17,400 lbs., 12 feet in diameter, and 29 years in the making.

An urban laboratory.

She stares out across six lanes of traffic, clutching a musket and infant with determination.

This massive swimming pool is the high tech home to the human-powered submarine races.

Once home to seven different roller coasters, Glen Echo has undergone many transformations since its founding in 1891.

A natural history wunderkammer in the middle of the desert.

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.

The final resting place of a space program monolith.

The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.

Hidden above a drug store on a nondescript corner of Lincoln Heights is a private clubhouse for intrepid explorers.

Panorama exhibition hall in old silent theater with a beautiful backyard garden.

Church and home-museum of a 1920s female revivalist preacher with a very sordid past.

Giant Redwood-themed cafeteria operates under the golden rule, "Dine Free Unless Delighted."

The space-age building is home to one of the few remaining rotating restaurants in America, and the only one that inspired a 1980s sitcom.

This opulent hotel has been visited by Spider-Man, Charlie's Angels, and the Ghostbusters.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

In this small Phoenix taxidermy emporium, you can find everything from a squid in a jar to a freeze-dried toad.

This mountain fissure hides a secret path to a secluded mossy grotto within the rock itself.

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.

One of the tallest buildings in Iceland, and perhaps, the most visually impressive.

This fantastical waterfall is hidden in a cave located in a cracked cliff.

Cairns built to bring travelers good luck stretch across the land like miniature stone mountains.