Places Stefan Kowasch Wants to Go

The set location for a 1987 cult classic draws international film buffs to the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

A statue commemorate Tommie Smith and John Carlos's brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights.

Perhaps the most unique of any Frank Gehry design for one simple reason: Gehry himself actually lives here.

The Giant Lemon of Lemon Grove.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.

This print shop boasts one of the largest pinball arcades in San Francisco.

Discover for yourself what Herb Caen referred to as "the best kept secret in the Bay Area."

A speck of nature and art in one of San Francisco’s most notorious neighborhoods.

This Pringle-shaped ledge makes for the perfect photo op.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

Ingenious bakery opens up the first Cupcake ATM at their flagship location in Beverly Hills.

A regular looking rock with an unbelievable history.

The highest dunes in California are the most likely place in the area to hear the Singing Sands.

An unreal vintage shop that wears its dadaist influence on its zombie fish.

Hidden above a drug store on a nondescript corner of Lincoln Heights is a private clubhouse for intrepid explorers.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.