This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

The world's most elegant power lines.

The iconic boulevard is the perfect place to catch sight of a bicycling skeleton, a levitating Satan, or a chef with his head stuck in a pizza.

This “living museum” at UCLA exhibits thousands of plant species from all over the world.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

One time home to turn of the century explosives, now hidden under the Bay Bridge.

An enormous illuminated figure dances on the Las Vegas strip.

Deco Modern sculptures of the people of the Pacific, cast for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

Masterful ceramic fountain and map of the Pacific Basin.

An enormous artwork that colorfully celebrates over 150 years of US military achievements.

A remnant of Korea's colonial past lies forgotten in a hip neighborhood in Seoul.

The world's first cruise ship-shaped hotel is perched atop a cliff.

This Niagara Falls tourist trap is a world bright with neon and curiosities that will inspire love, hate, or a mixture of both.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

One of the most elaborate displays of Jellyfish is on display at the aquarium.

The oldest U.S. Government building in California, and it's State Historic Landmark #1.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.