Places mattxshaver Wants to Go

An old whaling station now serves to give the public a look at the commercial whaling industry, no longer a part of Monterey's economy.

The oldest U.S. Government building in California, and it's State Historic Landmark #1.

The first safe in this California town had to hold all the gold.

This municipal playground was co-created by the father of one of the most playful characters ever.

The oldest continuously operating church in California.

This historic home has survived wars, drought, and financial woes to become a California landmark.

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.

This museum honors the farming past of the “Salad Bowl of the World.”

Eat a tasty meal in the house where John Steinbeck was born.

This enormous fiberglass cow near Death Valley National Park once graced a casino roof in Las Vegas.

A small site dedicated to the memory of a local leader and the search for peace.

It might look like a doghouse, but this small structure was actually built to house a spirit from Maya mythology.

This now-abandoned shopping center in Playa del Carmen was built to resemble a medieval European castle.

Few of the many visitors to this resort town know of its hidden Maya ruins.

One of Mexico's least-visited archaeological sites is tucked away inside a theme park.

Italian horror legend Dario Argento’s own shop hides a sinister museum-dungeon in the basement.

This bizarre residential building is the masterpiece of Von Jour Caux, the “Gaudí of Japan.”

This museum of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture is the legacy of the last descendant of the Kamehameha Dynasty.

A glass display case holds the document that ended the Second World War—which one person signed on the wrong line.

An ancient system of freshwater caves filled with animal bones, including that of species long-extinct.

These winged Maya figures are the subject of speculation and conspiracies.

A mysterious, abandoned Chinese building in Mexico pays homage to the area's East Asian immigrants.

No telescopes, no power, no gift shop: The Observatory of Chichen Itza, one of the world's oldest observatories, takes astronomy back to basics.

Every equinox this Maya pyramid puts on a spooky ancient light show.