Places Ron Buening Wants to Go

This fairytale-inspired cottage was created by a university literature professor.

A solemn, monumental, kitschy palace of worship honoring victory in the Great Patriotic War.

This Russian locomotive museum was once devoted just to Lenin's funeral before expanding to encompass Moscow's entire train history.

Hidden in a metro shop under a shopping mall, this small museum tells the story of one of the world's largest urban transit systems.

Immortal combat in a Moscow museum.

At this former Prohibition speakeasy, electric birds signaled the arrival of hooch.

Once part of a dam servicing an early 19th century grist mill, the tucked-way falls are a tricky-to-find urban oasis.

An abandoned church gets a second life as a massive beer hall and event space.

The trials and tribulations of marking Poe’s grave.

It’s not hard to see why the historic Peabody Conservatory of Music’s library has been described as a “cathedral of books.”

Fiji mermaids, mummified remains, and recreated cryptids are among the morbid oddities at this Maryland museum.

The Decoy Capital of the World.

The longest-covered bridge in the state of Maryland.

A suburban museum tells the story of a historic transportation network and even provides rides in antique trolley cars.

Explore the legends surrounding these mythical sea creatures inside this museum.

One of the oldest active carousels in the country—but it might be missed by all but the keenest-eyed boardwalk strollers.

A desiccated merman and a walrus penis bone are among the oddities in this eclectic collection of shipwreck treasures.

The hidden ruins of a mill that is linked to an attempt to assassinate the vice president of the United States.

This golfball sized platinum iridium cylinder is the official starting point for all national weight calibrations

This beautiful architectural gem was the first waste treatment facility in Boston.

Berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, "Old Ironsides" is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat.

A morbid secret lies hidden within the beautiful walls of the Boston Athenaeum.

The oldest Italian café in Boston, this spot also serves as a veritable museum of vintage coffee ephemera.

One of the oldest used bookstores in the U.S. has been selling antiquarian treasures since 1825.