The former Naval shipyard is open for exploring - mostly.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

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

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

A unique piece of graffiti offers a little slice of local history and mystery.

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

A beautiful memorial tells the story of a formerly enslaved woman whose kindness shaped a burgeoning city.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

The secret room where early Bolsheviks cranked out propaganda fliers on a smuggled printing press.

Tower with a double-helix spiral, adorned with letters of the Georgian alphabet.

A literally moving statue of stacked metal giants just continually trying (and failing) to find love.

Fast food feels like fine dining at this award-winning modern Georgian building.

Despite being tiny and rural this Georgian airport looks like a sci-fi boondoggle.

Fortified homes of highland warriors that are still in use today.

The first skyscraper to include a Ferris wheel built into the facade.

Small church on top of a huge rock column.

This magnificent museum claims to house the cranium of a disciple and the skull of a pope.

A fearsome dragon clings to a corner of Munich's city hall.

Go surfing on this urban wave, "hacked" by local surfers.

Daily jousts and dancing barrel makers in Munich's mechanical clock.

The patron saint of spinsters grasps a container of dried blood.

A museum glorifying the life of Stalin, located in the city of his birth.