Places vhass Wants to Go

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

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."

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

Steinbeck's old stomping grounds, immortalized in Cannery Row.

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

This eagle-topped spire remembers the military commander who snatched up California for the United States.

An old whaling station now serves to give the public a look at the commercial whaling industry, no longer a part of Monterey's economy.

The first safe in this California town had to hold all the gold.

The oldest U.S. Government building in California, and it's State Historic Landmark #1.

The stately birthplace of California's statehood.

A tree grown from astronaut seeds which were exposed to cosmic rays.

This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

The oldest continuously operating church in California.

One poet's handmade, anachronistic home.

This cabin from the 1850s is one of the first structures built by Chinese immigrants in California.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

This little valley along Highway 1 is engulfed by thousands of lilies during the spring season.

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.

A deserted hodgepodge of experimental structures designed by nearby university students.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

A simple statue outside a California Amtrak station honors the overlooked contributions of the "silent spikes."

A Mysterious Masonic tomb in San Luis Obispo.

A picturesque example of brute-force engineering conquering nature.

A train tunnel that was made obsolete by the dam it helped create.