One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

The 606 is a decade in the making.

The world's only known button museum.

Less a museum than a bizarre fantasy world created by artists and engineers.

Once one of the world's great cities, Cahokia was a place of religious worship, trade and mass human sacrifice before being mysteriously abandoned.

Quirky water tower advertises the long-gone Brooks Tomato Products Co.

I-95's Tijuana-style celebration of kitsch at the Carolina border.

This museum devoted to the gothic author holds such interesting ephemera as his socks and walking stick.

This shifting North Carolina sand dune is an odd little desert surrounded by oceanic forest life.

Beautiful Gothic-inspired lighthouse stands out among the run-of-the-mill striped fare on Bodies Island.

An organ located deep within a cave, whose "pipes" are the geological features of the cave itself.

The only recreation of William Shakespeare's indoor playhouse.

The semi-reclaimed ruins of this canal were once part of an ambitious plan to reroute the mighty potomac.

This Virginia railway overpass is said to be haunted by a serial killer in a rabbit costume.

Hot Doug's "Hot Dog" Stand.

Chicago's museum dedicated to the history of bondage and fetishism is more textbook than titillation.

An antiquated German apothecary on Chicago's North Side.

This morbid, delightful curiosity shop offers everything from animal bones to human teeth.

An enormous park-like oasis, full of famous Chicagoans' graves.

A strange and haunting monument of unknown origin in the historic Graceland Cemetery.

A haunting statue called "Eternal Silence" has quite the reputation among visitors with active imaginations.

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

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