San Francisco, California
McElroy Octagon House
One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.
Places curiouser 54cc2706 Wants to Go
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Places I want to go
Places on this traveler's wishlist.
San Francisco, California
Admission Day Monument Octopuses
A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.
Los Angeles, California
Capitol Records Building Morse Code
The blinking light atop the iconic landmark has been sending secret messages for decades.
Agoura Hills, California
M*A*S*H Filming Location
The show's fictional Korean medical camp was created in the Santa Monica hills.
San Francisco, California
Site of the Niantic
Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica Camera Obscura
An offbeat angle on the ocean viewed through an antiquated lens.
Beverly Hills, California
Union 76 Gas Station
The dramatic upward-curving roof is one of the most iconic examples of Googie architecture that still stands today.
Ocotillo, California
Coyote's Flying Saucer Retrievals and Repairs
A UFO scrapyard in the California desert.
Daly City, California
Colma Necropolis
A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.
Oakland, California
Jonestown Memorial
The memorial to the victims of the Jonestown Massacre carries the names of 918 lost, including one name people wish wasn't there.
San Francisco, California
Hang Ah Tea Room
The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.
San Francisco, California
Shakespeare Garden
A garden oasis filled with flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.
San Francisco, California
The "Center" of San Francisco Monument
Adolph Sutro's little-known, geographically inaccurate, deprecated monument.
Los Angeles, California
Brown Derby
Outposts of this restaurant chain were shaped like jaunty chapeaus.
Los Angeles, California
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Hollywood's oldest hotel is the site of the first Academy Awards, the birthplace of Marilyn Monroe's career, and the home of Montgomery Clift's ghost.
San Francisco, California
Janis Joplin Tree
A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.
San Francisco, California
Fairmont San Francisco Penthouse Suite
San Francisco's most expensive hotel suite includes a secret passageway rumored to have been used by JFK.
San Francisco, California
Museum of Russian Culture
Russian history in San Francisco.
San Francisco, California
Hotel Majestic
San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.
Amboy, California
Guardian Lions of Route 66
A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.
Los Angeles, California
Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel
A carousel trades in its classic horses and calliope for endangered species, native flora and fauna, and a modern soundtrack.
Los Angeles, California
Old Warner Bros. Theatre Inside Downtown Jewelry Exchange
The beautiful 1920 Pantages Theatre remains hidden just underneath the LA Downtown Jewelry Exchange.
Sonora, California
Legends Books, Antiques & Soda Fountain
A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.
Los Angeles, California
The Music Box Steps
The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.
