After the parade, students throw their beads on the tree hoping for good luck on exams.

This abandoned Civil War fortress is slowly being swallowed by the waters of Lake Borgne.

A little piece of Paris in the sultry south of the U.S.

Once defending the city of New Orleans from invasion by sea, this fort faces an uncertain future.

The crumbling remains of a 19th century fortess.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

A collection of oddities including Dr. Kevorkian's suicide device, the Thanatron.

An acoustic anomaly with a mysterious cause.

This abandoned Abraham Lincoln statue has also earned the honorary of "World's Ugliest."

This titanic Catholic church in Chicago is also a refuge of the fictional cult-favorite wizard detective Harry Dresden.

The oldest experimental corn field in America is still creating better ways to grow crops.

This surprising gem is a world-class archeological museum hidden at the University of Chicago.

The NBA player's elaborate former home is now a ghost of its old glory.

A former atom smasher turned into an art gallery.

This rare female version of the Muffler Man has its clothes removed each summer to signal the start of pool season.

Roses and other fascinating flora fill this garden built to commemorate Britain's immortal Bard.

The world's largest covered wagon is piloted by a giant Lincoln lawyer.

This deceivingly ordinary warehouse hides an enormous collection of pop culture treasures.

This historic store hides a museum exhibiting a shoe-sizing x-ray machine and a pair of kicks that once belonged to the world's tallest man.

With 8,000 pipes this giant instrument is the most versatile theatre pipe organ ever built.

The only place in America where anyone who wants can shovel coal aboard an antique train.

Known as the "Cross At The Crossroads," this massive metal cross is just short enough to avoid the FAA.

One of the largest pieces of scientific equipment ever carried on a NASA space shuttle sits in a Chicago alley.

One of the most powerful computers in the world can be visited by anyone who wants to experience more computing than they can handle.