San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

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

A public art installation featuring clawfoot bathtubs on stilts sparks admiration and controversy from locals.

Striking, enormous gold-plated sculpture of Buddha installed in the 19th century.

The longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi River.

Where the writer penned his famous story about a jumping frog.

A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.

Experience the pivotal Civil War battle at this interactive museum.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

"The only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3."

The diverse and sometimes odd cultural heritage of the Golden State is collected, examined, and displayed in this proud museum.

Giant origami crease patterns engraved in Santa Monica intersections may even be visible from space.

One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

An offbeat angle on the ocean viewed through an antiquated lens.

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

A Looff creation in Santa Monica best described as “a California-Byzantine-Moorish-style fantasy.”

This well-traveled chess park offers scenic views of the pacific and a colorful, eclectic clientele.

A treasure hunter's tiny bar, harboring celebrities since 1959.

A lonely Gondola stuck on a traffic circle sits in a spot where it once would have floated down the Grand Canal.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.