Places Avalon Wants to Go

Oversized statues are just the tip of this nostalgic Americana roadside attraction.

A small abandoned and abused cemetery that has become a magnet for ghost hunters.

Even with only two residents and one building, this tiny Illinois town is famous for its burgers.

The final resting place of up to 6,000 Confederate soldiers, the largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere.

The 40-year-old machine serves soda quicker than you can catch it for a mere 75 cents a pop.

Eclectic collection of rare and beautiful stones in a historic home.

The 30,000-volume library is one of the world's most impressive poetry collections.

The legacy of an unsolved, gruesome murder rests beneath the spans of this historic bridge.

One of Chicago's last seafood smokehouses perfects a dying breed of fishcraft.

A strange and haunting monument of unknown origin in the historic Graceland Cemetery.

The mysterious white squirrels of this Illinois city are treated like sacred cows.

Where old school Polish Chicago and young hipster Chicago live side by side.

A six-story-tall golden pyramid, surrounded by a moat.

The final resting place of the world's first nuclear reactor.

In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

Home to a protest movement, a bombing, and a dramatic change in labor history.

What was once the second largest steel mill in the US is now a sprawling complex of modern ruins.

A notorious Route 66 eatery once frequented by Al Capone.

The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

Where Cusack's record store from the film "High Fidelity" was located.

An avant garde art museum at the University of Chicago.

This surprising gem is a world-class archeological museum hidden at the University of Chicago.

When you visit his grave, be sure to rub the Great Emancipator's nose for good luck.