Places EricaInCA Wants to Go

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

Behind this beachfront shop lies a spectacular, colorful sea cave with an equally colorful past.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

This restaurant features Native American foods from across the country.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

Neoclassical Revival mansion and set of horror cult classic Phantasm.

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

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

Steinbeck's old stomping grounds, immortalized in Cannery Row.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

Commemorating the 1948 creation of the Jimmy Fund, a Boston-based cancer charity.

This statue intended for children to enjoy became a minor political spat.

Stolen goods adorn the organ at Old North Church.

Dedicated to one of the darkest moments in Irish history.

One of the few remaining monuments dedicated to South Boston's Irish heritage.

Silverware in the sidewalk outside a grocery store cements this neighborhood’s Italian culinary history.

Statue commemorating the use of ether in anesthesia.

The remnants of a Gilded Age elegance preserved in the middle of a stark modern tower.