A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

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

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

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

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

A posh members-only club with a literally dramatic history.

The most confusing clock in New York.

There must be a pun in this haystack somewhere...

An artist's cute bronze subway sculptures belie his violent artistic past.

A bit of retro transportation flair preserved in the world's largest department store.

Great place to have a drink and a bite to eat in an atmosphere laden with New York's Bohemian past.

New York City's smallest piece of private property.

Elevated freight railway turned wildly successful urban park.

This beautiful building in the heart of Manhattan's Financial District was empty for decades.