A charming 17th-century alley is lined with secondhand bookstores and antiquarian shops.

A Muppet museum in small-town Mississippi honors the roots of Jim Henson's most beloved creation.

The final resting place of the camel who served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

A Prada store in the West Texas desert that is never open for business.

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.

Disks are rolled out onto the south lawn to absorb the impact of Marine One's wheels like giant coffee coasters.

An overlooked memorial honoring the local Washington residents who died in World War I.

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.

The winding route passes through an enclosed alleyway, two tunnels, and leads to the White House basement.

The iconic statue was moved to a new spot overlooking the James river after several years as a mascot for the local baseball team.

This 29-ton granite ball spins around at the slightest touch thanks to a scientific phenomenon.

This museum devoted to the gothic author holds such interesting ephemera as his socks and walking stick.

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.

The walls of the iconic dome are hollow and have a secret stairway.

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”

A monument in Washington D.C. marks the spot from which all other roads were supposed to stem.

A tiny memorial for the year the Connecticut River almost destroyed New England.

Memorial to one of the most fatal fires in both circus and U.S. history.

An easy-to-miss plaque marks the building that first held this 19th-century telephone innovation.

A tribute to the truly loyal dog who waited outside a hospital for his owner to come back.

The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin was neighbors with Mark Twain while living in this Connecticut home.

An iconic steel and chrome diner from the 1940s left empty for nearly 20 years is in danger of being demolished.

This stunning Connecticut mansion is actually just a one-room-deep hoax.