Proto-CIA agents trained with grenades in the sand traps and fired machine guns from the fairways.

This fort down the Potomac from Washington, D.C. was once the only defensive fort protecting the capital.

A pre-Industrial Age iron furnace and the site of a nearly-forgotten piece of Black history.

This abandoned sea fort has become an accidental bird sanctuary.

A statue of the English poet for whom this Delaware town is named is ritually dressed in seasonally appropriate clothing.

This local gem houses the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings outside of the U.K.

A blend of art, antiquities, and Americana fill this museum, surrounded by whimsical, enchanting gardens.

A grotesque Fiji merman dwells within this traditional Dutch-style building.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

The last of Philadelphia's wood-paved streets is now a landmark of terrible engineering.

Century-old shop, specializing in Occult products.

Hidden behind West Philadelphia rowhomes is a haven for migratory and local bird species both ordinary and rare.

A tiny, unmarked beer and whiskey bar above an Ethiopian restaurant in West Philly fails to conceal live bluegrass.

South Philadelphia is home to Keith Haring's only surviving in situ collaborative public mural.

This Philly landmark has a giant butterfly pavilion, three floors of insect displays, and withstood a $40,000 heist.

Enjoy a slice while browsing the world's largest collection of pizza memorabilia.

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

Where America's first doomsday cult awaited the end of the world.

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

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

Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.

A layered tribute to the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar.

America's most famous museum of medical oddities is home to the remains of Albert Einstein's brain.

This futuristically sylvan church is a glass-enclosed marvel of modern architecture.