This titanic steel chain linking two buildings was installed without permission but instantly beloved.

An old train trestle re-imagined as an Egyptian obelisk.

An eccentric home stands out in an otherwise average neighborhood with mosaics, mini topiaries, and kinetic sculpture.

At this 1940s-era neighborhood favorite, you can still drink a cherry phosphate.

The capitol city's oldest existing cemetery.

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

A replica of the first public theater built in California.

Where the first "expert riders, willing to risk death daily" for the Pony Express were recruited.

A mesmerizing disco ball-like sculpture along the Sacramento River Walk.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

Founded by a high school teacher, this poetry magazine became a center for all things literary.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Authentic gondola hanging from the ceiling, notable mural in the back room.

A tribute to long time Venice Beach resident, artist and actor Dennis Hopper.

A gift from Abbot Kinney and a little bit of piece of Black history in Venice Beach.

Where a great scandal unfolded with a famous female revivalist at its center.

Santa Monica's oldest restaurant, decorated with set pieces from the Mutiny on the Bounty.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

View the California coastline (and the home of Barbara Streisand) inch by inch with stunning, government-sanctioned aerial photography.

At 130 years old and 126 feet tall, it is the largest known example of the rare Torrey pine tree.

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

In the "Danish Capital of America," a replica of one of Copenhagen's most iconic buildings.