Places ashaclarein Wants to Go

Every day a troupe of pampered water fowl walk the red carpet to their favorite fountain.

An ice cream parlor chain that caters to vegans and pinball fans equally.

The oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States.

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.

A museum within a museum, devoted to history's most questionable medical devices.

A science teacher's dream.

This little-known collection holds everything from "Dracula" notes, to the manuscript of "Ulysses," to the forged works of Shakespeare.

Mutant vegetables, transgenic mosquitos, and atomic rodents span the walls of this one-of-a-kind museum.

Garden dedicated to native carnivorous plants and site of huge flytrap heist.

Legend says a primate-like cryptid prowls this otherworldy sliver of the Louisiana bayou.

Chicago's museum dedicated to the history of bondage and fetishism is more textbook than titillation.

This institution collects the history of burlesque dancing with a titillating collection of ephemera and pasties.

This collection of Japanese luck idols beckons visitors with over 2,000 waving paws.

This sprawling bookstore spans four floors and has more than a million books in stock.

A gorgeous garden oasis with winding paths, stone bridges, and a troubling history.

A storefront museum in Asbury Park honoring the Jersey Shore’s deep history of mystery—including the Jersey Devil.

A lovely aquatic park built by a one-armed Civil War veteran who made a fortune from lotuses.

The taxidermied remains of Charles Dickens' pet raven, which helped inspire one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems.

The headquarters in Salem doubles as an occult art gallery.

Gnarled canopies of pink and purple wildflowers arch over the trail to the summit.

By day this New Orleans square is for pedestrians, but by night it is a kingdom of kittens.

Thousands of artifacts relating to human sexuality, including the world's largest sex bike.

Arrr! The most authentic collection of pirate artifacts in the world... matey.

Peruse rare tomes like poetry bound in pearls or books with branches and berries growing out of their spines.