This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

Thousands of turbines whir at the origin of North American wind power.

Every Sunday, this Thai temple in Berkeley serves a backyard brunch.

A quiet nook at the top of a little-known hilltop park named after California's first poet laureate.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

Eat a tasty meal in the house where John Steinbeck was born.

The remains of a deserted steamboat sit rusting beside an old ferry pier and an abandoned train platform.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

Rising out of miles of farmland, these buttes are sometimes called the world's smallest mountain range.

A natural dome made of volcanic glass in Inyo National Forest.

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

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

Guarded by the Angel of Grief, the Stanford family tomb attracts an odd mix of halloween revelry and somber contemplation.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

Thousands of migrating monarchs overwinter clustered amongst the eucalyptus trees.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

A humble garage, world-famous for being the epicenter of a technology revolution.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

The first life claimed by this record-breaking peak wasn't lost to exposure or a fall, but rather lightning.

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.