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

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

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

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

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

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.