San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

A unique piece of graffiti offers a little slice of local history and mystery.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

An abandoned convention space that has been left to the homeless and the radical.

The Flatiron Building's storied West Coast cousin is a lot more into religion.

A hardware store Buddha statue installed to deter vandalism wound up attracting Vietnamese immigrants who came to pray.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.