This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The first AIDS memorial chapel in San Francisco and one of only a few in the U.S.

A masterpiece in Golden Gate Park by virtue of the artist’s debt.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

The most beautiful Taco Bell in the world even has surfboard parking.

California's oldest wind harp represents a historic piece of America's Danish history.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

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

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

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

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

Join the circus for a few lessons to learn clowning, acrobatics, and Chinese contortion.

A speck of nature and art in one of San Francisco’s most notorious neighborhoods.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A walk down memory lane in the heart of one of San Francisco's most notorious neighborhoods.

Adolph Sutro's little-known, geographically inaccurate, deprecated monument.