Thousands of coffin-like pillars make up this controversial Holocaust memorial.

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.

A gap in the concrete has been transformed into a miniature playground for the mind.

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

The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

A watering hole where the options for seating include a bar, patio, or subterranean cave.

California's oldest existing theater building hosted an impressive cast of celebrities, including hosting Mark Twain's first lecture.

This fully intact Neoclassical-Greek Revival style firehouse operated until 1938.

A grave dedicated to the pioneers who settled California.

"You don't need a rocket scientist to build a steam engine, but we've got one." -Museum docent on the credentials of a restoration volunteer.

Hidden in a hotel parking lot is a strange historical plaque erected by an obscure fraternal society.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

This painted marvel is San Francisco's 400-foot ode to urban biking.

Sitting atop San Francisco's tallest hill, a cross honors the victims of the Armenian genocide.

Get a taste of Chamorro cuisine, family-style, at this popular restaurant.

Built in 1906, this unique building was the first Hindu temple in the United States.

The oldest lawn bowling club in the United States.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

A quiet marker in memory of local men and women lost in WWI.

The legendary statue-hating superintendent of Golden Gate Park is honored with... a statue.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

Once the fastest ship from San Francisco to Tahiti, the Galilee now lays in pieces in three different cities.