Places phildzielski Wants to Go

Heron, whitewater rapids, and urban industrialism all add to the beauty of this concrete nature walk.

An original apothecary from 1792.

Outsider art meets paleontology at this roadside reptile repository.

Edgar Allan Poe's old dorm is now a shrine to the author's legacy.

A 300-yard long natural tunnel runs through a ridge deep in the Appalachian Mountains.

A sacred site for Native Americans surveyed by George Washington and owned by both King George III and Thomas Jefferson.

The remains of a failed attempt at medieval nerdery are hidden deep in the woods of Virginia.

A maritime museum holding the remains of Blackbeard's pirate ship.

Largest display of Wesleyana anywhere in the world.

A giant cat slowly prowls the parking lot of Zebulon's car dealerships.

A water pumping station disguised as a residential home to assuage concerned neighbors now tricks most passersby.

Formerly the most gerrymandered district in the U.S., it twisted and turned along racial borders.

Step back in time on this preserved 1800s farm.

The 15-foot-wide, 2-ton pan fries hundreds of chickens once a year.

The U.S. Supreme Court's secret Cold War relocation facility in the mountains of North Carolina.

The North Carolina grounds are leased in perpetuity to the British Commonwealth for as long as the WWII sailors are buried there.

This multi-story wooden waterpark offers homemade thrills.

Eighteenth century house of the mysterious "Father of Raleigh."

This sinkhole is disguised as a pond and named after the man who stumbled upon it.

A folk art mecca famous among outsider art fans.

The humble gravesite of the man who failed to cash in on his Pepsi-cola goldmine.

This too-low North Carolina railroad trestle is still a notorious big rig executioner.

A monument to the sheer amount of oddities one can collect over a lifetime.

From failed port town to Civil War fort, the ruins of this former defense saw their finest day in the television age.