The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

A curious whirlpool formation supposedly capable of entangling or engulfing branches, tree trunks, or whole rafts full of hapless tourists.

The remains of the iconic train crash from the movie The Fugitive can still be found rusting along the Great Smoky Railroad.

The author's beautiful and historic home is also a fully functioning goat farm.

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

Practice your Dirty Dancing lifts in the manmade lake where Johnny Castle himself did.

The highest point in North Carolina and the United States east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell is named after argumentative explorer Elisha Mitchell.

This ancient art form was used to capture the lives and struggles of the Haywood Street ministry.

An early life spent in this "Old Kentucky Home" inspired the writings of North Carolina's most famous novelist.

Classy up your Big Mac with bow-tied servers and chandeliers at the world's fanciest McDonald's.

This giant iron playfully pays tribute to an early 20th-century architectural trend.

Every week, a festive public jam session breaks out in downtown Asheville.

A nourishing complex of found object art, paintings, and sculptures that celebrate key figures in Black history.

A 17th-century bezoar, dirt from an infamous site, and other curios decorate this unusual bar.

The U.S. Supreme Court's secret Cold War relocation facility in the mountains of North Carolina.

A wedding chapel, vintage clothing shop, and bar all under one roof.

This rare basilica nestled right in downtown Asheville is an architectural marvel, inside and out.

An illegally built ramshackle mansion tucked in the middle of Brooklyn is now being turned into condominiums.

For almost a century, this East Village newsstand has served egg creams to beats, hippies, punks, and everything in between.

An easy to overlook storefront hides some of the most authentic and regionally diverse Chinese food in New York.

The only subway station in the city that still makes use of gap fillers.

An eerie diorama that captures the majestic nature of a few prehistoric-looking beasts.

An homage to Jackie Gleason's bus-driving character from 'The Honeymooners.'

This taxidermy scene brings the struggle for survival in the Indian jungle to a quiet corner of a Manhattan museum.