Chapel of the Chimes Columbarium - Oakland, California

A columbarium is a building full of niches that hold cremated remains. Oakland happens to have a very beautiful one, designed by Julia Morgan—The Chapel of the Chimes. The older section of the chapel—a Moroccan-style maze of a building dates from 1928. Additions have been added and all sections contain a multitude of skylights, gardens, fountains and mezzanine levels.

The Chapel sponsors a jazz-concert series and holds a surprisingly weird annual Summer Solstice ambient-noise concert throughout its mysterious hallways and secretive rooms. A strange and enchanting experience.

We found the resting place for John Lee Hooker, a Bay Area blues master.

We took a hike up the hill at the adjacent Mountain View Cemetery, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

The higher you go, the more elaborate the monuments on "millionaire's row"

A view of the San Francisco skyline—pyramids galore