Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

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

A strange house built only at night, with rumored mystic inspiration.

Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

If you are looking for a used Russian battery, Chinese Ham Radio or other electronic oddities this Flea Market is a good place to start.

Historical trolley restoration and operation at History San Jose, Kelly Park.

The rest of him lived another 61 years and was buried elsewhere.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

Eclectic collection of dark and macabre antiques.

This fully intact Neoclassical-Greek Revival style firehouse operated until 1938.

A fine mixture of the old and the new topped with an art deco neon spire.

The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.

Established in 1853, this crumbling cemetery sits forgotten on the corner of Church and Chapel in Gold Country.

I Street Bridge is the heaviest swinging center bridge in the United States.

This giant shopping mall still holds signs of its automotive past.

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

Standing in for the first ship to navigate the Northwest Passage.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

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

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.

The best place in the park to test out your throwing arm.