mlaaker's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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San Francisco, California

Book Club of California

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.
San Francisco, California

Mechanics' Institute Library and Chess Room

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.
San Francisco, California

The Box SF-Historic Pressroom and Mercantile

This antique shop specializes in the history of print and design.
San Francisco, California

Letterform Archive

A library and museum dedicated to typography.
Fremont, California

The Secret Sidewalk

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.
Fremont, California

Berkeley Mystery Walls

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.
Redwood City, California

Pulgas Water Temple

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.
San Jose, California

Drawbridge

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.
Stanford, California

Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.
East Palo Alto, California

Chùa Giác Minh

An eatery within a Bay Area Buddhist temple pulls off all your favorite Vietnamese classics without the meat.
Palo Alto, California

The Frenchman's Tower

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.
Pamplin, Virginia

Steins Unlimited

One man's lifelong collection of 10,000 rare steins tells the story of beer drinking from 1350 to today.
Los Angeles, California

The Magic Castle

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.
Washington, D.C.

Reading Room at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

John Brown's Fort

The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.
Washington, D.C.

International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star

Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.
Washington, D.C.

The Cuban Embassy's Hemingway Bar

When it opened during the final years of the embargo, all the drinks and cigars were free.
Washington, D.C.

Palace of Wonders

Bar full of oddities, specimens, artifacts and homages to the great dime museums of the past.
Washington, D.C.

Old Stone House

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.
Washington, D.C.

The Brewmaster's Castle

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years.
Middletown, Maryland

The (First) Washington Monument

Built by the patriotic residents of Boonsboro in a single day.
Washington, D.C.

Catacombs of Washington, D.C.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.
Iran

Naqsh-e Rustam

The ancient necropolis houses the immense rock-cut tombs of four Persian kings.
Nottingham, England

The Lost Caves

Hidden in a grotto 26 feet below Nottingham's oldest hotel, this stylish subterranean drinking den is notoriously hard to find.