Places Cindy Cesare Wants to Go

Destroyed by flood waters, prison now serves as a training ground for armed forces.

Two Ming Dynasty lion statues guard the entrance to the journalism school.

For roadside fast food, pull over at the giant orange.

Decades' worth of lost and forgotten objects make up the collection of this tantalizingly odd little museum.

The ruins of the castle that chemicals built.

This house is a mosaic of tiled artwork sourced from local artists.

One incredible room in the Santa Barbara Courthouse is covered in wall-to-wall canvas murals.

The home of one of California's most important horticulturalists wilts amidst a lovely park.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

Pay your respects to departed pets, both celebrity and otherwise.

The restored estate of a wealthy rancher was once at the heart of an unprecedented legal victory.

Finale of "William Tell Overture" can be heard as drivers pass over grooves in the road.

Where decommissioned airplanes and helicopters go to become part of Hollywood.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

The decaying adobe remains of an old homestead are just off the beaten path in Joshua Tree National Park.

Tucked away behind an unassuming set of shops is a must-see series of stunning murals.

This museum tells the history of Day of the Dead sugar sculptures.

The world's largest wooden trestle stretches across this desert canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.

This temple, built by an eccentric religious leader before his death, sits guarded and in ruins.

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

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

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

The American Home, Re-imagined.