Places Edited by Sandi Hemmerlein

One of the largest museums in Ukraine remembers the story of the German-Soviet War in iconic, brutalist style.

A collision of human error and natural geothermal pressure created this rainbow-colored geologic wonder.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

Once the tallest building in the world and the site of “the highest dinner ever held in New York” this building now holds the most expensive penthouse in the city.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

This head-spinningly bizarre Depression-era art cave is wall-to-wall quartz and Jesus.

This opulent hotel has been visited by Spider-Man, Charlie's Angels, and the Ghostbusters.

This weird abode has inspired everything from the "House on Haunted Hill" to a robot hunter's pad.

Hidden in the back of a disused small town hotel is a dive bar shellacked with over a million pennies.

This once-grand marvel of engineering is now 41 miles of scenic hiking trail.

Possible relics of the ancient Roman city are hidden in this restaurant's façade.

An 1870s ranch for pioneers, rodeo stars, and divorcees was abandoned and left for dead, until the city reopened it for exploration.

While exploring the desert, you can stop by the home of a fictional heretic from a parallel universe.

The tragedy of the Japanese internment camps is remembered here by a stark "Soul Consoling Tower."

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

One of the world's tallest Ferris wheels takes visitors high above Las Vegas in a spinning party room.

This brightly made over hotel hides decades of suicide, serial killers, and mysterious deaths.

The best Tiki bar in Las Vegas.

This memorial pyramid marker honors one of the United States Government's first official camel riders.

The world's oldest hologram gallery and the labyrinthine laser laboratory of a holography pioneer.

The bad-ass ride of a soul legend, housed in one of the world's few soul museums.

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