Conflicting markers on its floor tell a tale of two city centers in San Antonio.

A 131-year-old wunderkammer of Texas history.

Colorful curls of hand-blown glass form a captivating tower in San Antonio's Central Library.

A posh members-only club with a literally dramatic history.

A 19th-century politician who died after walking home in a blizzard is honored with this Manhattan statue.

The world’s oldest and biggest bookstore stocking only mystery, crime fiction, espionage, and thrillers.

An unrealized Taoist palace left abandoned in a Houston suburb.

An oddities shop packed with twisted treasures inspired by Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe.

Artist James Turrell's ode to dawn and dusk on the campus of Rice University.

This kitsch eatery is chock-a-block with bric-a-brac.

In a city crazy for seashells this museum educates and amazes visitors using the wonder of cast-off exoskeletons.

Grab a slice of pizza next to the remains of the "human monkey" who ran for mayor.

This railroad and oil tycoon's lavish estate now stands as a time capsule of the Gilded Age.

Legend has it the commander of the defenders drew a fateful line in the dirt with his sword just before the final battle.

A gorgeous garden oasis with winding paths, stone bridges, and a troubling history.

Urban explorers embraced America's now demolished first suburban mall, south of Chicago.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

Chicago's Navy Pier on Lake Michigan was a training hub for aircraft carrier pilots during WWII.

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.

Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.

This urban drawbridge gained eternal pop culture fame when the Blues Brothers jumped it while it was raised.

The unluckiest U-boat in the entire German fleet is now on display in a Chicago museum.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.