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

Beloved bar home to musicians of all eras and reputations.

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

This house renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright was the centerpiece of a lavish 20th-century estate.

An exhibit of items from the mental institution where Mary Todd Lincoln lived after her son conspired to have her committed.

Home to the largest urban bat colony in North America, estimated at 1.5 million bats.

A former atom smasher turned into an art gallery.

This former nursery supplied plants for the creation of Chicago's largest park.

A tribute to one granddaughter's old apartment which now represents the whims of each visitor.

Tucked away amongst townhomes lies a restored, early 20th-century tea house and garden, the only remains of a historic estate.

A onetime gangsters' hideaway where you can dine on steaks, fine wines, and cigars just like they once did.

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.

The young Black revolutionary was killed before getting to see a non-segregated pool in his hometown.

This grubby wall is said to be one of the Earth's esoteric energy centers.

Former hotel turned into haunted playground.

The oldest house in Galena, Illinois, now is a reminder of when this city was the world's lead mining capital.

The dream home of an iconoclastic renaissance man still stands as a monument to his domestically mundane vision.

This cave holds a surprisingly colorful variety of geological oddities.

A giant, Gilded Age mansion that once belonged to the beer baron of Milwaukee.

Once a speakeasy operated by Al Capone, this Milwaukee cigar bar is now a haven for ghost hunters.

A unique botanical garden housed in three giant geodesic domes.

This deceivingly ordinary warehouse hides an enormous collection of pop culture treasures.

The site of a 19th century "dream city" that almost rivaled Chicago before being swallowed by the Indiana sand dunes.

This architectural stunner is one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival theaters in the U.S.