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

The remains of a deserted steamboat sit rusting beside an old ferry pier and an abandoned train platform.

A comprehensive collection of Pez dispensers.

Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

This subtle Berkeley paving stone actually marks off a lawless tube of air that extends into space.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

The Flatiron Building's storied West Coast cousin is a lot more into religion.

Handmade treasures from around the world.

Antiques by the Bay.

If you dial the number in this abandoned office window "Sam Spade’s" secretary will ask you to leave a message.

This striking public art installation is suspended above a public park, designed to gently move in the breeze.

The only parking meter in the entire town, it is surrounded by 100 free spaces.

A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

A temple devoted to inner esoteric mysteries located in a California commercial strip.

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

A 90-foot-tall psychedelic "tree" on the side of the highway has baffled passersby for decades.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

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

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

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