The Chicago History Museum, founded in 1856 as the Chicago Historical Society, is the city's oldest cultural institution dedicated to preserving and interpreting Chicago and American history.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois, is the historic residence and workplace of the renowned architect, completed in 1889 and expanded multiple times through 1911.
Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, Illinois, is a hands-on children’s science museum founded in 1981, focused on inspiring curiosity through more than 300 interactive STEM exhibits touching on topics such as electricity, the human body, space, simple machines, agriculture, and color and light.
Oak Park, Illinois, was first settled in 1835 by English immigrants Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, and it was originally known as Oak Ridge due to the abundance of oak trees in the area.
Siloam Springs State Park spans 3,323 acres across Adams and Brown counties in western Illinois near Clayton, featuring forested hills, deep ravines, wildflower meadows with roses and black-eyed Susans, and a 58-acre lake impounded in 1955 on Crabapple Creek.
Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is one of the oldest zoos in the United States, established in 1868 and located in the heart of Lincoln Park along the city's lakefront.
Apple River Canyon State Park spans 1,907 acres across limestone bluffs, deep ravines, springs, and trout streams in Jo Daviess County, northwestern Illinois near the Wisconsin border, carved by the Apple River in the unglaciated Driftless Area.
Red Hills State Park spans 967 acres in Lawrence County, southeastern Illinois, featuring high wooded hills, deep ravines, meadows, wetlands, and year-round springs bisected by U.S. Route 50.
Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois spans 289,000 acres featuring diverse landscapes such as oak-hickory forests, wetlands, canyons, rugged bluffs, and rolling hills.
Bally’s Chicago is a major casino resort project by Bally's Corporation, featuring a temporary facility opened September 9, 2023, inside the historic Medinah Temple at 600 N. Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago's Magnificent Mile, with a 34,000-square-foot gaming area across three floors offering 800 slot machines and 56 table games, plus restaurants like Kitchen 888 and bars.
Wolff's Flea Market in Rosemont, Illinois, is an outdoor flea market held in the parking lot of the Allstate Arena, operating primarily from April or May through October on Sundays from early morning until mid-afternoon.
Ergadoozy in Springfield, Illinois, is a creative indoor play center designed for children 12 and under, featuring seven different play areas that encourage both physical activity and imaginative play.
12th Street Beach in Illinois is a public beach located on the Northerly Island Peninsula just south of Chicago’s Museum Campus and the Adler Planetarium.
