A taste of Middle Earth, in the middle of the Bayou City.

You have to love a museum with a truly dedicated focus. A focus on Superman, for example.

An enormous natural sandstone bridge in Kentucky.

A museum to a cave explorer whose tragic death was a media sensation, and whose corpse became a tourist attraction.

Visitors to this arboretum are greeted by three smiling giants crafted from sustainable materials.

This modern castle sat empty for decades before a fire inspired its builders to complete its luxury halls.

One of the few surviving "Wigwam"-themed motels.

Prehistoric animals decorate this popular outdoor park.

River pirates, murderous bandits, and serial killers used this Illinois cave as their debauched hideout.

In the Shawnee National Forest, amazing rock formations peer through the treeline.

Buy a token from the liquor store and you can make this beast spew flames on command.

Norway has built what may be the world's most beautiful public toilet.

This memorial marks the devastating day that Texas City was destroyed in a daisy chain of exploding ships.

This tiny, hurricane-resistant house in Galveston is one of the city's most notable architectural oddities.

The deadly but beautiful ornamental oleander was planted all over the island of Galveston after the hurricane of 1900.

A decaying concrete oil tanker served as a disposal location for bootleg hootch.

An unrealized Taoist palace left abandoned in a Houston suburb.

255 feet of suds, scrubbers, and blow dryers.

A replica viking ship from the Chicago World's Fair is still in dry dock in an Illinois park.

This architectural stunner is one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival theaters in the U.S.

Moving, mind-blowing metal sculpture work of an outsider artist.

This tiny historic jail along Route 66 is the perfect fit for exactly one criminal and their partner-in-crime.

What was once one of the country's largest confectionary plants is now an abandoned ruin, but is still pretty sweet.

What was meant to be a temporary exhibit is now a permanent fixture at the St. Louis Zoo filled with beautiful birds.