Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

The abandoned personal amusement park of the King of Pop.

If you dial the number in this abandoned office window "Sam Spade’s" secretary will ask you to leave a message.

Outsider art or homage to aliens?

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

A monumental cross hides in the trees in Golden Gate Park.

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

This diner's a kitschy dreamland for anyone whose heart is stuck in the 1980s.

The last of a gourmet supermarket chain, this store helped spark California's Food Revolution.

A tiny survivor of the Donner Party disaster.

A mesmerizing disco ball-like sculpture along the Sacramento River Walk.

This collection of hand fans doubles as a history of femininity.

This restaurant's marvelous musical machines include a self-playing violin.

Each summer, the migratory bats living beneath the bypass form "batnadoes" at dusk.

The largest permanent Monopoly board makes one of the longest games even bigger.

It is locally loved and ridiculed for literally looking like poop.

For roadside fast food, pull over at the giant orange.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

This historic California cemetery holds the bodies of veterans of both the Civil War and the Donner Party.

Monumental sculptures of Patrick Amiot, constructed from debris, detritus, and determination.

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

An eccentric home stands out in an otherwise average neighborhood with mosaics, mini topiaries, and kinetic sculpture.

A garden oasis filled with flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.