This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

Get up close to emus and ostriches, or buy their tasty meat.

Home to the "Circus" trees created by Axel Erlandson.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

The largest permanent Monopoly board makes one of the longest games even bigger.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

The United States' first transcontinental automobile road came to its end at this spot in San Francisco's Lincoln Park.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

Guns that have been defending San Francisco since 1904.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

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

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

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