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

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

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

This tall and trim architectural oddity is one of the skinniest buildings in San Francisco.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

This residential door allows San Francisco muggles a glimpse at the wizarding world.

Deliciousness abounds at a Guatemalan restaurant masquerading as a pizzeria.

This outpost of America's most popular fast-food restaurant is housed inside a palatial mansion.

A former poultry store that looks like a giant duck and is one of the "seven wonders" of Long Island.

A fire station-turned-church-turned-museum dedicated to the work of seminal light artist Dan Flavin.

In the middle of suburban Staten Island, a nearly 150-year-old bakery is preserving the art of a disappearing New York treat.

Once America's longest-manned military fort, now an abandoned hulk.

A restaurant on Staten Island showcases a different grandmother’s cooking every night.

Hidden in plain sight on the Hudson River is an abandoned train station where nature has taken over.

A bronze plaque at an intersection in Hoboken marks the place where the game of baseball first took shape.

The boulder on which Alexander Hamilton laid his head as he died can still be visited on the New Jersey coast.

This collection of grinning ephemera has grown from basement to Brooklyn.

A no-frills cinephile haven known for showing offbeat, underseen films.

Behind a bodega is a small museum of relics and ephemera showcasing the history of New York.

One of the few Glatt kosher delis in the United States is a cornerstone of its Hasidic neighborhood.

Lie in a hammock where George Washington stood.

A layered tribute to the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar.

Golden and naked, the figure that was once the highest point in New York is all that remains of the second Madison Square Garden.

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.