This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

"The only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3."

This "life-size" depiction of Mickey Mouse as a half-lobster is both whimsical and a bit creepy, standing guard over the Boston waterfront.

In the bowels of a 19th-century brewery lurks a fine-dining restaurant offering an array of themed feasts.

An industrial waste tourist attraction.

This southwest-styled home in Santa Fe claims to be the oldest house in America thanks to an ancient bit of foundation.

The oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States.

An immersive environment that is part haunted house, part choose-your-own-adventure, and part jungle gym.

Home to the deepest rift anywhere on Earth.

The arch that celebrated the completion of the Lincoln and Victory highways.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

A Cold War site complete with rusty structures, hiking trails, and beautiful views.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

A three-story, three-dimensional hobo clown in a tutu welcomes CVS shoppers.

On a quiet suburban street stands a peculiarly decorated house covered in mosaics.

World War II-era Nazi compound nestled in the Santa Monica hills.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

Grab a latte at the birthplace of modern American skateboarding.

The Los Angeles flood disaster that took 400 lives and ended the career of William Mulholland.

Giant origami crease patterns engraved in Santa Monica intersections may even be visible from space.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

Perhaps the most unique of any Frank Gehry design for one simple reason: Gehry himself actually lives here.