Places Michael J Bielawa Wants to Go

Once thought to be the fabled Holy Grail, it is now known to be an oil lamp.

Curious crustaceans support an obelisk from ancient Egypt that now stands in modern-day Central Park.

This unique shop is full of memento mori art, antique medical equipment, secret society paraphernalia, and historical relics.

The curiosities and wonders of pharmacy in a delightful historic building.

A mysterious find dredged from Louisiana waters.

A small park on Bourbon Street features life-size bronze statues of New Orleans musicians.

The oldest operational cathedral in the U.S. has one shell of a way of projecting speakers' voices.

The restaurant keeps a hidden séance room on the second floor and reserves a table for the spirit of the former owner each night.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

The stone labyrinth in this New Orleans city park was laid to symbolize healing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Every year, a Louisiana town remembers a brief Civil War truce inspired by Masonic brotherhood.

Located in a remote part of a Louisiana wildlife refuge, this tree has been standing for more than 1,200 years.

The rough and tumble president's childhood home displays the shirt he was once shot in and the speech that saved him.

Visit the monolithic tomb of America's most famous general.

The oldest house in Manhattan is now a museum that remembers the home's sordid history of scandals, vice-presidents, and ghosts.

A quiet rock and botanical garden is the beautiful centerpiece of Fort Lewis College.

A riverside tiny house with books and other treasures galore.

A hotel with a rich Wild West history of miners and bootleggers.

This spectacular track has run continuously since 1882.

The red brick house where the father of rock 'n' roll wrote some of his classic hits.

A historic house in St. Louis was plagued by a series of suicides committed by family members involved in a successful brewery.

This spot in St. Louis, marked with a simple sign, has seen more pro baseball than just about anywhere else in the world.

What was once a presidential estate is now an exotic menagerie and home to the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Possibly the smallest church in the world floats in the middle of a pond.