This urban drawbridge gained eternal pop culture fame when the Blues Brothers jumped it while it was raised.

One of Chicago's last seafood smokehouses perfects a dying breed of fishcraft.

A lush green oasis in the middle of Chicago.

A 400-foot-tall tall map of Chicago makes this once-ignored building stand out.

The twin towers in this Chicago fountain use 50 foot tall video screens to spit on people.

This former coal gasification plant found a curious second life as a popular public park.

From a neon Rapunzel to a bike traffic meter to a street fair color scheme, the most opened drawbridge in the US is a veritable art gallery.

Residents of Fremont in Seattle have considered it the center of the universe since the 1970s.

Statue of Lenin, from Cold War era Czechoslovakia, now in a neighborhood of Seattle.

A giant Troll lurks under one of Seattle's oldest bridges.

A bike being "eaten" by a tree is the real Vashon legend behind popular children's book, "Red Ranger Came Calling."

Walking by this fence is like strolling along a portal to various fictional worlds.

The Hudson River School comes alive at this palatial estate.

A small Second Empire-style building is one of only seven remaining lighthouses on the Hudson River.

The second largest maple syrup producer in the U.S. runs a high-tech operation.

The oldest continuously inhabited street in America.

This once-private estate is now a dreamy, meditative garden that's open to the public.

Collapsing castle on the Hudson river was once the storage site of military surplus business.

"A hideous albatross in the Hudson River Valley."

This mouldering abandoned mental hospital was once a center for progressive healing.

A miscalculation turns a very shallow freshwater lake into a very deep saltwater lake.

A Rodeo for Prisoners.

The stone labyrinth in this New Orleans city park was laid to symbolize healing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.