Places IrishCurves Wants to Go

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

This memorial plaque remembers a strangely shallow maritime disaster known as "Chicago's Titanic."

A gothic church spire sits atop this skyscraper, the tallest church in the world.

The site of a 19th century "dream city" that almost rivaled Chicago before being swallowed by the Indiana sand dunes.

Quirky water tower advertises the long-gone Brooks Tomato Products Co.

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

The world's only known button museum.

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

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

In Chicago, a pizza-enthusiast has opened a museum dedicated to the history of pizza.

The site of the first couple's first kiss is commemorated by the most adorable presidential monument ever.

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.

This urban drawbridge gained eternal pop culture fame when the Blues Brothers jumped it while it was raised.

A onetime gangsters' hideaway where you can dine on steaks, fine wines, and cigars just like they once did.

First planned industrial community in the United States.

Former hotel turned into haunted playground.

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

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.

A medical facility that has been kept frozen in time.

You thought Santa Claus didn't exist, but it turns out you were wrong.

Where the author wrote her beloved "Little House" books.

One man's vision and a labor of love of many.

Home with Gothic windows featured in a famous painting.