Places RStephens Wants to Go

Hidden in a hotel parking lot is a strange historical plaque erected by an obscure fraternal society.

At night, a grove of towering redwood trees growing through the pavement block out all light from the so-called “Dark Park” of Madrone Avenue.

Admire a Lilliputian replica of the fast food outlet.

California's longest-running tourist attraction is a stump.

Artist Jack Pierson made this surreal sculpture in honor of Wonder Valley, a countercultural community on edge of civilization.

The modest home of the very immodest dancer who cost a king his crown.

This massive redwood tree has stood in Northern California for nearly 2,000 years.

This museum honors the first Spanish land grant in California which is still in the hands of the original owner's family.

A relic from a forgotten bakery chain still spins atop a diner.

Malibu's first beach home features an astonishing trove of ceramic tiles.

Where a staggering 747 ships were constructed during World War II.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

The 10-foot-wide Long Beach home was built on a dare.

Oldest building in California still in use.

An abandoned Jazz Age dream home and con man's hideout in Death Valley.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

This bird-loving brewery is situated in an old municipal bathhouse, nestled beside a 300-year-old windmill.

Widely advertised as Amsterdam’s narrowest street, this passage was once a highlight of the Red Light District before its windows closed.

This plaque marks the former home of one of the first women physicians in the Netherlands.

A beautifully rebuilt windmill from the 17th century, situated along the Amstel River.

This bronze statue of Martin Luther King was placed in the park without permission.