The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

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

A modern day curiosity cabinet.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

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

These constructed wetlands naturally filter millions of gallons of treated wastewater every day.

Electrical pylon in the shape of Disney's beloved mouse.

World's largest magnetic research facility.

In a city crazy for seashells this museum educates and amazes visitors using the wonder of cast-off exoskeletons.

Just below the surface, shrimp are producing temperatures hotter than the sun.

The largest retailer of seashells in the world.

One-time winter retreats of prolific inventor Thomas Edison and his friend Henry Ford.

Former utopian colony based on the belief that the universe exists in a hollow sphere.

It turns out that a hurricane-prone beach is probably not the best place to house wild animals.

The giant squid's 27-foot-long corpse lies preserved within a Sarasota aquarium.

This shop also boasts some sweet memorabilia from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

This kitsch eatery is chock-a-block with bric-a-brac.

The first custom-designed building to showcase the works of Dale Chihuly is a wonderland of glass and light.

The only Florida state park with publicly accessible caves.

An abandoned water sports stadium that has become a haven for graffiti and decay.

The behemoth beasts engaged in an epic battle is the second-tallest statue in the contiguous United States.