Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

A living time capsule of the 1960s Richardson Bay water-front.

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

At night, a grove of towering redwood trees growing through the pavement block out all light from the so-called “Dark Park” of Madrone Avenue.

Once the site of speeding horses, now home to picnickers and public concerts.

An invitation-only museum of items natural and bizarre, arcane and exotic.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

Hopeless romantics will swoon over the sweet story behind this bright and colorful home.

Steinbeck's old stomping grounds, immortalized in Cannery Row.

Fake rail crossings mark the site of an influential doctor's demise.

This municipal playground was co-created by the father of one of the most playful characters ever.

A wealth of seafaring history displayed on the California coast.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

One of the last surviving buildings of a once large and thriving Chinatown.

A simple statue outside a California Amtrak station honors the overlooked contributions of the "silent spikes."

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Thousands of migrating monarchs overwinter clustered amongst the eucalyptus trees.

This giant spider sculpture made from the iconic car is one giant visual pun.

A giant knight, sex education, date shakes, and Jesus coexist happily in this Coachella Valley desert oasis.

A giant desert bird that once swung music fans at Coachella now has a home in a nearby traffic circle.