Places Carissa Wants to Go

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

This is one really big nut.

This fast-food outlet is the only space and UFO-themed McDonalds in the world.

The best Tiki bar in Las Vegas.

In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

At this Denver landmark, the meals are compulsory, the sopapillas are complimentary, and the insanity is everywhere.

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

This bright yellow relic is the final survivor of a short burst of seashell-shaped petrol pumps.

A curious collection of oddities including a lock of Alexander Hamilton's hair and Harry Houdini's ouija board.

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

This high point in the Great Smoky Mountains is said to be home to the chief of all bears.

A former Oz-themed attraction that has fallen into disrepair, but still holds some of the original magic.

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

Mysterious ancient boulder carved with petroglyphs in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

This woodland architectural installation acts as a camera obscura for the heavens.

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.

This restaurant was removed from the famed sister ship of the Titanic and placed within a hotel.

This exhibit is devoted to the games and wonder that Hasbro has brought children worldwide.

A verdant 17th-century-style garden hidden along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

A labyrinthine network of chambers with a storied past hides below Edinburgh's South Bridge.

The 16th-century church has the only stained glass windows that survived the Scottish Reformation intact.

The fountain marks the area where hundreds of accused witches were burned at the stake.