This permanent exhibition celebrates the finest of our heartless automatons both real and fictional.

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.

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

Half of a waterfall goes into the river while the other half seems to disappear.

The largest ancient burial mound in Ohio.

An unusual, super-sized grocery adventure awaits in an Ohio suburb.

These Great Lakes sea caves accessible by boat in the summer turn into temples of ice reachable by foot in the winter.

At the base of Steens Mountain resides an otherworldly desert.

The second largest waterfall by volume in the U.S., Willamette Falls is outdone only by Niagara in the amount of water that is pushed northward.

Oregon's unexpected high desert, displaying layers of time in a colorful show.

The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.

This Seattle store is packed with all sorts of curious creatures and creations.

The first park built over a freeway is a brutalist masterwork.

A 100-year-old purveyor of curiosities, curios, and kitsch featuring mummies, shrunken heads, and a Fiji Mermaid.

An expansive book store, art gallery, and curio shop with wares ranging from tarot cards to novelty socks.

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.

A fashion designer's dazzling world of Japanese collectibles is hidden in a warehouse downtown.

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

This hilltop park offers magnificent views and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

This Los Angeles animation studio is keeping the wonder of stop motion puppetry alive.

It should come as no surprise that the best view of the Hollywood sign is from Batman's lair.

New Jersey's last historic covered bridge was rebuilt from pieces of the original 19th-century structure.

A world-class collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata.