Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

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

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

This controversial museum includes such detested exhibits as a chocolate suicide bomber and fecal-smelling digestion machine.

Come for the flowers, stay for the bats!

It's said to be one of the most significant collections of contemporary Chinese art in the world.

The southernmost point in the United States is a beautiful place to look at but a deadly place to wade in.

A beach made of semi-precious green sand on the Big Island of Hawai'i.

These picturesque Hawaiian falls are home to a rare species of fish that uses a special sucker to climb up cliffs.

These ancient sacred grounds granted amnesty to those who managed to reach them.

This black shoreline is made up of exploded lava particles.

This narrow coastline trail through the dense Kauai wilderness is among the most beautiful and dangerous in the world.

Submerged lava formations create incredible waterworks.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.