Places Maggie Mason Wants to Go

The beloved home to all publications indie, erotic, and punky.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

Nonprofit art center that promotes outsider, intuitive, and self-taught art.

A gothic church spire sits atop this skyscraper, the tallest church in the world.

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

The subtle science of a master molecular gastronomist.

A century-old hotspot for jazz, frequented by everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Al Capone.

This unauthorized stone mermaid was secretly carved out of public stone before being permanently preserved.

A Bibliophile's Dream.

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

A giant bronze coil of feces is both a tribute to doggie defecation and a reminder to pick it up.

A lush green oasis in the middle of Chicago.

This morbid, delightful curiosity shop offers everything from animal bones to human teeth.

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

One man's unrequited love stands in a glass box forever.

A kitschy, creepy St. Louis mainstay.

A big museum full of little worlds.

What was once a presidential estate is now an exotic menagerie and home to the Budweiser Clydesdales.

The only building in Louisville (hopefully) that contains two ancient holy skeletons.

A museum that houses the world's largest collection of ventriloquism dummies.

The oldest operating Mississippi River–style steamboat still navigates the Ohio River.

Amazing taxidermy dioramas from the 1960s in a cement building meant to look like an ice cave.

This small museum is kept in a house that was integral to the genesis of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

A whimsical folk art garden full of punny pieces and a diorama containing 3,500 toys.