10 GORGEOUS GARDENS

1. Winterthur; Wilmington, Del.; the Du Pont estate done in flowers.

2. Missouri Botanical Gardens; St. Louis, Mo.; America's oldest botanical garden.

3. Arnold Arboretum; Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard's contribution to the "Emerald Necklace."

4. United States Botanic Garden; Washington, D.C.; the nation's garden.

5. Silver Springs, Fla.; glass-bottom boats, alligators and other natural wonders.

6. Allerton and McBryde Garden, Kauai; tropical plants in all their glory.

7. Bellingrath Gardens; Mobile, Ala.; color, fragrance, scenic vistas Southern-style.

8. Garvan Woodland Gardens; Hot Springs, Ark.; breathtaking views on a 210-acre peninsula on Lake Hamilton.

9. New York Botanical Garden; Bronx, N.Y.; 50 gardens including the new Darwin's Evolutionary Adventure.

10. Desert Botanical Garden; Phoenix, Ariz.; showcasing rare and endangered desert plants.

DISCOVER SCIENCE AND NATURE

1. National Aquarium; Baltimore, Md.; connect with all things aquatic.

2. Museum Campus; Chicago; Ill.; lakefront complex including the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium.

3. Smithsonian Institution; Washington, D.C.; Air and Space and Natural History museums are about as good as it gets.

4. Liberty Science Center; Jersey City, N.J.; largest IMAX dome in the country.

5. Exploratorium; San Francisco, Calif.; experimental and hands-on sparks to the imagination.

6. U.S. Space & Rocket Center; Huntsville, Ala.; moon missions and a whole lot more.

7. The Franklin Institute Science Museum; Philadelphia, Penn.; ee what Ben started.

8. American Museum of Natural History; New York City, N.Y.; one of the biggest and best — since 1869.

9. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Los Angeles, Calif.; third largest in the country.

10. Explorers Hall National Geographic Museum; Washington, D.C.; science and research comes to life.

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SOURCES: "100 Places to See Before You Die: United States and Canada," by Patricia Schultz; "Top 10 of Everything," by Russell Ash; National Park Service; www.google.com.