Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

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.

A living museum dedicated to the legendary woodworker and his soulful furniture.

These structures were inspired by both Native American shelters as well as, strangely, an ice cream shop.

The Route 66 institution that inspired Taco Bell also served as an important headquarters for Mexican-American social movements.

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

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

These were the largest wind chimes in the world when artist Tom Van Sant created them for a California mall in 1967.

A non-native grove of 241 redwoods in Southern California.

The 10-foot-wide Long Beach home was built on a dare.

These four islands right offshore have waterfalls, colorful lights, fancy buildings, and a secret purpose.

This bronze statue commemorates the strange and beloved mascot of UC Irvine—the only university to be represented by a giant anteater.

A wild west scene starring life-sized wooden statues hides in the trees behind Pierce College.

This enormous World War II relic is one of the largest wooden structures in the world.

Fourteen curious and controversial white bunnies sit in a circle near Newport Beach City Hall.

Mexican food and folk art.

A shockingly detailed small scale recreation of the temples of Abu Simbel.

Someone really, really wanted to save this fast-food icon from demolition.

A very tiny church, bisected by a now-dead oak tree and marooned in the middle of a shopping center parking lot.