Looking for a road trip that offers an once-in-a-lifetime experience in California? Here are five offbeat day trip destinations that may be the answer to your quest for a quirky place to visit, courtesy of our team at DCH Audi Oxnard.
Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park
5068 North Old Scandia Lane, Calabasas, CA
You wouldn’t think a visit to a pet cemetery would offer up a good time, but this cemetery is different. Walk around and you’ll find the graves of The Little Rascals dog, Pete, Hopalong Cassidy’s horse, Topper, and Rudolph Valentino’s dog, Kabar. Current celebrities and non-celebrities alike bury their pets in this lavish final resting place, and some bereaved owners decorate graves on a daily basis.
Railroad Car House Boat
Gate 5 Rd, Sausalito, CA
Picture this: a Pullman style rail car, which appears to have impaled a house, is now floating on the water. If you can grasp that mental image, you’ve got a creative mind for sure. But if you’re scratching your head trying to picture such a structure, you’ll enjoy a trip down to the dock to see this amazing floating home, sometimes referred to as "The Train Wreck."
Preston Castle – Haunted Boys Prison
Off of Highway 104, at the end of Palm Drive
If you’re fascinated with ghouls and ghosts and things that go bump in the night, point your car in the direction of the Preston Castle, formerly the Preston Youth Correctional. This former home for “bad boys” now hosts ghosts and otherworldly creatures according to legend and lore.
Headless Businessman
725 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA
Some days it just doesn’t pay to go to work. This bronze statue of a business man holding onto a briefcase with his head embedded into the façade of an Ernst and Young building seems to make that painful point. Head over to Figueroa Street and drive by this realistic-looking oddity and you’ll definitely have to do a double take.
The Spite House
Crist St., Alameda, CA
Facts are fuzzy on the how and why this teeny, yet tall house was built, but legend says a dispute with the owner of the large house next door caused the owner of a small strip of land to construct a house that would completely block the neighbor’s view. At a mere 10 feet wide, this super skinny structure even has the word “spite” inlaid on the front stoop.
