A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

Two pillars set 10 paces apart commemorate the "last notable American duel."

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

A library and museum dedicated to typography.

This concrete ship has had four careers - World War I tanker, floating amusement park, fishing pier, and artificial reef.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

A pair of slides and a tree-lined stair corridor have been an urban oasis for nearly 40 years.

An abandoned convention space that has been left to the homeless and the radical.

A temple devoted to inner esoteric mysteries located in a California commercial strip.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

A hardware store Buddha statue installed to deter vandalism wound up attracting Vietnamese immigrants who came to pray.

Amazing meticulous gardens of personal wood carvings, Hydrangea, Canna, and many other flowers.

Antiques by the Bay.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

The final resting place of the Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

A 140-year-old castle with underground caves hidden in San Francisco.

Abortion, prohibition, religion, war, and fear all play a part in the history of this idiosyncratic Pacifica castle.

Radioactivity still cause for concern at this urban explorer's paradise.

The graffiti-covered remnants of a former triangulation station are balanced precariously on this California peak.