The first patented shaved-ice machine heralded a snowy wonderland of iced treats at a favorite New Orleans summer shack.

In 1810, free people of color made up more of New Orleans's population than any other Southern city.

A bookstore with an entire room dedicated to damaged and forlorn comic books.

A colorful architectural gem in Seattle's uniquely modern Central Library.

A glorious pub known for a spiteful printing feud and its famous typeface lost—then found—at the bottom of the Thames.

A taste of Middle Earth, in the middle of the Bayou City.

At the "Garage Mahal" in Houston, car culture is about more than just driving.

The peaceful space is adorned by paintings by the famed abstract artist Mark Rothko.

A collection of Witchcraft artifacts and occult paraphernalia started by the leader of the Long Island Coven.

This spectacular public market has got meat, fish, vegetables, baked goods, and enough kielbasa for a lifetime.

This Kansas City studio was home to Walt Disney's first animation business.

The world's largest collection of fine-scale miniatures and one the nation's largest collections of antique toys.

Less a museum than a bizarre fantasy world created by artists and engineers.

This collection started by a Cornell professor once held more than 600 human brain specimens, including the one that belonged to its founder.

The library of every book lover's dreams.

An ancient city exhumed from the depths of the ocean.

Nature took her revenge on the "Wickedest City in the World."

Everyone from Alan Ginsberg to The Rolling Stones has stopped by this classic dive bar.

The bat-covered home of one of the world's most popular brands of rum is located on a tropical Art Deco campus.

Old neon signs from the City of Brotherly Love provide a snapshot of the city’s evolution.

A museum dedicated to the strange and extravagant costumes and memorabilia of the mummers, a tradition older than Philadelphia itself.

This little-known collection holds everything from "Dracula" notes, to the manuscript of "Ulysses," to the forged works of Shakespeare.

The taxidermied remains of Charles Dickens' pet raven, which helped inspire one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems.

Mural made of 100,000 pieces of hand blown glass, and until recently, the largest glass mural in the US.