Places sierrawest Wants to Go

A rough granite monument marks the spot where Europeans first caught sight of the San Francisco Bay.

George Lucas donated this park to honor the birthplace of his two biggest movie franchises.

Neoclassical Revival mansion and set of horror cult classic Phantasm.

A large instrument played by the wind.

Thousands of crosses and markers for soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan blanket a California hillside.

Of all the origin stories for weed's secret code, this one likely has the goods.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

Two pillars set 10 paces apart commemorate the "last notable American duel."

A B&B on a Victorian lighthouse station in San Francisco Bay.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

An invitation-only museum of items natural and bizarre, arcane and exotic.

An abandoned, unfinished mansion on grounds strewn with lava rocks.

The tea room that pushed the boundaries of adorable straight into... we can't find the words.

Once the gateway to the utopian dream-village of a Civil War embalmer.

A playground built by the kids that is a child's wonderland, and a helicopter parent's nightmare.

The only tennis court that falls under the jurisdiction of the central bank.

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution written entirely from vanity license plates hangs in the Smithsonian museum.

A promising candidate for the lost rock laid by George Washington was unearthed, but the hunt is still on.

One of the most influential presidents in U.S. history wanted only this plain, elegant monument as his lasting memorial.

Daredevil repair workers can worm their way out the access hatch, loop ropes over the apex and rappel down the monument.

There just so happens to be a court even higher than the U.S Supreme Court: a basketball court in the building itself.

There's an old indoor swimming pool hidden directly underneath the White House Press Briefing Room.

Senators used to relax in the nearly forgotten marble tubs now hidden in the U.S. Capitol Building's basement.

A diminutive plaque recalls the treetop sniper who almost killed Abe Lincoln.