower?) seem to match the ragged edges of the barn. Quilt squares have become a popular element of rural landscapes, especially in the American south. [2009]

Sharkey, Kentucky, USA

How do you dress up a barn and please your neighbors? Add a quilt square to the sunny side. If possible, plan it so the shadows from a nearby hardwood add yet another layer to what would otherwise be a mundane element of the cultural landscape. [2017]

Key West, Florida, USA

The old customs house in Key West is now a museum, and the sculptures outside show common men and women living life in the early 20th century. It's one way to keep the past alive. As for the customs house, it's huge, especially when you compare it to the small size of the town. [2018]

Key West, Florida, USA

Sunset and subtropical tastes: coconut and key lime. They're just what you crave when you're meandering around Key West in the evening. In fact, the key lime, and its eponymous pie, have carried the name of the Florida Keys to the world. How many other places can you think of that have an eponymous food to make them famous? [2018]

Key West, Florida, USA

He and the pelicans are regulars on Mallory Square's seaside. The passengers on the boat, however, are there for a moment, some of the thousands who visit Key West annually. Although getting to the end of the Florida Keys is not that easy, it is scenes like this that repay the effort. [2018]

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

This is one of the newest memorials on the grounds of the Arkansas capitol building: erected in memory of fallen firefighters. It helps to keep the capitol relevant and complements a national trend honoring groups other than the military who devote their lives to public safety. Happy Birthday, Arkansas! You've been around as a state since 1836. [2018]

Bush, Louisiana, USA

Turn that old loading pallet into a canvas. In fact, since it is Flag Day, turn it into an American flag. And, if you can't quite fit in all 50 stars, fit in as many as you can. Then, prop it up and add an exclamation point: a cross (see it?). [2018]

Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA

The Old Vicksburg Bridge now carries only one rail line across the mighty Mississippi. In the past, it also carried U.S. Highway 80, one of the great transcontinental roads. Of course, the river itself is an important bridge between north and south, a funnel through which products from the continental interior find their way to the Gulf coast. [2018]

Colonial Beach, Virginia, USA

Adirondack chairs seem to fit perfectly into waterfront communities like Colonial Beach, which is located on the Potomac River south of Washington. In this case, it might be an attempt to sell relaxation (and accommodation) to all the folks who live in our nation's capital. [2017]

Grandy, North Carolina, USA

Maybe you don't want a chair this size or this color, but you might want to buy one that is porch-size and pastel. Adirondack chairs have become one of the fashion trends of the 21st century. Let's see how long the fad lasts. What the rocking chair was to a previous era, the Adirondack chair may be to the present. [2018]

Celebration, Florida, USA

It's called an Adirondack chair, but here it is in Florida, where it provides a reason for customers to linger and take pictures. It is also a way to expand Twistee Treat's market and shape a community of devotees: See the twitter hashtag? [2017]

Burgess, Virginia, USA

Oversized chairs have been drawing stares for decades, and some places have made them a symbol of their very existence. This variety of chair, however, just exudes relaxation. It belongs on a veranda or porch, or on the front lawn of a bed and breakfast. [2017]

Pocomoke City, Maryland, USA

Even without any pedestrians on the streets, the town of Pokomoke City exudes a friendly feel, seemingly deserving of its moniker "friendliest town on the Eastern Shore." The brick sidewalks, stylized street lights, and town clock go a long way toward reminding everyone what Market Street looked like in the early 20th century. [2018]

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Could her name be Ophelia? Did she just say "Pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts." Pansies for thoughts: that's perfect for the porch of the coffee shop in Gettysburg. What say you, Laertes? [2018]

Tombstone, Arizona, USA

In Tombstone, the stagecoaches still roll, and neither roads nor sidewalks are paved. Of course, it's all an attempt to capture a moment in time: an era defined by gunslingers, high rates of murder and suicide, out-of-control alcoholism, high infant mortality, no modern medicine, and rampant disease. Sounds like an era worth re-creating. Right? [2018]

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Naked mole rats live entirely underground and in colonies dominated by a queen who is served by several mating males. Others in the colony are worker rats or warriors. Although native to the Horn of Africa, your best view of their antics is in zoos. [2014]

Denver, Colorado, USA

The banded mongoose forages for food every morning, then rests in the shade. These three might be Riki, Tikki, and Tavi.  Not likely, though, because the bandeds are natives of Africa, not India. However, they do feast upon a snake once in a while. [2013]

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Birds and Crocodylia are the only extant orders that are directly descended from the dinosaurs. It's not hard to imagine where this American alligator's family tree began, but birds? Nevertheless, it's true. The ancestors of both survived the great bolide impact that ended the Age of Dinosaurs 65 million years ago. [2018]

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Pigeons on a platter provide a snack for a tyrannosaur. Not a rex (or an Alex), but his little cousin from Canada. Another cousin: velociraptor, the ancestor of our birds. Do you think those pigeons know their DNA goes back to a dinosaur like this one? [2017]

Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA

Although Virginia hated to see it go, Kentucky became a state of its own (the 15th in the Union) 226 years ago today. What did it inherit from Virginia? The title of Commonwealth, one of only four in the country. Here is the Commonwealth's 20th-century capitol building. Happy Birthday, Kentucky! [2017]