Places bryansimpson Wants to Go

After serving in World War II and picking up Apollo astronauts, this aircraft carrier has been turned into a museum overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

George Lucas donated this park to honor the birthplace of his two biggest movie franchises.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

A grove of "candelabra redwoods" deep in California's Lost Coast.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

Celebrating the transformation of trash into objects of beauty.

A raised boardwalk winds through a thicket of stunted, century-old trees no more than nine feet tall.

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

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

This whimsical seashell-shaped place of worship was designed to blend into its surroundings.

340 bicycles, 65 feet high.

A huge work of Burning Man-inspired outsider art on the grounds of a California winery.

Massive prehistoric mammals used these stones as oversized scratching posts.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

Home to one of the world’s largest collections of model yachts.

Depicting scenes of everyday life - and specific individuals - in Great Depression era San Francisco.

Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.

Created in 1972, the famous sculptor's intricately detailed monument to San Francisco is overflowing with city landmarks.

A miniature view of the park, caught in time.

America's oldest Italian restaurant is a San Francisco institution.