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

A whimsical antique shop with a strong air of mystery, filled with items from ages, and what feels like worlds, past.

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

George Lucas donated this park to honor the birthplace of his two biggest movie franchises.

This quaint archive of the silent era preserves and pays homage to a seminal moment in film history.

This infamous prison has a store where you can buy goods crafted by incarcerated people.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

Antiques by the Bay.

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

340 bicycles, 65 feet high.

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

The largest Star Wars collection in the world is its own galaxy of collectibles.

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

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

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

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

This small oasis of flora and art was created in remembrance of a local auto business owner.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

A gap in the concrete has been transformed into a miniature playground for the mind.

The only museum of sake in the United States is nestled in an unlikely California college town.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

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

A storybook European village in Berkeley.