Places SamWPiano Wants to Go

The 30,000-volume library is one of the world's most impressive poetry collections.

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

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

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.

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

Former hotel turned into haunted playground.

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 grave in a ghost town cemetery marks the death of a witch on a day that never happened.

Recognized the world over as the home of the McCallisters in the 1990 movie "Home Alone."

At Chicago's revered Field Museum, visitors are invited to learn about and literally explore DNA.

The twin towers in this Chicago fountain use 50 foot tall video screens to spit on people.

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

The world's only known button museum.

This $3 million model train takes you through Chicago, Seattle, and the thousands of miles in between.

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

This museum celebrating the almighty dollar lets visitors literally stand in the shadow of a million bucks.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

All of Chicago's wood-paved streets are long gone but two alleys remain.

The only Bahá'í house of worship in North America and one of only a handful worldwide.

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

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

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

Chicago's largest cemetery is full of beautiful Victorian monuments and more than a few ghost stories.

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