These four islands right offshore have waterfalls, colorful lights, fancy buildings, and a secret purpose.

This midcentury LA bar was the birthplace of tiki culture.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

Be on the lookout for the symbolic insect all over the city.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

A deserted hodgepodge of experimental structures designed by nearby university students.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

The creator of the carousel's bingo-pinball hybrid survives in California's oldest gaming establishment.

This rare tortoise skeleton has been hanging around the downtown Los Angeles museum for over a century.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

The 10-foot-wide Long Beach home was built on a dare.

The world's largest collection of fine-scale miniatures and one the nation's largest collections of antique toys.

Step back in time at this 1950s display home, built to showcase once cutting-edge electric amenities.

The first car-centric shopping plaza in the U.S. brought a little bit of Spain to downtown Kansas City.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.

Hiding amid the largest camellia collection in the country lies a charming children's maze, donated by a secret admirer.

Four, 18-foot-tall badminton shuttlecocks lie scattered about the lawn of a Kansas City museum.

A 56-foot tall statue of the god of fire looks out over Birmingham, Alabama.

Once one of the largest producers of pig iron in the world.

The oldest university museum west of the Mississippi retains its 19th century feel.

A mysteriously dark cemetery monument fuels stories and legends galore.

A religious-themed park filled with folk art to bring biblical stories to life that fell into disrepair and now being restored.

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.