Places Oubliette Wants to Go

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

A unique piece of graffiti offers a little slice of local history and mystery.

The Southern California pop sounds of surf and sand were born right here.

A water tower shaped like a giant coffee pot looms over a small Swedish village in Central California.

A cult following celebrates the legend that belies this curious podiatrists' office sign which has worked its way into song, literature, animation, and the visual arts.

Known as the "Hobbit Houses," these storybook homes look like they're straight out of the Shire.

Experience Larry Spring's self-taught "common sense" laws of physics.

For over 20 years, Lil Toot has delighted guests with narrated boat rides between Stearns Wharf and Santa Barbara Harbor, becoming a beloved local legend and top-rated experience for visitors.

An archive of nearly every day of Buckminster Fuller's life.

A classically trained chef makes beloved burritos inside a gas station.

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

This store is dedicated to unique found footage and the strangeness of pre-internet pop-culture.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

A grove of "candelabra redwoods" deep in California's Lost Coast.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

Junkbots and mud babies are the masterpieces in this fantastically sci-fi art museum.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

"The greatest unknown literary treasure in Los Angeles."

Home to secret Eastern Bloc spy equipment and the largest stretch of the original Berlin Wall outside of Germany.

The longest burning light bulb in the world.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.