lanavaughan's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Detroit, Michigan

Nancy Brown Peace Carillon

Advice-columnist's bell tower, paid for with pennies.
Allen Park, Michigan

Uniroyal Giant Tire

The 80-foot tire that looms over Michigan's I-94 was once a Ferris wheel in the New York World Fair.
Frankenmuth, Michigan

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland

World's largest Christmas store.
Onsted, Michigan

Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park

The remains of an abandoned dinosaur theme park litter the woods just off the highway.
Detroit, Michigan

Belle Isle Aquarium

The Beaux-Arts aquarium boasts a vast collection of saltwater and freshwater fish on an island in the Detroit River.
Detroit, Michigan

John K. King Used & Rare Books

This sprawling bookstore spans four floors and has more than a million books in stock.
Imlay, Nevada

Thunder Mountain Monument

The self-made house sculpture of an outsider artist who named himself "Chief Rolling Thunder."
Palo Alto, California

Stanford Mausoleum

Guarded by the Angel of Grief, the Stanford family tomb attracts an odd mix of halloween revelry and somber contemplation.
Palo Alto, California

Gates of Hell Sculpture

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.
Mount Hamilton, California

Lick Observatory

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.
Mountain View, California

Computer History Museum

From the Difference Engine to the Cray-1, all under one roof.
Los Altos, California

The Apple Garage

The garage at the childhood home of Steve Jobs was a hangout for the founders of Apple, even if they never built computers there.
Santa Clara, California

Shrine of Our Lady of Peace

One of the largest Marian shrines on the West Coast stands rather unexpectedly in Silicon Valley.
San Jose, California

Quetzalcóatl Sculpture

It is locally loved and ridiculed for literally looking like poop.
San Jose, California

First Honey Bees in California

A plaque outside the San Jose airport commemorates the insect's arrival to the West Coast.
San Jose, California

California Trolley and Railroad Corporation

Historical trolley restoration and operation at History San Jose, Kelly Park.
San Jose, California

Drawbridge

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.
San Jose, California

The Winchester Mystery House

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.
San Francisco, California

Dutch Windmill

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.
San Francisco, California

Camera Obscura & Holograph Collection

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

Winehaven

Once the largest winery in the world, this castle-like building now sits abandoned on the San Pablo/San Francisco Bay shore.
Albany, California

Albany Bulb

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."
San Francisco, California

Pier 22½ & the SFFD Fire Boats

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.
San Francisco, California

Hills Bros. Coffee Sculpture

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.