GRISWOLDDAD
Parenting, Entertainment, and Travel Tips
Things to Do in Illinois
* For the top yearly events in the Chicago area, click here. For the rest of Illinois, click here.
Chicago
Chicago has so many things to do and sites to see, you really have to allot some time for this city. You can see why Frank Sinatra says it's his kind of town.
Go shopping and find some rides at Navy Pier. Go see Willis Tower aka the Sears Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world. You can go up to the skydeck for a view of the whole city. You can even go out in a glass-encased ledge to get a real good view DOWNwards. Be careful, this WILL give you vertigo, but it's a lot of fun and a great place for a family picture.
Want to see one of the most famous and oldest ballparks? The Chicago Cubs are at Wrigley Field. Of course, there's also still the White Sox and the Bears to see while in town, depending on your team preferences.
How about that fountain that was always featured in the credits of "Married with Children"? That's the Buckingham Fountain. Millennium Park has the giant "bean" sculpture. There's also real shopping to be done on Michigan Avenue aka The Magnificent Mile, with all the department stores you can think of. The Chicago Tribune is proving print isn't dead...yet...and you can see them at the Tribune Tower.
Plus, you may have history or art museums near your city, but Chicago has some of the best museums in the world, so The Art Institute of Chicago and The Field Museum of Natural History are must-sees.
The Art Institute has many paintings you'd be familiar with, from American Gothic to multiple Van Goghs, Picassos, Edward Hoppers, Andy Warhols, Georgia O'Keeffes, and a whole room of Monets. Plus there's the glass installation "America Windows" by Chagall. Also, if you've ever seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or just want to see a great painting made entirely of small dots, you'll want to seek out "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" by Georges Seurat. They ALSO have wonderful examples of knights armor and weapons. This confused me a bit, because you'd expect them to be at the history museum, but they truly are works of art. (Keep in mind, you will see SOME paintings hung up on these walls and wonder "how did THAT get here" or "why" or think that's just 3 lines of different color!" or speak up and say "my 5 year old did one better than that last night"...but, even though the staff will potentially laugh and agree, your wife may get mad at you...
Then, at the actual history museum, you can see Egyptian mummies, dinosaurs, ancient Chinese relics, and so much more. Whew! Lots to see. PLUS, you MUST get some deep dish pizza while here. Chicago made it famous for a reason.
Millenium Park Cloud Gate
Wrigley Field
Art Institute of Chicago
Buckingham Fountain
Navy Pier
Field Museum of Natural History
Willis Tower
Skydeck at Willis Tower
The lions, above at the Field Museum of Natural History, were of particular interest to me, they're the maneaters of Tsavo that the awesome movie, "Ghost and the Darkness" was based on.
The painting below is the one I told the boys looked just like something they'd drawn the week before. My wife shushed me...but the museum guard nearby said he wanted to high five me for actually saying it. So many things in the modern art wing would make you scratch your head and wonder why someone made a lot of money selling it to a museum, but this one stood out to me the most.
Ok...having finally made it through Chicago, let's move on.
Collinsville
This town is the home of the Cahokia Mounds and the world's largest ketchup bottle (it's a water tower). The Cahokia Mounds are the remains of a large city, using man-made mounds, inhabited by the Cahokia tribe from 600-1400 AD. This was the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas north of Mexico and is one of only 23 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the US.
Nearby, you can also take a gander at the world's largest bottle of catsup! ... or is it ketchup?
Metropolis
It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's the yearly Superman Celebration! For four days every June, since 1979, people flock to Metropolis to celebrate truth, justice, and the American way all dressed as the Man of Steel. They're trying to break the record for largest gathering of people dressed as Superman (currently held by Cumbria, UK at 867). Plus, you can hang out with hundreds of other supermen, take a picture with Metropolis' Superman statue, watch Superman cartoons in the park, see the Super Museum (filled with Superman memorabilia), and be declared honorary citizens of the town by the mayor.
Springfield
Besides being Abraham Lincoln's adult home prior to moving to the White House, Springfield is the capital of Illinois. Today, you can still tour Abe's house at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Shortly down the road you can go to The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The museum is dedicated to his entire life, from Kentucky to DC. There's a really fun room for kids that has games and toys that kids would've played in the 1800's for kids to attempt as well as clothes of the time to dress up in, including Civil War uniforms.
Nearby, you can see his tomb in the Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The Lincoln Tomb, if you rub Lincoln's nose, it's supposed to bring you good luck! (notice how much it's already been rubbed!)