Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

The largest permanent Monopoly board makes one of the longest games even bigger.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

An outdoor sculpture park of giant pink robots and post-apocalyptic Christmas scenes.

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

Stripes of flowers bloom each spring in a 50 acre rainbow of color.

The tea room that pushed the boundaries of adorable straight into...we can't find the words.

A ghost town at the airport is now a refuge for blue butterflies.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Sister store to the Echo Park Time Travel Store.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.