This large pile of traveler-curated rocks by the dry lakebed is a longstanding tradition on the Old Mojave Road.

This small monument to the great inventor contains a time capsule and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Steinbeck's old stomping grounds, immortalized in Cannery Row.

An old whaling station now serves to give the public a look at the commercial whaling industry, no longer a part of Monterey's economy.

One of the last remaining Carpenter Gothic churches is situated on a wildflower conservatory overlooking the bay.

This midcentury LA bar was the birthplace of tiki culture.

The last Americana on Route 66.

An unassuming grey box sitting on San Francisco's Pier 17 is a "sky diary" of the coastal city's temperamental weather.

Condemned US Navy seaplane control tower turned officers’ club sits atop Yerba Buena Island.

Some of the most unusual (and in some cases, disgusting) flavors of soda imaginable.

The set location for a 1987 cult classic draws international film buffs to the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Decommissioned experimental solar facilities that pioneered solar energy technology.

Authentic gondola hanging from the ceiling, notable mural in the back room.

A museum dedicated to a sea that should have never been.

A comprehensive collection of Pez dispensers.

9,000 square feet of vintage and modern mechanical toys, dioramas & sideshow curiosities.

In the middle of the desert, miles from any human life, sat an anomalous pay phone that still magically answers your calls.

A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was.

Floating man-made island and upscale restaurant.

An invitation-only museum of items natural and bizarre, arcane and exotic.

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

Sporting Brutalist architecture, this school is hidden amid a quiet suburban neighborhood.

A modern frieze of ancient Grecian mythological figures playing a national pastime.

The headquarters of the semiconductor giant has a 10,000-square-foot museum.