The oldest U.S. Government building in California, and it's State Historic Landmark #1.

This little valley along Highway 1 is engulfed by thousands of lilies during the spring season.

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

A Mysterious Masonic tomb in San Luis Obispo.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

This whimsical seashell-shaped place of worship was designed to blend into its surroundings.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

Built by the inventor of the radio, this abandoned hotel has housed early radio employees, military men, and a dangerous cult.

Law-protected wreckage serves as a peculiar memorial for an almost forgotten World War II tragedy.

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

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

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

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

Social saloon from a scrapped trans-Pacific 19th century steamer.

Internationally-recognized arts center housed in a century-old former military barracks.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

An abandoned, unfinished mansion on grounds strewn with lava rocks.

Across Ring Mountain is a vast collection of Native American petroglyphs unique to the region.

The Flatiron Building's storied West Coast cousin is a lot more into religion.