Places embentley1 Wants to Go

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

The beautiful 1920 Pantages Theatre remains hidden just underneath the LA Downtown Jewelry Exchange.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

Where the line between entertainment and aerospace blurs.

One of the last remnants of the city's Chinese nightclub scene is now a dive bar selling killer mai tais.

An old California photo stand has been turned into a shrine to the cozy art of crochet.

This dark, quiet forest on the outskirts of San Diego is dense with rumor and lore.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

Hundreds of trees made from glass bottles make up this forest on Route 66.

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

A modern day curiosity cabinet.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

The unedited photograph called "Bliss" has graced the screens of over a billion computers.