The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

A Swedenborgian glass church surrounded by redwoods sits perched atop a massive landslide area.

A "haunted" landmark on the coast of Southern California.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

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

A multimedia experience that chronicles the atrocities of racism.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.