A desert that rolls right up to the ocean, where it's so dry animals live off the fog.

The remains of diamond fever taken over by the desert.

This titanic Catholic church in Chicago is also a refuge of the fictional cult-favorite wizard detective Harry Dresden.

A bloodstain from "the wound of the transverberation of the heart."

One of the few remaining relics of the meatpacking hub that made Chicago the "hog butcher to the world."

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.

The oldest house in Chicago certainly doesn't look the part and there are some who say it doesn't deserve its title either.

Hidden on the 7th floor of a historic building, this Cajun spot features wall-to-wall bottles of hot sauce.

Orthodox church partially financed by Tsar Nicolas II.

This small, but long-running hobby club has built one of the largest model rail lines in the US.

One of Chicago's last seafood smokehouses perfects a dying breed of fishcraft.

In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

This surprising gem is a world-class archeological museum hidden at the University of Chicago.

One-of-a-kind preserved ruins of an abandoned 1880s church in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

First planned industrial community in the United States.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, this grandiose building is a relic of Freemasonry in Chicago a century ago.

A hot dog stand where the heads are just as hot as the dogs.

Cemetery featuring rare glass-fronted columbarium.

This $3 million model train takes you through Chicago, Seattle, and the thousands of miles in between.

Pizza with a side of fine art.

These abandoned grain silos and tunnels are an urban exploration dream.

Years of archaeology, just chillin' by the water cooler.

What's left of the ruins of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition, or World's Fair, also known as the White City.