Places Edited by Sam LaFrance

This natural wonderland is a unique chance to explore a Carolina bay, a mysterious geological formation of unknown origin.

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

This 5-by-6-foot wooden hut is the smallest historic post office in the U.S.

This rare basilica nestled right in downtown Asheville is an architectural marvel, inside and out.

Every week, a festive public jam session breaks out in downtown Asheville.

A wonderful display of arts and crafts handmade by local artisans in the Southern Appalachians.

Gnarled canopies of pink and purple wildflowers arch over the trail to the summit.

The fine fabric handwoven at Biltmore Industries was once coveted around the world.

The pioneering photographer's prints are immortalized inside her childhood home.

One home in the historic strip hides secret compartments and the ghostly songs of long-gone canaries.

The old fire tower is one of the last of its kind in the United States.

Located within a historic park, the beacon is the oldest standing structure in Miami.

Though nicknamed the “Russian Freighter,” this ship was actually sunk off the coast of Pensacola by the U.S. government in a top-secret operation.

One of the largest Native American shell middens stands 30 feet tall.

A replica of one of the more than 15,000 civilian lookout towers that lined the U.S. coast during World War II.

A hidden beach at the end of a tunnel of mangrove trees.

The ruins of a once-thriving sugarcane plantation that was burned in the Second Seminole War.

The 44,000-ton aircraft carrier was purposely sunk to create an artificial reef teeming with life.

The "worst battleship ever built" is enjoying a grand second act, submerged 30 feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

This now-deactivated naval base defended the Florida coast for centuries.

Two men built this castle on the Florida coast as an artistic “landscape sculpture.”

One of the best places in Florida to spot rare, carnivorous pitcher plants.

An underwater statue of Christ blesses the coral reefs off Key Largo.

One of the world’s largest and deepest freshwater springs, where mastodons once roamed.