Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

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

The Laureates here get something even more coveted than a Nobel Prize: free parking for life.

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.

A storybook European village in Berkeley.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

A celebration of once forgotten materials.

One man's prolific, decade-long quest to turn trash into artistic treasure.

Worker-owned cooperative and resource for those looking to lighten their ecological footprint.

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

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

The newsstand that never closes its doors—well, almost never.

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.

A store that sells all manner of bones, insects, and animal curiosities.

Location of the most powerful laser in the world, and the potential birthplace of tiny stars.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

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

A ruined hotel with an unlucky history and an eerie present.