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Pompeii, Italy

Pompeii Thermopolium

Before it was buried by volcanic ash, this fast-food restaurant fed the hungry hordes of ancient Rome.
Pompeii, Italy

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.
Pompeii, Italy

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.
Pompeii, Italy

The Brothels of Pompeii

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.
Pompeii, Italy

Thermopolia of Pompeii

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.
New Bedford, Massachusetts

The Oozing Whale Skeleton of New Bedford

For 20 years, this whale skeleton has been slowly dripping oil on the floor of the museum where it hangs.
Edgartown, Massachusetts

‘Jaws’ Bridge

The filming location of a shark attack in Steven Spielberg’s famous shark movie.
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

Flying Horses Carousel

The oldest platform carousel built in the United States continues to delight children in Martha’s Vineyard.
Boston, Massachusetts

World's Largest Air-Insulated Van de Graaff Generator

The massive machine creates cracking displays of indoor lightning.
Plymouth, Massachusetts

Plimoth Patuxet

Since 1947, this living history museum has been providing an immersive look at life in Plymouth Colony.
Aquinnah, Massachusetts

Aquinnah Cliffs

Colorful clay cliffs tower over an unofficial nudist beach on Martha's Vineyard.
Concord, Massachusetts

Orchard House

Louisa May Alcott based “Little Women” on her experiences growing up in this house with her sisters.
Boston, Massachusetts

Faneuil Hall

A former waterfront market is now in the center of town due to some interesting Boston engineering.
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

Martha's Vineyard Gingerbread Houses

This candy-colored storybook village originated as a 19th-century Methodist campground.
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Bollards

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.
Washington, D.C.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.
Washington, D.C.

The Lockkeeper's House

A derelict bit of infrastructure from the canal that once ran through D.C. is landlocked in the heart of the city.
Washington, D.C.

Man Controlling Trade

A muscular Art Deco monument represents the struggle between regulators and unbridled markets.
Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument Access Hatch

Daredevil repair workers can worm their way out the access hatch, loop ropes over the apex and rappel down the monument.
Washington, D.C.

Georgetown Waterfront

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.
Washington, D.C.

Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.
Washington, D.C.

District of Columbia Center Point

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.
Washington, D.C.

Carousel on the National Mall

Washington's iconic carousel has a nice piece of Civil Rights history.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."