A gift from Japan, 17th-century lantern stands among the cherry trees at D.C.'s Tidal Basin.

Railroad officials in the early 1900s sought to spare travelers the sight of Roman soldiers’ private parts.

A monumental statue of RCA's mascot now sits atop a historical society roof after a life of moving around.

This bug-eyed water wheel uses the power of the Sun to clean up Baltimore Harbor.

It’s not hard to see why the historic Peabody Conservatory of Music’s library has been described as a “cathedral of books.”

Blighted Irish field and the ruins of a 19th-century cottage on the edge of urban Manhattan.

This unique museum cafeteria showcases the history and regional diversity of African American cuisine.

A remnant of the original World Trade Center complex continues to serve as a commuter gateway.

A haunting statue called "Eternal Silence" has quite the reputation among visitors with active imaginations.

An enormous park-like oasis, full of famous Chicagoans’ graves.

A bar, burger joint, and arcade housed in a late 19th-century church building.

Revel in the Victorian splendor of the world's oldest eating establishment inside a museum.

The only working large-scale tea plantation in the United States.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

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

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

Mortarless walls that stretch for miles are a lovely solution for creating grazing land in the harsh terrain of the Aran Islands.

These moss-covered medieval ruins tower atop the smallest of Ireland's Aran Islands.

A steam trawler with a whiskey-soaked history driven ashore in 1960 resides rusty but still standing on the shoreline.

Inside this museum, the history of the Walt Disney Family empire is on full display.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A hidden gem, named after a San Franciscan icon, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.