A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

A B&B on a Victorian lighthouse station in San Francisco Bay.

The abandoned train depot now doubles as a well-placed rest stop for those who take the road less traveled.

This historic California cemetery holds the bodies of veterans of both the Civil War and the Donner Party.

Antiques by the Bay.

This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

Because there's no place like home.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

Oldest building in California still in use.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Law-protected wreckage serves as a peculiar memorial for an almost forgotten World War II tragedy.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

The largest dune field in the Mojave offers a chance of hearing the 'singing sands.'

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

Nursery with extensive collection of flesh-eating plants operated by the author of "The Savage Garden."

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.