Places Jay Braun Wants to Go

This work of folk art was produced by Gregory Warmack but the artifacts cemented in place are communal.

A quiet cemetery in northeastern North Carolina holds tiny structures believed to protect spirits.

This 1920s mansion in the Outer Banks has some of the best examples of Art Nouveau ornamentations in the United States.

The oldest church building in the state.

On a clear afternoon, you can see mountain peaks more than 40 miles away from this clearing in the Pisgah National Forest.

Marvel at 400-year-old trees in one of the last remaining old-growth Appalachian forests.

The replica western town of Shadowhawk was built by a former Hollywood actor in Smithfield, North Carolina.

Hundreds of fiberglass structures line the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

The upstairs museum delves into the Lawson family murder, whose eight victims were embalmed at this store in 1929.

This ancient art form was used to capture the lives and struggles of the Haywood Street ministry.

An idyllic mineral hot springs facility with a more-than checkered past.

An eclectic store sells obscure vinyl recordings of Charles Manson and Jim Jones, along with many other oddities.

A museum dedicated to the legacy of Bob Moog and his pioneering synthesizers.

This nine-story building can be played like an instrument.

A 17th-century bezoar, dirt from an infamous site, and other curios decorate this unusual bar.

Italian horror legend Dario Argento’s own shop hides a sinister museum-dungeon in the basement.

Romans decided this 16th-century "talking statue" was so ugly, they named it after a primate.

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.

This hydrochronometer was invented by a Dominican monk and is a prime feature in this garden.

An abandoned Roman salami factory has found new life as an art space home to 200 squatters.

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory.

One of the most important yet well-hidden museums dedicated to the history of medicine.

Rare videos and memorabilia await visitors inside this unique store.

Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton were stars of the vaudeville circuit.