An old California photo stand has been turned into a shrine to the cozy art of crochet.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

This outdoor observatory offers stellar views and a scale model of our solar system.

Artist Jack Pierson made this surreal sculpture in honor of Wonder Valley, a countercultural community on edge of civilization.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

A reproduction of earth's many biomes.

This church on a Tohono O'Odham reservation has stood since 1797.

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.

A giant "X" symbolizes the blood spilled from the brutal Juárez drug wars.

A Tucson museum and performance space full of found-object movable sculptures.

Some of the Old West's most notorious outlaws frequented this mining town.

At this research institute, the chile is king.

Once called the Jersey Lilly, this former saloon was the domain of infamous Judge Roy Bean.

Beauty and history abound in this remote West Texas canyon.

Texas's oldest bakery serves authentic German pastries, including legendary strudel.

Decades of discarded bottle caps line this alleyway, a fixture of Texas A&M.

Resting place of the Texas A&M canine mascots, who watch the game from the grave with their own miniature scoreboard.

The largest underground pedestrian tunnel system in the U.S. mostly caters to the people working in the offices above, but provides a great, air-conditioned way to traverse the city.

A 90-year-old underground water reservoir offers a more industrial kind of tranquility.

Nestled in the heart of a Texas town is a dreamy secret garden dating back to the 1940s.

For 150 years one family has been producing the iconic hot sauce on a bayou island made of salt.

A historic Civil War estate-turned-museum looks back on the Confederate States of America.

One of the best places in Florida to spot rare, carnivorous pitcher plants.

A former hospital is now home to a pizza parlor and maybe a few ghosts.