The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

An enormous illuminated figure dances on the Las Vegas strip.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.

A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

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

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."

A phenomenal assembly of pueblos in New Mexico is the most complete example of ancient ruins north of the border.

One man’s passion for gas stations is on display along the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico.

This popular pilgrimage site offers a hole filled with holy healing dirt.

Wedding chapel's mysterious spiral staircase said to be miraculously constructed.

27-room home built with the fortune of a sugar magnate.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

Nestled in the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Financial District stands a unique homage to the Mayan and Beaux Arts.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.