A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

The tea room that pushed the boundaries of adorable straight into...we can't find the words.

A ghost town at the airport is now a refuge for blue butterflies.

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

Stripes of flowers bloom each spring in a 50 acre rainbow of color.

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

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

The remains of the first punk club in L.A.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

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

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.

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

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.