L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

The largest permanent Monopoly board makes one of the longest games even bigger.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

A Montreal deli that was so beloved that it was allowed to circumvent their laws of language.

A grand Gothic Revival basilica with stained glass depictions of Montreal's religious history has only one soul resting in its crypt.

This 1967 experiment in modular architecture was designed to be a new model for urban living.

An all-American grocery store in Paris sells U.S. "cuisine" like Pop-Tarts and Heinz ketchup to homesick ex-pats.