Another of California's unused Cold War missile defense complexes has become a graffiti gallery.

A rough granite monument marks the spot where Europeans first caught sight of the San Francisco Bay.

An eatery within the Minneapolis American Indian Center writes colonial ingredients out of the story of Native American cuisine.

Enter the Forest of the Elves.

A toweringly silly piece of modern art has been delighting locals since the 1980s.

An architecturally-focused antique shop.

20,000 pieces in a Frank Gehry-designed building.

This sculpture is dedicated to Minnesota natives who served in combat.

Island of trash twice the size of Texas floats in the Pacific.

A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

The first fresco Diego Rivera painted in the United States can be found in the former San Francisco Stock Exchange.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

A favorite haunt of dinosaur loving children and hallucinogen loving hippies alike.

The largest whiskey stash on the West Coast survived the 1906 fires--but not without heroic effort.

Hopeless romantics will swoon over the sweet story behind this bright and colorful home.

The souvenir got the company’s founder out of a pretty pickle at the World’s Fair.

A late-night restaurant empire was launched from this humble storefront.

A giant statue perched on dumpsters watches over the freeway.

Get up close to emus and ostriches, or buy their tasty meat.

In the "Danish Capital of America," a replica of one of Copenhagen's most iconic buildings.

A Buddhist retreat built on more than 100 acres of California Redwood forest.