Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

When you can't get to the Pacific, just go to Florida.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

Erroneously called the world's tallest flagpole, this landmark is devoted to "good neighborliness."

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

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

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

An enchanted arts space which assumes infinite identities.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

Giant Redwood-themed cafeteria operates under the golden rule, "Dine Free Unless Delighted."

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

Located within a historic park, the beacon is the oldest standing structure in Miami.

Tubing through a cave lit with glowworms is a magical underground experience.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A circus legend leaves an unexpected endowment.