Life-sized sculpture of a blue whale made of hand-recycled plastic trash.

The huge collection of paintings of the American West is one of Denver's best-kept secrets.

The high point on the 16th president's eponymous roadway is marked by a massive version of his head.

Miraculous tree that seems to sprout out of solid rock.

The fictional star of "Breaking Bad" is memorialized with a real-life gravestone in his hometown.

Twenty-seven massive radio antennas on the high plains of New Mexico search for life on other planets.

A one-of-a-kind sundial at the Very Large Array honors a radio astronomy pioneer, incorporating the original piers from his breakthrough radio telescope.

Explore the largest pure gypsum deposit in the world, and go dune sledding while you're at it.

This is one really big nut.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.

Twice a year, visitors can tour the desolate site that birthed the Atomic Age.

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

The original "capsule building" is a masterpiece of Metabolist architecture.

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

After being lost for decades, this striking mural depicting the atomic bomb covers the wall of a busy Tokyo metro station.

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

This ordinary set of steps is a must-see destination for fans of a certain romantic anime.

Not quite the menace it once was, this monster still has some chops.

A beautiful, dense forest in the shadow of Mount Fuji, with a tragic reputation.

A 70-foot-deep ice cave formed by lava from Mt. Fuji on the edge of Japan's "Suicide Forest." 

Japanese national treasure originally built in 593 CE.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.