Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

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

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

A promotional sun clock on the site of San Francisco's great raceway.

Shoot for par over the bodies of the dead on this cemetery-cum-golf course.

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

San Franciscans leave gifts and messages for the magical beings that live behind the tiny, mysterious door installed on a tree in Golden Gate Park.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

Antiques by the Bay.

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.

A unique market that brings together various goods and cultures.

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

A storybook European village in Berkeley.

Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

An abandoned car and strange wooden debris are among the scattered remains of the old sand and gravel quarry.