Places istnbl Wants to Go

At the largest railway museum in the United States, you can see everything from an early steam engine to a functioning Thomas the Tank Engine.

The oldest house in Galena, Illinois, now is a reminder of when this city was the world's lead mining capital.

This historic store hides a museum exhibiting a shoe-sizing x-ray machine and a pair of kicks that once belonged to the world's tallest man.

One of the largest carillons in the world, this giant instrument has 67 cast-iron bells played by a keyboard.

Abraham Lincoln's likeness rests at the top of this giant totem pole.

This former nursery supplied plants for the creation of Chicago's largest park.

With 8,000 pipes this giant instrument is the most versatile theatre pipe organ ever built.

Grand opera on a miniature scale.

Now nearly abandoned, Kaskaskia was once the capital of Illinois and one of the most important towns on the upper Mississippi.

Designed by Alfred Caldwel, this landscape showcases his vision of a native garden.

Known as the "Cross At The Crossroads," this massive metal cross is just short enough to avoid the FAA.

The lowest point in the state of Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

The world's largest covered wagon is piloted by a giant Lincoln lawyer.

A massive bur oak tree believed to be some 500 years old is the centerpiece of this quiet urban greenspace.

This house renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright was the centerpiece of a lavish 20th-century estate.

This historic house museum that celebrates one of the world's most influential social reformers is also one of the most haunted locations in Chicago.

A tribute to one granddaughter's old apartment which now represents the whims of each visitor.

The only place in America where anyone who wants can shovel coal aboard an antique train.

Where a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse met one Saturday and changed their lives forever.

This lush 12-acre site was once named the finest Japanese garden in North America.

A former atom smasher turned into an art gallery.

Tucked away amongst townhomes lies a restored, early 20th-century tea house and garden, the only remains of a historic estate.

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

The last masonry skyscraper ever built reveals a transitional moment in architectural history.