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

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

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

A pair of pure white felines guard the entrance to a spot of California real estate established as an artist's haven.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

A giant chess set, minus the psychedelic drug trip.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

One of the largest Marian shrines on the West Coast stands rather unexpectedly in Silicon Valley.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

The garage at the childhood home of Steve Jobs was a hangout for the founders of Apple, even if they never built computers there.

A giant can of fruit cocktail is all that remains of what was once the world's largest cannery.

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

A humble garage, world-famous for being the epicenter of a technology revolution.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

A hidden world of exotic succulents and cacti.