For Travelers to the Eastern United States Quiz

Answer: 1

The Buckstaff bathhouse is the only one of the eight that is still in operation, although some of the area hotels still offer similar services. The Fordyce bathhouse, which operated from 1915 to 1962, has been restored to its former glory, and serves as the park visitor center. You can take a self guided tour of the facility while your're there.

Although the area has only been a National Park since 1921, the 47 hot springs and their watershed have been under federal protection since 1832, over 40 years before Yellowstone National Park came into existence.

Answer: Beale Street

Once you've checked out Elvis Presley's home Graceland, head on over to Beale Street. There are several clubs, including one owned by B.B. King, and if you're lucky, you may find yourself eating a sandwich in a barbeque joint while some guy in the park across the street is playing the blues, and playing them well, which is not a bad way to spend an evening.

The 1912 W.C. Handy song "Memphis Blues" is considered the first commercially successful blues song, and there's a statue of him along the street. During your stay, you can also tour the National Civil Rights museum, which incorporates among other things part of the hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Answer: The Louisiana Purchase

The official name of the park area is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It was Thomas Jefferson who, during his term as president, bought what became known as the Louisana Purchase from Napoleon in 1803, and sent Louis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" to explore the region, which they did from 1804-1806, covering an area from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River and back.

The Museum of Westward Expansion is at the base of the Arch and well worth taking some time to visit in addition to taking the trip to the top of the Arch itself.

Answer: A Meat Packing Plant

They don't have a meat packing plant setup for you to walk through, at least as of 2003. The restored Pioneer Zephyr, which in 1934 went 1015 miles from Denver to Chicago in just over 13 hours, is now the centerpiece of an exhibit about train travel in the 30's.

The German U-boat U-505 was captured by the US during WWII, and you can actually walk through it. While it's a mockup, the museum has designed a multiple story walk through coal mine complete with the equipment configured to show how they dig out and remove the coal.

It's really impressive.

Answer: 1911

The race is run on the Sunday before Memorial Day in the US every year. The track became known as "The Brickyard" because the original track surface was made up of bricks, although the cars now run on asphalt, outside of a small strip of bricks at the start/finish line. Following several expansions, the facility can hold over 300,000 spectators.

Answer: Alan Freed

He coined the phrase in 1951, and eventually put on Rock and Roll shows first in Cleveland, then later in New York, and eventually around the country. He even appeared in movies like "Rock Around the Clock". Legal and financial problems would cut his career short, but he got credit for naming the music style, and was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 1986.

The museum, which was designed by I.M. Pei, was located in Cleveland in recognition of its connection to the history of Rock and Roll.

Answer: Hudson

The site was a key defensive position in the American Revolution. The point centers a section of the river that 18th century British sailing ships had to row through because of a set of severe turns. A chain on rafts blocked any ship's path while artillery would destroy the ship.

The setup kept the British from controlling the Hudson River and splitting the new nation in two. They were so desperate to take the forts that they made a deal with the site commander, Benedict Arnold, to help them capture it. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for the US), his contact was captured before he could deliver the site plans to the British, and West Point was saved.

The Military Academy, which was founded in 1802 and is a very impressive facility to tour in its own right, still has part of the chain on display.

Answer: Maple

The sap is collected in early spring and turned into the maple syrup we buy in the stores. There are not a massive amount of things to do in the state, but you won't find many places in the US with prettier drives. Even the main north/south interstate is a more scenic drive than most in the interstate system.

Answer: Cadillac

The lookout at the top has terrific views of the park and the Atlantic Ocean. The park is located on Mount Desert Island not too far from Bangor, and contains a very scenic drive along the water's edge. The town of Bar Harbor is also on the island, and if you want to take a side trip up to Nova Scotia, you can take the ferry that runs between them.

Answer: Freedom Trail

The path links the major historical sites all the way through the city, and can be identified by a line that is marked on the sidewalk. Boston is an excellent walking city, with plenty of places to see close to each other. The street layout can be a bit confusing, so you're better off using mass transit instead of driving to get into and out of downtown.

Answer: Chrysler Building

When the plan for the Chrysler Building was originally announced, the building was supposedly going to be 925 feet high, two feet shorter than the Bank of Manhattan Tower going up nearby. What the general public didn't know was that a 180 foot stainless steel spire was being secretly built inside the building, and it was raised up from the inside to make the building the highest man-made structure in the world, at least until the Empire State Building was completed a few months later.

The spire still makes the Chrysler Building one of the most distinctive in the city.

As for things to do in New York when you've gotten to the city, you can be assured that what ever subject interests you, there will be something in town worth seeing.

Answer: Independence Hall

The second Continental Congress sat in what had been the meeting place of the Pennsylvania legislature during most of the war, and declared independence there on July 4, 1776. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in the same building and instead of amending the Articles of Confederation, wrote a new constitution that is still in force today. Among the items there is the Rising Sun chair that George Washington sat in while president of the convention. That section of Philadelphia includes numerous other historical sites, and the Liberty Bell is in a pavilion across the street from the Hall.

