The most beautiful Taco Bell in the world even has surfboard parking.

A rough granite monument marks the spot where Europeans first caught sight of the San Francisco Bay.

Neoclassical Revival mansion and set of horror cult classic Phantasm.

Where a staggering 747 ships were constructed during World War II.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

Internationally-recognized arts center housed in a century-old former military barracks.

Deco Modern sculptures of the people of the Pacific, cast for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A 140-year-old castle with underground caves hidden in San Francisco.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

A modest reminder of treacherous waters at the Golden Gate.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

The sole surviving relic of the San Francisco neighborhood cobbled together from old horsecars and streetcars.