Places Michael Woodruff Wants to Go

Drift through underground caves on a tube.

The site of a popular piano lounge owned by a former world champion boxer is now a place to rent a truck.

A towering bronze statue memorializes the founding father of postwar American conservatism.

Once a year, at exactly 11:11 a.m., this monument comes to life.

The unusual burial monument of Arizona's first governor.

A former department store turned into a quirky restaurant.

The first permanent memorial to a unique secret weapon of World War II.

The massive, incredibly rare instrument is over 11 feet tall with a range so deep it goes lower than humans can hear.

This small, unassuming street is now a canvas for color and creativity.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

A self-built castle made by a mysterious man.

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

This striking public art installation is suspended above a public park, designed to gently move in the breeze.

In this small Phoenix taxidermy emporium, you can find everything from a squid in a jar to a freeze-dried toad.

Thousands of Mexican Free-Tailed Bats soar around an abandoned storm drain at sunset each summer.

Founded by members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, this one-room joint's James Beard–winning fry bread is light as a cloud.

This rustic cabin, outfitted with gun slits, was once home to John D. Tewksbury, patriarch of the bloodiest family feud in American history.

A geological mystery on Camelback Mountain.

A mysterious "wedding cake" castle in the middle of the urban desert.

A small side chapel in Santa Fe's basilica is home to the oldest statute of the Virgin Mary in North America.

This innocuous New Mexico storefront was once the secret jump-off spot for Manhattan Project scientists.

A serene garden path lined with 36 haiku stamped into clay stones.

A sprawling collection of over 106,000 toys from around the world.

Life-sized sculpture of a blue whale made of hand-recycled plastic trash.