An easy-to-miss garden in Boston's North End honors the mother of JFK and others who lost children in WWII.

From bench to vandalism to art, this silly prank seat was funny enough to become permanent.

Ralph Waldo Emerson spent two years living here decades before it became a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park.

The site of one of the strangest disasters in history—a wave of deadly molasses traveling at 35 mph.

19th-century operating theatre in which the use of ether was first demonstrated - plus, a skeleton and a mummy!

The Boston square dedicated to the dark poet who was born nearby.

Gorgeous purple flowers drape from the world's largest blossoming plant.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

California's most comprehensive horticultural library.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

Berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, "Old Ironsides" is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat.

A beautiful Victorian-era cemetery, complete with a miniature village.

An enormous, inside-out glass globe built in 1935.

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

Stroll the grounds built by murder, suicide, and dirty oil money at one of Hollywood's most filmed mansions.

Arcadia is home to a haven for nature geeks and 80s TV lovers alike.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

The diverse and sometimes odd cultural heritage of the Golden State is collected, examined, and displayed in this proud museum.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Where the rich wintered in Pasadena.

The artwork that Italians felt California didn't deserve.

Working mining and drilling equipment demonstrate 150 years of energy history.