2 Best Sights in Southeastern Washington, Washington

Just a 10-minute walk south of downtown, Vancouver's formerly industrial waterfront has been reborn as a handsome, contemporary mixed-use development flanked by a beautifully landscaped promenade and V-shape, cantilevered Grant Street Pier, which is suspended over the Columbia River by cable stays. The $1.5 billion project opened in 2018 and will expand over the years—potentially to include a public market. Other key features include a 7.3-acre Waterfront Park with imaginative public art installations, a sweeping grassy picnic area, a small urban beach, an amphitheater, and direct access to the Columbia River Renaissance Trail, an existing 5-mile paved multiuse track that connects additional parks, restaurants, and public art along the north shore of the Columbia River. Nearly a dozen prominent Washington wineries (Maryhill, Brian Carter Cellars, Pepper Bridge, Airfield Estates, and Barnard Griffin among them) have opened tasting rooms here, along with several restaurants and two hotels (an AC Hotel by Marriott and a Hotel Indigo). Especially when the sun is out, this festive district's restaurant terraces, pathways, and pier fill up with friends, families, and onlookers of all ages.

Built by Maryhill Museum founder Sam Hill, this remarkable full-scale replica of England's legendary Neolithic stone creation was constructed in 1918 as the nation's first memorial to servicemen who perished in World War I. The memorial is a five-minute drive east of the museum, on a promontory with dramatic vistas overlooking the Columbia River.