This New Orleans statue of a portly figure in a goofy hat pays homage to a classic of satirical literature.

Home to the largest urban bat colony in North America, estimated at 1.5 million bats.

Continuing the tradition of the dime museum in style.

This golf ball–shaped former desert real estate office now houses a UFO museum.

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.

Hidden inside this Arizona fast food franchise is an in-depth exhibit on the famed WWII counterintelligence program.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

Raised illegally, Reggie now lives at the Los Angeles Zoo after authorities spent years tracking him down.

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

Dozens of lights dangle from the branches of what may be the brightest tree in Los Angeles.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

A multimedia experience that chronicles the atrocities of racism.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.

This quirky roadside attraction dives into the many theories surrounding North America's most infamous hairy cryptid.

Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

Back in 1952, you could get a mushroom cloud chaser with your atomic cocktail.

An exotic wildlife habitat right off The Strip.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.