A giant roadside black bird marks the location of this eclectic local mall.

Instead of fruit, the branches of this tree are brimming with hopes and dreams.

Entering this curiosity shop is like stepping into a mad scientist's lab.

Delightful disarray of found objects and clutter.

A whimsical menagerie of devils, krampuses, satyrs, and other horned creatures.

The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

On the Oregon coast there is a natural hole that seems to be draining the sea.

Only known mainland rookery of the threatened Stellar sea lion.

The park preserves a single, rare species of carnivorous plant that spells doom for unsuspecting insects.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

This little museum has an exhibit devoted to the elusive forest denizens.

A Tibetan Temple and Buddhist organization just off the beaten path in Northern California.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

A walk down memory lane in the heart of one of San Francisco's most notorious neighborhoods.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

The rustic cabin-like decor of this Arts and Crafts-style church reflects the love of nature central to its little-known theology.