Like Mardi Gras, only everyone's a pirate.

The largest retailer of seashells in the world.

Former villa and estate of James Deering developed to preserve native tropical forests.

The world's largest occupied bat houses hold hundreds of thousands of flying mammals.

It's a pretty creepy lock-up.

An 18th-century Spanish watchtower made entirely of seashell and concrete.

A tribute to Ponce de Leon's supposed quest for eternal youth.

A luxurious 1880s hotel with its fair share of Tiffany stained glass, Edison electricity, and of course, ghosts.

This Florida sinkhole hides a rainforest-like micro-environment in its depths.

Florida might be at its most surreal in this museum devoted to the famed Spanish artist.

A monument celebrating the idea of reaching inaccessible places.

Florida's oldest bar was once a morgue, complete with a hanging tree and gravestones.

The former home of the Nobel Prize-winning American writer is now home to dozens of six-toed cats.

A lovely hidden waterfall right off the highway is well worth a stop.

Wisconsin's most celebrated export gets the royal treatment on I-94.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

A display of magnificent stained glass windows is the first exhibit of its kind.

The last masonry skyscraper ever built reveals a transitional moment in architectural history.

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.

Partially submerged Buddha heads freckle Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

A military museum and library dedicated to the citizen soldier.

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, this Chicago building is a vibrant hub for artists.