Places SamWPiano Wants to Go

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

The overgrown ruins of a once thriving World War I-era copper mine.

This Pringle-shaped ledge makes for the perfect photo op.

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

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

The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.

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

A large instrument played by the wind.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

Named after a bandit and the star of several Hollywood prehistoric landscapes, these sandstone formations are a historical part of the Los Angeles natural landscape.

A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.

This symbol of peace is appropriately positioned overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

A promotional sun clock on the site of San Francisco's great raceway.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

An increasingly eccentric apartment building, topped with winged beasties.

Mexican food and folk art.

An old California photo stand has been turned into a shrine to the cozy art of crochet.

Los Angeles's oldest cemetery allows visitors to trace the history of this proud city.