Places toniamonkey Wants to Go

This tall and trim architectural oddity is one of the skinniest buildings in San Francisco.

This Japanese treats shop may have been the first business to mass-produce fortune cookies in the United States.

An unexpected and peaceful oasis on a hillside.

This 15-story mural celebrates the 50th anniversary of the musician's iconic "At Folsom Prison" album.

This large pile of traveler-curated rocks by the dry lakebed is a longstanding tradition on the Old Mojave Road.

The simple auditorium that launched a pop icon's career into the stratosphere.

Every Sunday, this Thai temple in Berkeley serves a backyard brunch.

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

Fake rail crossings mark the site of an influential doctor's demise.

This Taoist temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California.

An iconic location along the Los Angeles River where countless movie scenes are filmed.

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

Where the first "expert riders, willing to risk death daily" for the Pony Express were recruited.

This fully intact Neoclassical-Greek Revival style firehouse operated until 1938.

One of the largest Marian shrines on the West Coast stands rather unexpectedly in Silicon Valley.

This historic graveyard was partially paved over to create a streetcar line.

This small oasis of flora and art was created in remembrance of a local auto business owner.

Each summer, the migratory bats living beneath the bypass form "batnadoes" at dusk.

These unusual houses look like giant boats that washed ashore on a residential street.

This restaurant offers the original California cuisine.

The mall's looks were inspired by the cowboy extras who used to meet up—and cause real trouble—at this Hollywood hub.

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

This sailor's boneyard was lost under a parking lot for decades before being rediscovered.

A 19th-century cabin built into a hollowed-out Sequoia tree.