Places eecarter Wants to Go

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

This San Diego museum is dedicated to preserving women’s historic achievements.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

There are lots of hands and feet stamped in the cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but Mel left behind something extra.

A tree grown from astronaut seeds which were exposed to cosmic rays.

A B&B on a Victorian lighthouse station in San Francisco Bay.

Room 32 of the Alta Cienega Motel has grown into a shrine to the Lizard King.

NASA's leading space science lab started by a co-founder with deep ties to the occult.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

The abandoned train depot now doubles as a well-placed rest stop for those who take the road less traveled.

Barely visible foundations remain where Stow Lake’s “observatory” once welcomed visitors.

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.

Because there's no place like home.

Semi-recognized center of the world, with many oddities.

The sun acts as a key that only fits this giant keyhole twice a year.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

A music-filled, booze-soaked oasis in the desert.

This museum looks at the history of one of America's most famous prisons and most beloved albums.

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

This stunning sea creature-shaped home blends into the landscape like a fantasy villa.

The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.

The memorial to the victims of the Jonestown Massacre carries the names of 918 lost, including one name people wish wasn't there.

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.