Places matteakle Wants to Go

A mining town, now abandoned, was built in a canyon so narrow that the railroad ran right through the hotel lobby.

This red-eyed chrome beast pays homage to the popular modern myth of West Virginia's insectoid monster.

The ruins of a Florida miracle spring resort make it seem like a wonder that this was ever a health spa.

Georgia may have been on his mind, but this memorial in Florida shows that Greenville was really Ray Charles's childhood home.

One of the world's largest telescopes, stares into the night sky with two huge mirrors.

Giant telescope mirrors built in a spinning furnace under a college football stadium.

The world's largest military aircraft cemetery.

The world's largest rose bush has literally outgrown the pioneer museum it was planted behind.

A wild west cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona, provides a window into the Old West.

After a short-lived attempt to bring America in line with the rest of the world, this road was left in metric.

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.

Legend says train robbers stashed their gold within the depths of this unusual cave.

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

Erroneously called the world's tallest flagpole, this landmark is devoted to "good neighborliness."

Since World War II people have been decorating this stretch of the Yuma desert with signatures arranged out of rocks.

Semi-recognized center of the world, with many oddities.

This immigrant bridge once spanned the Thames but is now a fixture of an Arizona city.

This golf ball–shaped former desert real estate office now houses a UFO museum.