Places mlaaker Wants to Go

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

This antique shop specializes in the history of print and design.

A library and museum dedicated to typography.

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.

An eatery within a Bay Area Buddhist temple pulls off all your favorite Vietnamese classics without the meat.

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.

One man's lifelong collection of 10,000 rare steins tells the story of beer drinking from 1350 to today.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.

Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.

When it opened during the final years of the embargo, all the drinks and cigars were free.

Bar full of oddities, specimens, artifacts and homages to the great dime museums of the past.

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years.

Built by the patriotic residents of Boonsboro in a single day.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.

The ancient necropolis houses the immense rock-cut tombs of four Persian kings.