This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

This Los Angeles animation studio is keeping the wonder of stop motion puppetry alive.

An expansive book store, art gallery, and curio shop with wares ranging from tarot cards to novelty socks.

Where the leftovers of love affairs can live on forever.

A master of deception, Harry Houdini's greatest trick may have been living in two places at once.

Nancy Thompson's Home from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

Sister store to the Echo Park Time Travel Store.

A museum, art project, and institution that demands we look at the world around us in a strange new way.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Santa Monica's oldest restaurant, decorated with set pieces from the Mutiny on the Bounty.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

An offbeat angle on the ocean viewed through an antiquated lens.

A treasure hunter's tiny bar, harboring celebrities since 1959.

A Looff creation in Santa Monica best described as “a California-Byzantine-Moorish-style fantasy.”

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

On the top floor of an upscale department store stands a lavish restaurant housed in a replica of a luxury French dining car.

New York City's only radical feminist independent bookstore.

The last remnants of what was once one of the world's grandest hotels can now be found in a Manhattan subway station.

Cheap pizza and all of your naughty bedroom needs housed in a stunning example of Art Nouveau architecture.

Rummage through this sunken ship, but leave your scuba gear at home.

An annual extravaganza of Broadway theater memorabilia.

The oldest bibliophilia club in America, with exhibitions on historic books and graphic arts.