Places Ramika Wants to Go

A giant desert bird that once swung music fans at Coachella now has a home in a nearby traffic circle.

An old California photo stand has been turned into a shrine to the cozy art of crochet.

The quirky salon doubles as a retro museum run by the world's leading "hairstorian."

The last Americana on Route 66.

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.

A museum dedicated to restoring vintage aircraft, located at a working airport.

The site of murders and Satanic cult gatherings.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

You don't have to be a diplomat to visit the so-called Camp David of the West.

In the days before HD projectors and IMAX, some of the most powerful projectors belonged to planetariums.

The Route 66 institution that inspired Taco Bell also served as an important headquarters for Mexican-American social movements.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

Traversing these canyons, visitors can take in stunning views and glimpses of the region's history.

Instead of faces, these sculptures have barcodes—statements on societal dehumanization.

This California tree is the single source of the state's entire orange industry.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.

This mysterious petroglyph evokes the ancient swastika symbol but was later vandalized with the more troublesome Nazi one.

An L.A. traffic island where the faces of locals have been carved into massive granite eggs.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

Ingenious bakery opens up the first Cupcake ATM at their flagship location in Beverly Hills.

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

Hidden in the hills of Hollywood, this secluded Oz-themed garden is dotted with dozens of thrones.