The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

A library and shop devoted to the body, mortality, and bringing to light forgotten or neglected histories

Michael Jackson got Bad and Crocodile Dundee walked on heads in this iconic Brooklyn subway station.

An oasis of calm amid the chaos of the boardwalk, the museum traces the heritage of this beloved beachside amusement park.

This outdoor gallery of graffiti-covered walls pays homage to the past, present, and possible future of street art.

One of the most enjoyable bits of history at Coney Island and “the most romantic ride in the world.”

A curious friendship between two inanimate ladies.

Tucked in a nondescript downtown Brooklyn mall is a bar containing a remarkable turn of the century anatomical wax collection last seen in 1920s Berlin.

The one-stop shop for all of your superhero (or evil arch-nemesis) needs.

A Victorian cemetery in the heart of Brooklyn remains a popular mecca of morbid curiosity.

A big shiny gin and whiskey distillery in Sunset Park.

A mass grave for victims of one of the city’s worst fires.

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

I Street Bridge is the heaviest swinging center bridge in the United States.

Pillars made of 700 pieces of luggage climb to the ceiling of Sacramento Airport's baggage claim.

Florida might be at its most surreal in this museum devoted to the famed Spanish artist.

The snowbirds here are circus sideshow performers.

Wall Street has a new heroine, a bronze statue of a small but fierce girl.

Whisper secrets in a busy station only to be heard on the other side of this acoustic arch.