Kua Loa Ranch, established more than a century ago, is a private nature reserve featuring hundreds of horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and more. It’s been a popular tourist spot for years; hundreds of thousands of people visit annually.

At Oahu’s popular and iconic Diamond Head State Monument, which spans more than 475 acres near the eastern edge of Waikiki, a steep hike and an amazing view await.

Butcher Style Racing 88 events brings people from many backgrounds together to experience and appreciate drifting and the car culture.

Charlee LeBlanc, a Red Cross regional program specialist and National Guard veteran, was recognized this week with the Red Cross’ Life Saving Award for Professional Responders for her actions in providing aid to a man at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait earlier this year.

Four hundred acres of flora from all over the world await you at a botanical garden surrounded by the misty covered Koolau Mountains of Hawaii. It was built more than 40 years ago by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of a flood-control project in the city and has been a relaxing place to enjoy ever since.

Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport Museum, with its many historic vessels and a re-created village, aims to whisk visitors away to seaside life in the mid-19th century.

A 1 1/2-mile trail will take visitors past more than 60 lifelike dinosaur models at Dinosaur Place, and other activities such as a maze and water play area also await.

Newport, R.I., was popular with Gilded Age moguls who built seaside summer getaways there more than a century ago. And The Breakers, built by the Vanderbilt family, is the grandest of them all. With more than 70 rooms, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

Surrounded by mountains, Chichibu is an inviting, nature-filled summer weekend destination.

Chichibu, about 50 miles north of Yokota Air base in western Tokyo, provides a near-perfect outdoor experience, including day camping, barbecuing and a visit to an impressive dam.