Places posturethecat Wants to Go

River pirates, murderous bandits, and serial killers used this Illinois cave as their debauched hideout.

These abandoned grain silos and tunnels are an urban exploration dream.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

Once one of the world's great cities, Cahokia was a place of religious worship, trade and mass human sacrifice before being mysteriously abandoned.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

What may be America's largest classic video game arcade lurks inconspicuously in a Chicago suburb.

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

Also known as the Osaka Garden, this garden was originally built in 1893 as part of the World's Columbian Exposition.

More than 8,000 drinking jugs say “Cheers!” to a guy named Toby.

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

A journey begins with a single step, and for many, the road-trip of a lifetime started at this Chicago intersection.

This deceivingly ordinary warehouse hides an enormous collection of pop culture treasures.

In the loving memory of a tragically deceased role-player this Illinois park is decked out with both dungeons and dragons.

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

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

This art gallery and oddities boutique bewitches visitors with a trove of occult trinkets and eccentric antiques, work by an ever-changing roster of underground artists, and classes in tarot and other mystic arts.

A small Chicago museum filled with thousands of preserved butterflies, beetles, and more.

A river with some unusual, and occasionally dangerous, habits.

This botanical garden outside Chicago boasts an array of more than 300 varieties of lilacs.

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

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

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

A European-style bath house in Chicago.