paul8998's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Loading map...
Big Sur, California

Nepenthe

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.
Big Sur, California

The Henry Miller Memorial Library

It's not your typical library, memorial, or book store.
Monterey, California

Point Sur Lightstation

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

Hearst Castle

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.
San Luis Obispo, California

The Bells of El Camino Real

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."
San Luis Obispo, California

Madonna Inn

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.
Sponsored by Visit California
Shandon, California

James Dean Memorial Junction

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.
Morro Bay, California

Morro Rock

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

Joaquin Miller Monuments

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.
San Francisco, California

Musée Mécanique

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.
Berkeley, California

Old Berkeley Pier

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.
Berkeley, California

Cesar Chavez Park

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.
Berkeley, California

Sather Tower

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.
Berkeley, California

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.
Berkeley, California

Moe's Books

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.
Berkeley, California

Fish Shaped House

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.
Oakland, California

De Lauers Super Newsstand

The newsstand that never closes its doors—well, almost never.
San Francisco, California

The Golden Fire Hydrant

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.
San Francisco, California

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.
San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Park Bison

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.
San Francisco, California

Camera Obscura & Holograph Collection

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.
San Francisco, California

Ruins of the Sutro Baths

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.
San Francisco, California

Fort Miley Batteries

Big gun installations, built over a massive cemetery, now abandoned & hidden in trees.