Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

Where the writer penned his famous story about a jumping frog.

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."

It's not your typical library, memorial, or book store.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.

At this California chicken ranch, four bucks will get you 18 eggs and a chorus of dancing animatronic poultry.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

A modest reminder of treacherous waters at the Golden Gate.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.