An early-19th-century hotel with a past that is steeped in the Civil War.

A Milwaukee museum provides an unsparing and ultimately empowering look at the Black American experience.

What appears to be a wizard's lair in Milwaukee actually houses a massive water pipe.

The oldest certified bowling alley in the United States is in the basement of this century-old bar.

20,000 pieces in a Frank Gehry-designed building.

A hot dog stand where the heads are just as hot as the dogs.

Where Cusack's record store from the film "High Fidelity" was located.

In one Chicago park, a trio of werewolves are waiting to devour their fallen brethren.

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.

A century-old network of freight tunnels underneath the city's historic business district.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

A gothic church spire sits atop this skyscraper, the tallest church in the world.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

A military museum and library dedicated to the citizen soldier.

This memorial plaque remembers a strangely shallow maritime disaster known as "Chicago's Titanic."

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

A whimsical antique shop with a strong air of mystery, filled with items from ages, and what feels like worlds, past.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

With the touch of a button, you can read a randomly selected short story.

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.