Places Edited by Jessica Leigh Hester

Life-size bronzes of the Grinch, Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, Sam-I-Am, and the Lorax—and the author himself.

A museum dedicated to the quirky and colorful world created by Springfield's favorite son.

San Franciscans leave gifts and messages for the magical beings that live behind the tiny, mysterious door installed on a tree in Golden Gate Park.

That bass was as bad a fish as any angler ever knew.

This dramatic landscape hidden on the Isle of Skye looks as though you've stepped into the magical realm.

The 28-foot granite map plots the locations of 40 theaters in New York City.

An otherworldly restaurant perched on the edge of a jagged cliff next to a medieval holy city.

Elaborately carved to showcase the glorious wealth that the age of exploration brought to the Portuguese empire.

The restaurant keeps a hidden séance room on the second floor and reserves a table for the spirit of the former owner each night.

A grandiose octagonal home crowned by a large dome stands out among the antebellum mansions.

Commemorating a unique medieval profession: men who collected feces.

A regular looking rock with an unbelievable history.

A library and museum dedicated to typography.

According to legend, Bob Dylan sneaks in twice a year to eat dinner with Jack.

Wild lights and sound effects turn a walk through some caves into an eye-popping 1960s tourist attraction.

A mostly desolate bar on a remote island hosts hundreds of sailors for a few days each year.

The 1936 Summer Olympics site is a crumbling remnant of sportsmanship and a history its host country would like to forget.

A pixel art killer whale is frozen mid-leap in this Vancouver square.

Welcome to old Florida, where a 1940s mermaid show is still enchanting visitors.

No one really knows how these old hobby horses got here, but the herd keeps growing.

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.

This vertical pinnacle in China was the inspiration for the floating mountains in the movie “Avatar.”

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

For 20 years, this whale skeleton has been slowly dripping oil on the floor of the museum where it hangs.