Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

The ruins of this former mining boomtown once housed over 3,000 people. Now, the population is two.

The most powerful laboratory radiation source in the world pulses with 1,000 times the electricity of a lightning bolt.

If drivers cross the rumble strip on this stretch of Route 66 at just the right speed it plays "America the Beautiful."

The blinking light atop the iconic landmark has been sending secret messages for decades.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

Non-profit time travel mart sells goods you would need for a trip through the fourth dimension.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

Wild lights and sound effects turn a walk through some caves into an eye-popping 1960s tourist attraction.

A museum dedicated exclusively to aircraft used in the military.

No matter what it might seem like on film, most scenes filmed on a plane are filmed at this LA studio.

A retro walk through the history of the tube.

The stone marker that Mason and Dixon placed at the eastern end of the famous north-south border they surveyed.

The elevator that makes it possible to fly American flags in bulk over the U.S. Capitol

An obscure public service from the U.S. government that redeems burnt, moldy, and soiled old greenbacks.

A hoard of sky catalogs, astrophysical journals, even the works of Galileo and Copernicus.

The actual model from the original "Star Trek" series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

A painfully obvious spy house sits right across the street from the Russian Embassy.

This beach-side arcade is believed to be the oldest penny arcade in America.

The sole remaining outpost of a once-thriving South Carolina chain still sells “pic-a-nic” baskets.