Venice's "Island of the Mad."

As can be expected from a centuries-old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

This notorious dive has been serving up both kinds of spirits since 1879.

An enthusiastically interactive mining museum that won't let black lung ruin the fun.

In the 1950s, two women saved this grand theater in the Colorado mountains from demolition.

This fully restored synagogue explores the American Jewish experience along the old frontier.

At one time this small mining village was the highest town in America but now it sits abandoned while the mine churns on.

Abandoned silver mine strewn with wrecked and twisted structures.

Hike, ski, or snowshoe to a backcountry yurt that serves up gourmet, four-course dinners.

The remnants of the base where US Army troops learned how to fight in extreme conditions.

Once an unstoppable source of gold and silver, this town came to a grinding stop when the groundwater proved deadly.

One of the world’s most powerful corporations was established on a random Albuquerque street corner.

An ode to the history of telephones inside a telephone building.

A burnt-out motel with priceless Native American artwork in the basement, redeveloped into apartments.

When life gave this firefighter a forest fire, he made a rough-hewn sculpture park using a chainsaw.

Thousands of pieces of art have been carved into the rock at the site of an ancient volcanic eruption.

It's easy to see why this eclectic architectural wonder has been dubbed the "Spaceship House."

A museum devoted entirely to the rattlesnakes and snake-related art.

This pseudo-steampunk weapons facility is the world's largest wood and glue structure, and packs quite a wallop.

Eat like pre-Columbian Native Americans in this New Mexico restaurant within the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

The official atomic museum of the United States explores the explosive and productive history of a much maligned energy source.

At this airport "microcinema," you can catch a film before you catch a flight.