A king's pet, a pope's gift, an artist's inspiration, and a tragic shipwreck.

This mosaic dedicated to John Lennon was tended for years by a Beatles super-fan.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The iconic castle that withstood a magnitude 6.2 earthquake has become a symbol of resilience.

Artifacts of whaling, with both its perils and adventure, are housed in this museum in a former candle factory.

The island home of an unlucky whaling captain whose story inspired a great American novel.

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.

This church on a Tohono O'Odham reservation has stood since 1797.

This iconic 1958 tower welcomes air travelers to Tucson with neon-lit letters and architectural style.

In Tucson a giant metal snake helps pedestrians cross a busy highway.

Sleep where gangsters fell amidst smoke and flame, with nary a bullethole to show for the legendary struggle.

Make a wish at what might be America's only Catholic shrine to a sinner.

A planet-hunting astrograph built in the 1920s to seek out the so-called "Planet X" beyond Uranus.

This Arizona observatory is famous for investigations into Martian life, and as the place humans first spotted Pluto.

This 1930s log cabin began as a taxidermy museum but is now a popular country music venue.

This 24-acre park offers a place for meditation in the midst of Sedona's iconic red rocks.

The world's only teal arches exist in a city that cares more about its aesthetic than an Instagram influencer.

A spiritual vortex among the red rocks in Sedona.

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.

Every year, festive decorations appear on this juniper tree located in the median strip of a busy highway.

This futuristic airport terminal was abandoned for decades before reopening as a hotel—with a vintage plane of its own parked out back.