A giant chess set, minus the psychedelic drug trip.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

A monumental cross hides in the trees in Golden Gate Park.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

Originally the home of chewing gum mogul William Wrigely Jr, it is now the official offices of the Tournament of Roses.

A stellar example of Art & Crafts architecture, and a movie set to boot.

Here, visitors can swing with the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

An ominous concrete cube cuts a dystopian silhouette atop this California mountain.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

The decor of this Hollywood movie palace just barely predated the opening of King Tut's tomb.

One of the most elaborate displays of Jellyfish is on display at the aquarium.

From the Difference Engine to the Cray-1, all under one roof.

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

One of the largest free-standing structures ever built, this dirigible hangar is now simply a giant skeleton.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.