Places ellyzabethadler Wants to Go

The famous author's birthplace is preserved in a town that he once described as narrow-minded.

While he no longer has an eatery to give him context, this off-brand Paul Bunyan still holds his giant hot dog with pride.

Museum dedicated to the art of cutting and polishing stones.

The hometown of Popeye's creator is littered with a growing collection of granite cartoon characters.

A hidden grotto on the grounds of the Kane County Government Center.

This life-size bronze statue remembers the tallest recorded human in his Illinois hometown.

An eccentric park and pool.

A sprawling outdoor museum filled with larger-than-life works of art.

Spanking machines, fake goats, and more devices of humiliation are on display in this museum of fraternal initiation devices.

This small, but long-running hobby club has built one of the largest model rail lines in the US.

The multinational Burger King chain is banned from operating within 20 miles of a family restaurant filed under the same name.

Rifle through images of skyscrapers, Worlds Fairs, and more in the largest public postcard repository in America.

A plaque marks a former safe house on the secret route, now hidden next to a McDonald's.

World's second largest particle accelerator, where nature reveals its secrets.

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

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

Small and slightly hidden, the American Writers Museum is preserving the legacy of America's finest authors.

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

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

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

This sprawling mini-golf empire is an impressive testament to a disappearing attraction.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

First planned industrial community in the United States.

Former hotel turned into haunted playground.