Sitting atop San Francisco's tallest hill, a cross honors the victims of the Armenian genocide.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

A giant statue perched on dumpsters watches over the freeway.

This old-world mansion with lush gardens is a gem in the heart of Silicon Valley.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

The graffiti-covered remnants of a former triangulation station are balanced precariously on this California peak.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

This glamorous old building is said to have inspired the Tower of Terror.

Oh, just a motel on the edge of the desert decorated with thousands of clowns conveniently located next to an abandoned graveyard.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

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

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

In the middle of an extremely unforgiving and desolate high desert is the most secret military facility in the world.

Wall Street has a new heroine, a bronze statue of a small but fierce girl.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

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

A "gravitational anomaly" located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

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