This national park dedicated to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem still displays its military past.

This historic Illinois "Muffler Man" has been converted from axe-touting lumberjack to rocket-wielding space ace.

There aren't too many operational funiculars around, but Pittsburgh has two!

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

Chicago’s last original drive-in restaurant is a family-run hot dog joint that started in 1948.

This old-fashioned confectionary has been family owned and operated for more than a century.

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

The subtle science of a master molecular gastronomist.

A giant bronze coil of feces is both a tribute to doggie defecation and a reminder to pick it up.

This massive stained-glass masterpiece is thought to be the largest Tiffany dome in existence.

Huge abstract sculptures of the Puerto Rican Flag.

These mansions date back to Chicago's days as a brewer's paradise.

Former bath house turns gastropub.

Location of the Real World's disastrous, and protested, eleventh season.

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, this Chicago building is a vibrant hub for artists.

A Bibliophile's Dream.

Once called the "Polish Gold Coast" it is an icon of the neighborhood that bears its same name.

In 2004, a Dave Matthews Band tour bus dumped 800 pounds of waste off a bridge and onto an unsuspecting tour boat below.

Years of archaeology, just chillin' by the water cooler.

One-of-a-kind preserved ruins of an abandoned 1880s church in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

A hidden oasis just north of Chicago's Chinatown.

A section in the cemetery mostly for circus performers, including victims of the famous 1918 Hammond Circus train wreck.

A remnant of the last Ice Age, this lake is surrounded by fascinating rock formations.

This is the last hand-cranked chain ferry of its kind in operation in the United States.