Places Ben Wants to Go

10,000 flowered plants bloom in the City of Roses.

This abandoned boat sits on a nude beach, is shaped like a UFO, and is covered in graffiti.

Delightful disarray of found objects and clutter.

Nestled between a college and a golf course, the garden is home to more than 2,500 rhododendrons.

Instead of fruit, the branches of this tree are brimming with hopes and dreams.

Not-so-fearsome tiny trolls live under this wooden train trestle in Portland.

Private collection of art inspired by cabinets of curiosity.

A heavenly experience, right here on Terra Firma.

The seamy, underground secrets of Portland's criminal past.

An emporium for the weird, creepy, rare, and just plain gross.

This multi-functional park is a marvel of civic engagement.

Now a museum, once the site of the longest act of civil disobedience in United States history.

Old 'Nutcracker' sculptures from 'Where the Wild Things Are' author found new life as a seasonal attraction.

A large AIDS Memorial Pathway art installation provides a moment for quiet contemplation in this public park.

Three nine-foot-tall bathing beauties perched elegantly on life-rings welcome visitors to the Alki waterfront.

In the absence of a Chinese-language newspaper, for years the community posted daily updates on this simple bulletin board.

This park celebrates a sister city relationship that survived the Cold War.

This music school doubles as a store for unique, hand-crafted, and hard-to-find instruments.

A hidden gem full of oddities, curiosities and macabre antiques.

A bookstore with an entire room dedicated to damaged and forlorn comic books.

Granting the right of way to ships over surface traffic since 1917.

This gold-winged spire celebrates the first true flight around the world.

With its vaulted ceiling and gilded details, this University of Washington library would feel right at home inside an old palace.

This former INS center is now home to a thriving community of artists, from performers to painters to architects.