Places Edited by Sandi Hemmerlein

A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

The haunting complex honors the millions of Ukrainians who died in the forced famine under Soviet rule.

A long-vacant Scottish Rite temple in Hollywood has been converted into an art museum filled with Masonic relics.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

This futuristic airport terminal was abandoned for decades before reopening as a hotel—with a vintage plane of its own parked out back.

One of the most poignant ruins of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, the local football team's stadium has been quickly reclaimed by nature.

A stranded woman lived alone on this remote island for 18 years, inspiring the great children's novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins."

From this desk Al Hirschfeld drew his influential caricatures of the 20th century's Broadway stars.

Look closely and you’ll notice that the color changes a third of the way up the tower.

A spiritual center in the Santa Monica Mountains founded by Alice Coltrane after the death of her husband and fellow jazz musician John Coltrane.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

Beautiful mosaics cover the first stations opened on New York City's newest subway line.

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

The beautiful tunnel that ran from the lobby to Penn Station is still hidden underneath 34th Street.

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

Formerly frequented by Hollywood stars and now open for tours.

A preserved factory in the "Home of the Carrousel" is now a museum dedicated to the classic wooden ride.

This star-studded Old Hollywood restaurant is where fettuccine Alfredo made its United States debut.

An exotic wildlife habitat right off The Strip.