Places WanderTheRoad Wants to Go

This monolithic statue was erected in honor of Chief Black Hawk (even if it wasn't made to look like him).

The dream home of an iconoclastic renaissance man still stands as a monument to his domestically mundane vision.

Built in 1869, this now-retired structure looks more like a medieval fortress than a county lock-up.

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

This folk art wall claims to be the world's one and only memorial to the bygone age of hippies.

Even with only two residents and one building, this tiny Illinois town is famous for its burgers.

This overgrown Illinois water park offers a whole new type of adventure.

This cemetery is all that remains of a school for "wayward" girls.

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

A 30-foot man on a penny-farthing bicycle rides along the banks of the Mississippi.

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

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

This abandoned Abraham Lincoln statue has also earned the honorary of "World's Ugliest."

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

The multinational Burger King chain is banned from operating within 20 miles of a family restaurant filed under the same name.

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

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

It was originally part of a "terrible lizards" collection at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

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

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

A hidden grotto on the grounds of the Kane County Government Center.

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

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

A historic beacon built in the aftermath of the worst maritime disaster on the Great Lakes.