Here’s a group of people captured from above enjoying an airboat ride through the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (part of the Florida Everglades).

Contributed by Jeremy.

This tethered helium balloon gives the public rides to 500 feet above Castle Park in the city of Bristol, England.

Contributed by Kevin.

From the City of Cleveland’s Website:

“Some people see the Free Stamp as an inspiring work of Pop Art that represents our liberty as American citizens and reflects our City’s industrial progress. Others view it as an eyesore that is inappropriate for a location at the heart of the City’s Civic Center. This debate has been going on since the piece was first commissioned in 1982 and still echoes throughout the City today.”

Contributed by Lach.

What a great idea.. This old US Air Force F-86D Sabre Jet was installed in this West Covina, CA playground in 1961 for children to play on.

Contributed by Kevin.

The La Brea Tar Pits (Rancho La Brea Tar Pits) are best known for the large number of mammal fossils from the last ice age which have been found there, but fossilized insects and plants, even pollen grains, help fill out a picture of the cooler, moister climate of the Los Angeles basin during the glacial age.

La Brea may be the only excavation site in the world where the predators found outnumber prey. Ten predators have been recovered for each prey animal. The reason for this is unknown but one credited theory is that a large prey animal (say, a mastodon) would die naturally or accidentally become entrapped in a tar pit, attracting numerous predators across long distances, for an easy meal. [wikipedia]

Contributed by Kevin.

This windmill and another to the south (presently not there - under renovation) were built in Golden Gate Park to pump water for the park’s use.

Contributed by Kevin.

This five acre wading pool in Humbolt Park, Buffalo, NY was designed by Fredrick Olmstead (designer of Central Park in NYC) at the turn of the last century. To get a true appreciation of its size note the two cars on the lower left corner of the thumbnail. The pool has been ‘broken’ for a couple of decades but is being rennovated. Part of the initial rennovation can be seen in the westward view of the pool. Here is a postcard of the pool from 1906.

Contributed by Kevin.

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINS) was the first United States Navy shipyard established on the Pacific Coast.

MINS was responsible for construction of over 500 naval vessels and overhauling thousands of other naval vessels. Many of the larger ships were constructed in these giant drydocks.

Though no longer an active naval base there is one semi-active ship still docked there. The former helicopter carrier USS Tripoli is now the Army’s Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). It is used to provide a launch platform for both new missiles and targets for other tests. The large bubbles on the deck provide shelter for the launchers and telemetry equipment.

The Artship is also docked at MINS. This ship, the former California Maritime Academy’s training ship Golden Bear, was a floating performance art space that unfortunately ran out of funding.

Alongside the Artship is the conning tower (sail) of the nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Mariano G. Vallejo, now a monument to the former crew.

Near the waterfront is Alden Park with static displays of naval wepons including a Polaris missile and a Japanese WWII suicide submarine/torpedo.

Contributed by Kevin.

Looks like Rochester, MN likes their soccer.

Contributed by Thomas Baekdal.

The Exploratorium and Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, CA

Learn more about the Palace of Fine Arts here and here.

Contributed by Ronald.