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

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

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

Nose around a unique collection of more than 300 natural aromas used to craft fragrances.

Decommissioned experimental solar facilities that pioneered solar energy technology.

The cluster of boulders near Fort Irwin is covered in military insignia.

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.

Bug-devouring flora are the stars of a special wing of the glass conservatory.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

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

An iconic location along the Los Angeles River where countless movie scenes are filmed.

Inside this clubhouse is a cinephile's paradise.

About 80% of all U.S. avocados are descendants of Rudolph Hass's glorious tree.

Abandoned anti-ballistic missile base.

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.

For roadside fast food, pull over at the giant orange.

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.

Where the writer penned his famous story about a jumping frog.

This lesser known Hearst estate is a fairytale village built from the stolen bones of historic European buildings.