In my current home state, Virginia, you have Shenandoah Caverns in Shenandoah, Dinosaur Kingdom (imagine dinosaurs vs. the Union Army, circa 1863) in Natural Bridge. Let’s see…Stonewall Jackson’s arm (or burial thereof) in Fredricksburg. Lots of Civil War sites everywhere, probably best at Bull Run in Manassas. Bedford has “Virginia’s Holy Land USA”. If you get down to Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore, for the last Wednesday of July, you could see the annual Pony Swim (they round up the excess wild ponies to auction off). If you read Misty of Chincoteague when you were small, you would enjoy that. Also, if you like ponies.

if you’re going to memphis to see graceland, stops at the stax museum and sun studios are MUSTS. the stax museum has a dance floor AND isaac hayes’ custom-made caddy.

grand old opry and parthenon replica in nashville

there is a creation museum in texas, too, just outside glen rose, where there are tons of dinosaur tracks.

if you stay over in marfa, tx (where they filmed giant!) you might see the marfa lights

there’s a world-famous snake farm between austin and san antonio (you’ll see the billboards)

Alcatraz is pretty cool (and there’s some great people-watching on the ferry out there).

Yellowstone is beautiful but give yourself a few days there.

Dallas/JFK stuff is a tough one; there’s a whole JFK industry down there, and it’s kind of interesting to see Dealey Plaza with contemporary cars on it when you’ve seen the Zapruder footage so many times, but I don’t know if it’s a whole trip segment unless you’re a true-crime nerd like myself. (Although I will most likely be in Dallas at some point this summer, so go for it.)

Other suggestions: Buffalo Bill Cody’s Ranch/Resort (Cody, WY) and The Mystery Spot (AZ somewhere, I think).