Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

Established in the '60s, a family-owned tropical drink bar founded by Ray Buhen, bartender to the stars.

Grab a latte at the birthplace of modern American skateboarding.

Known as the "Hobbit Houses," these storybook homes look like they're straight out of the Shire.

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

A spiritual retreat in the heart of Los Angeles offers stunning gardens and a labyrinth to lose yourself in.

The neighborhood shop is a sort of tiny cactus museum full of exotic specimens you can take home.

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

Though the original building has been demolished, these massive bronze doors were saved.

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

The space-age building is home to one of the few remaining rotating restaurants in America, and the only one that inspired a 1980s sitcom.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

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

The disdain for this dysfunctional dam is reflected in a giant pair of scissors painted on the concrete face.