Places userbrent Wants to Go

The world's third-largest scale model of the planets.

Where dioramas can follow you home.

This lagomorph-obsessed Route 66 emporium is home to a giant jackrabbit that sits in a bunny graveyard.

An abandoned observatory in the middle of the Illinois prairie.

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

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

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

Roses and other fascinating flora fill this garden built to commemorate Britain's immortal Bard.

Man-made geyser that rises to the exact height of the Gateway Arch.

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

First known as the "Sample House," this construction mash-up was meant to be a living catalogue of building styles.

This architectural stunner is one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival theaters in the U.S.

An eccentric park and pool.

Take a break from all the boring business of death at this funeral home mini-golf course.

Tour the luxe "glass cage" that inspired and unnerved the architecture world upon its debut.

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

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

This historic-shipwreck-cum-diving-spot can still be seen poking its boiler out of the Lake Michigan waters that claimed it.

The first and only museum dedicated to stained glass and horology opened outside of Chicago in 2017.

Its eclectic exhibits range from the world’s first motorcycle to Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder.

This small, but long-running hobby club has built one of the largest model rail lines in the US.

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

Cold War missile launch site which has been converted to a public park.

A plaque marks a former safe house on the secret route, now hidden next to a McDonald's.