Matthew Henson was possibly the first man to step foot on the North Pole--and he was certainly a badass. His apartment is on the National Register of Historic Places and so is the entire block, the Dunbar Apartments, which were named for the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar went to high school with (and was published by) the Wright Brothers, who appear on the reverse of the Ohio state quarter with Neil Armstrong, first man to step foot on the moon, who died yesterday. Excelsior.

Petaluma, as this mural downtown will show you, is where the chicken incubator was invented.

I made a pilgrimage to Luther Burbank's home (and greenhouse) in September 2010 but this was my first time at his experimental farm. Shasta daisies in front of the cottage? Nice touch.