Answer: A Division Commander

General George Pickett was a division commander in the Corps led by General James Longstreet in the Army of Northern Virginia. After attempting to break the Union forces on the left and right of their main line of defense on the previous days, the Confederate commander Robert E. Lee ordered Longstreet to attack the Union center with his Corps. Pickett's division was the lead unit of the three divisions that made the attack.

A preliminary bombardment meant to soften up the Union forces wasn't successful, and although a few of the 15,000 soldiers in the attack made it to the Union line, they were killed or captured. Pickett's division lost half of its men in the attack, with all three of his brigade commanders being killed or captured. Following the battle, Lee's army retreated back to Virginia, never to invade the North again. Of the Civil War battlefields you can tour, this is definitely one of the best.

When you go, make sure and see the electric map show at the Visitor's Center first.

It's an interesting and informative way to understand the battle.

Answer: John Adams

President John Adams moved into what is now known as the White House in June 1800, and his wife Abigail hung up her washing in the East Room. The agreement to build and the designing of a great national capital that would be built from scratch took place during the George Washington presidency. President Washington actually picked the site, which was not far from his home at Mount Vernon, and chose Pierre L'Enfant to design the new city, but he died in 1799 before the Government occupied it. L'Enfant ended up being fired in a dispute with the people in charge, but much of his concept of grand vistas and avenues would eventually be incorporated into the current city's design. For a tourist, it's hard to find a better city to sightsee in, both in terms of things to see and the number of museums and buildings that are free, including the entire Smithsonian complex of museums.

Answer: Orville

Wilbur actually made the 1st attempt on December 14 after winning a coin flip, but crashed just after takeoff. Following two days of repairs, Orville flew for twelve seconds and went 120 feet. They would make three more flights that day, with the fourth flight going 850 feet and lasting 59 seconds.

The plane survived the flights, but a gust of wind caught the plane on the ground and wrecked it, ending the tests. The site is now a national monument, with markers showing the length of each flight.

The plane is in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

Answer: April 12

After a request to the fort to surrender had been rejected, and knowing that a relief ship was on the way, Confederate forces opened fire on April 12, 1861, forcing the fort's surrender in a matter of hours, with no casualties. The city remained mostly intact, and many houses predate the Civil War for those interested in getting a look at the old south. Exactly 100 years later, the first manned space flight took place, and of more interest to me, I was born.

Answer: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, Epcot in 1982, Disney-MGM Studios in 1989, and Animal Kingdom in 1998. It can be expensive to visit, but the amount of things to see and do makes it worth spending a few days there. Having been to the parks as an adult with no kids in tow, I was impressed by the amount of things that were worth checking out, especially at Epcot. One note: the best time to get on the "It's a Small World" ride is during the afternoon parade. All the kids and their parents go to see that, and I only had to wait in line for about five minutes on a Saturday afternoon.

Answer: True

If you go to the city known as the "Big Easy", you'll find that if you stand in Jackson Square, you literally have to look up to see the passing ships. Much of the city sits below sea level, and the levees that protect New Orleans from flooding have been built to elevations much higher than the city proper.

This is a city with lots of things to see and do. There's the historic French Quarter, Bourbon Street where anything goes, the recently opened D-Day museum, and if you're into Tennessee Williams, you can take a streetcar down St Charles Avenue.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt recruited volunteers at the Menger Hotel bar for a cavalry unit that would become known as the Rough Riders. They also trained in San Antonio before fighting in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. In addition to seeing the Alamo and the Riverwalk downtown, make sure and get out to the other Spanish missions in the area.

The restored Mission San Jose in particular gives you a good sense of mission life, and is also much closer in size to what the Alamo mission was at the time of the battle with the Mexican army on March 6, 1836. Outside of the chapel and parts of the walls, most of the old Alamo area has been replaced by downtown buildings.

Answer: England

Although the English had diplomatic dealings with the Republic of Texas, they never claimed a part of the region. The Flags represent France, which briefly claimed a section of East Texas in the 17th Century. Spain, which claimed the state from the early 16th century until 1821, Mexico, who took over the whole region after gaining their independence and controlled Texas until 1836, The Republic of Texas, which was an independent country from 1836 until 1845, and whose current state flag is the same one that was used as a national flag, The Confederate States of America, which Texas joined in 1861 as part of the Civil War, and the United States of America, which Texas entered via a Joint Resolution of Congress (the only state to get in that way) in 1845, and of course is still a member of today.

The park opened in 1961, and has been giving thrills to people ever since. You can also take in a Texas Rangers baseball game next door, and the city is centrally located to both Fort Worth and Dallas. I hope you had fun taking my quiz, and maybe got some travel ideas.