This municipal playground was co-created by the father of one of the most playful characters ever.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.

Eat a tasty meal in the house where John Steinbeck was born.

A promotional sun clock on the site of San Francisco's great raceway.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

The final resting place of the Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

The peaceful gravesite of a rugged wild west gunman echoes the touching story of his last days.

A bronze tribute to a legendary Californian, the self-proclaimed "Emperor of the United States."

A rough granite monument marks the spot where Europeans first caught sight of the San Francisco Bay.

A large instrument played by the wind.

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

A comprehensive collection of Pez dispensers.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

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

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.