Places Michael Ballard Wants to Go

A lake with hundreds of ancient skeletons surrounding it. The surprise is what killed them.

This grape-growing paradise is one of the oldest vineyards in North America.

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.

Every Christmas, one Arizona city makes the most of its dry climate by creating an arid desert tannenbaum.

Twelve plaster figures inspired by da Vinci's famed painting haunt the desert landscape above a real-life ghost town.

This picturesque island graveyard is the final resting place of dozens of notorious pirates.

The last remnant of a tree that helped prove to the world that sequoias are real—and they’re spectacular.

Napoleon’s home in exile, decorated with poisonous wallpaper.

A small but industrious mining operation that allows visitors to touch precious gems while they are still in the rock.

A Swiss man built this airstrip for aliens because a UFO captain telepathically told him to.

Visit this odd display of indigenous style in Argentine wine country.

Mysterious and ancient carved standing stones.

Mineral springs believed to hold therapeutic properties draw in visitors from all over.

Surrounded by natural bridges, this picturesque waterfall drops hundreds of feet into an underground cave.

This mysterious taxidermy man-beast of the seven seas resides at the Banff Trading Post.

The natural hot spring that was integral to the creation of Canada's first national park.

This massive and unusual rock formation near Okotoks is the world's largest known glacial erratic.

A sacred lake composed of over 300 separate pools of highly concentrated minerals.

Huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie.

This striking sculpture of a supermodel in a yoga pose challenges traditional public art.

A memorial to 350 people burned at the stake for witchcraft.

World's strongest whirlpool.

An aeronautical-themed resort forged around rusty relics from the golden age of air travel.

An excavation site that signified Hercules in Pula, and a glimpse into the city's Roman history.