Places ancorini Wants to Go

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

A playground built by the kids that is a child's wonderland, and a helicopter parent's nightmare.

Nose around a unique collection of more than 300 natural aromas used to craft fragrances.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

An abandoned car and strange wooden debris are among the scattered remains of the old sand and gravel quarry.

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

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

The memorial to the victims of the Jonestown Massacre carries the names of 918 lost, including one name people wish wasn't there.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

This quirky roadside attraction dives into the many theories surrounding North America's most infamous hairy cryptid.

Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

A strange house built only at night, with rumored mystic inspiration.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

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

A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.

One of only five observatories in the world built to measure the Earth's wobble.

The timepiece that exonerated a labor radical accused of a parade bombing that killed ten people.

The oldest Naval cemetery on the West Coast.

The perfect spot for a picnic, right next to a giant ballistic missile.