An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

This concrete ship has had four careers - World War I tanker, floating amusement park, fishing pier, and artificial reef.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

A "gravitational anomaly" located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California.

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

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

Centuries of crashing waves carved out this small hole in the rock, which lights up at certain parts of the year.

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

Home to the "Circus" trees created by Axel Erlandson.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

This charmingly homemade amusement park has been growing for 40 years.

At this California chicken ranch, four bucks will get you 18 eggs and a chorus of dancing animatronic poultry.