One-Line Adventures [July 17]

Our team at Atlas Obscura is always exploring the overlooked and unexpected, whether in our own backyards or in far-flung locales. In the new One-Line Adventures feature, we send out some quick dispatches of recent discoveries.

“This week I learned that the famed naturalist John Muir actually lived in this rather fancy house, which, in addition to the enviable sun porches, library, and unbelievably gigantic attic space, has a bell tower. I am officially jealous.”
— Annetta Black [Senior Editor/Obscura Society Mastermind]

“I spent four hours trespassing in Pasadena’s ‘Millionaire’s Mile’ last weekend attempting to find the exact location of the former home laboratory where rocket scientist and occultist John Whiteside Parsons met his demise by fulminate of mercury explosion; I failed to find 1071 1/2 before I was run off by residents, but I was so close!” — Rachel James [Editor-in-Chief, Places]

“I attended the annual open house of James Hubbell’s residence and studios nestled in Santa Ysabel, California — formally titled Ilan-Lael; the property is filled with sculptures and structures designed with mosaics, stained glass, wood carvings, metal shapes, sculpted concrete, patterned brickwork, and stone.” — Robert Hemedes [Field Agent, Los Angeles] 

“Walking silently through the Dennis Severs’ House with the sights, smells, and sounds of early 1700s England I was guided through a still life mystery, stepping into rooms that have just been stepped out of, biscuits half-eaten by its 300-year-old inhabitants.”
— Dylan Thuras [Chief Operating Officer]

“Every so often, Douglas Worley [Field Agent, San Francisco] comes to Minneapolis on non-Atlas business and together we survey the glories of the Midwest. This time we ended up at the Walker Sculpture Garden’s summer installation of ‘artist designed mini-golf,’ where your average round of putt-putt is ratcheted-up in both the pretention and entertainment departments.” — Sarah Brumble [Tumblr Editor]

“During a bike ride around Harlem, this converted 1913 movie palace at 116th and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard — now the First Corinthian Baptist Church — caught my eye. On Sunday mornings there’s a line out the door for the gospel music and energetic preaching of the 11 am service.” — Ella Morton [Head Writer, Book Team]

“Last week I went on a relic rally with my friend Shannon. On our visit to the Saint Cabrini Shrine, we discovered that someone had left an anatomical lung as a offering, a thankful gesture to a miraculous healing.” — Laetitia Barbier [Contributor/French Correspondent]  

“On the way out to Joshua Tree, I found myself stuck in the mouth of man’s greatest enemy: a giant plexiglass stationary dinosaur. You may recognize this hungry fellow from the movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” — Matt Blitz [Field Agent, Los Angeles]

“Among my log of creepy NYC ‘secrets’ is this little window into the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral burial ground, and I like to take a look inside each time I walk by.”
— Allison Meier [Editor-in-Chief, Articles]

“Due to a hectic work schedule, I’ve been city-bound for the past couple weeks and took it as an opportunity to pop into places I hadn’t popped into before. The Fizzary is a gem of an ‘olde time soda and candy shoppe’ in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. An overwhelming assortment is available and they have a rapid bottle chiller if you want to drink your selection on the spot. ” — Beth Abdallah [Field Agent, San Francisco]

“This funny-face-making netsuke from the truly wondrous Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in Vermont stole my heart.” — Michelle Enemark [Graphic Design, Video Production] 

One-Line Adventures are snapshots of some recent explorations from the Atlas Obscura Team. Click here to see more >