Places curiouser 54cc2706 Wants to Go

A middle school sports field that many believe was the true location of the first successful powered flight - and not by the Wright Brothers.

An unexpected connection to Chicago awaits visitors on an island just off the California coast.

This sculpture was made out of recycled guns that were turned in to the city.

The world's first disc golf course has the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a neighbor.

Overshadowed by the theme park opposite it, this small museum explores a major moment in American history.

A striking geological formation in Southern California.

This large chunk of dark rock is a relic from an ancient volcanic eruption.

One of the last surviving buildings of a once large and thriving Chinatown.

Gander at model satellites and telescopes in this scientific lobby.

This beloved, whimsical weiner topped an eclectic variety of Los Angeles buildings, including a Thai restaurant and an advertising agency.

When California condors were hovering on the brink of extinction, this recovery program was charged with helping the birds thrive again.

Hidden away among the quiet streets of Beverly Hills, this small park is a haven for walkers and wildlife.

Sporting Brutalist architecture, this school is hidden amid a quiet suburban neighborhood.

Named for a self-taught botanist who cataloged hundreds of native plants, this garden continues her work of preserving California plant life.

Ride on a fully-restored Nike nuclear-tipped missile elevator from the Cold War.

This settlement on the original Transcontinental Railroad began by harvesting timber, but transitioned to a forgotten 19th-century industry: harvesting ice.

Built from one couple’s vast personal collection, this free museum showcases a century’s worth of state-sponsored agitprop.

A historic train ride from California to Mexico.

Founded in 1873 to support the needs of the gold mines flourishing nearby, this is the last water-powered foundry in the United States.

A 10,000-square-foot museum of operating model trains.

An early 20th-century fire lookout, still in intermittent use, preserves legacy fire-locating equipment.

In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin briefly ran their fledgling company from this Silicon Valley garage.

This humble American Craftsman home is where the Disney brothers’ animation business took flight in 1923.

A giant fiberglass Muffler Man found new life as a rodeo guardian.