An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

Legendary frontman of the Doors looms in this giant mural by famed Venice muralist, Rip Cronk.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Authentic gondola hanging from the ceiling, notable mural in the back room.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

A three-story, three-dimensional hobo clown in a tutu welcomes CVS shoppers.

Santa Monica's oldest restaurant, decorated with set pieces from the Mutiny on the Bounty.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

A treasure hunter's tiny bar, harboring celebrities since 1959.

An offbeat angle on the ocean viewed through an antiquated lens.

One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

Giant origami crease patterns engraved in Santa Monica intersections may even be visible from space.

Formerly the most gerrymandered district in the U.S., it twisted and turned along racial borders.

This isn't your average roadway—it's actually a National Park and a transportation pioneer.

One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”

Soldiers were buried next to Lee's house in the center of Arlington Cemetery to dissuade the general from reclaiming his property after the war.

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.

At Washington's Dulles Airport is a satellite museum (no pun intended) with three quarters of a million square feet of aircraft history.

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

America's post-nuclear-attack chambers of Congress.

The highest point in North Carolina and the United States east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell is named after argumentative explorer Elisha Mitchell.

Forget Hollywood, one of the biggest stars in the world can be found in Roanoke, Virginia.