Places nraeanderson Wants to Go

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

The face of a woman pushes its way through the earth.

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

People escaping slavery passed through the oldest house in Lombard, Illinois on their northbound journey to freedom.

A towering Art Deco movie palace made to look like a Mayan temple.

Shop of curiosities with a dinosaur museum tucked in its basement.

What's left of the ruins of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition, or World's Fair, also known as the White City.

Chicago's museum dedicated to the history of bondage and fetishism is more textbook than titillation.

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

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

This bronze sculpture on a former squash court marks the secret origins of the Atomic Age.

The world's only known button museum.

A lush green oasis in the middle of Chicago.

A hot dog stand where the heads are just as hot as the dogs.

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.

A beloved Chicago music venue offering cold beer and lots of “Friendly."

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

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

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

Internationally known record store and purveyor of "dusties."

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

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

A century-old network of freight tunnels underneath the city's historic business district.

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.