If you asked a Jeopardy champion or your local trivia night guru the following question, what response do you think you would receive? Where in the United States can you find all of the following in one location: one of the world’s largest rivers choked with fast moving ice, soaring Read more…
We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to bring you a wacky alternative universe theory. I believe that if Dr. Seuss had chosen a different career path he might have been the visionary park designer of Busey Woods (Urbana Park District). Please allow me to connect the dots for you. Read more…
Wildlife is returning to Illinois. Bison have been making a comeback. Wolves have been on the prowl. Mountain lions have been seen and slain (I’m not talking about the cougars at your local establishments). The coyote population has been thriving (hide your ankle biters!). Bobcat season has opened again (Much Read more…
Illinois is not just home to comic book superheroes, like Popeye in Chester or Superman in Metropolis. Illinois is home to real-life superheroes, like Iron Man. Or rather, Iron Men. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the City of Joliet attracted thousands of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe Read more…
Parks provide hope. Hope can come in many shapes like the promise of a new job or ambitious efforts to retain health. To find both of these examples of hope, visit Swallow Cliff Forest Preserve in Cook County, Illinois. Swallow Cliff was once home to a 1930’s era toboggan run; Read more…
In 1820, Illinois outnumbered every other state in prairie. Illinois’ prairie sea of big bluestem and rattlesnake master encompassed over 22 million acres! To put those numbers in perspective, 22 million acres is equal to over 34,000 square miles. Rhode Island by contrast, is 1,000 square miles. Progress and the Read more…
Rivers have always been a setting for thrilling adventures. It would only be natural for other types of thrill seekers to be drawn to a river’s shore. Chillicothe is no different. Their Park District is home to the elegant Shore Acres Clubhouse, which rises from the banks of the immense Read more…
Lincoln lives on as the main character in the plot of Illinois. “Lincoln was here,” is a surefire way to draw road weary travelers off the Prairie State’s superhighways faster than a Phillips 66 gas pump. Even if one chooses to stay on the highway, Lincoln’s recognizable image will still go ahead of you Read more…
Did you know there is a castle in the corn? The estate is not surrounded by a moat, but rather thousands of acres of ancient forest. The only remaining subjects magically appear around every corner, standing guard like long forgotten sentinels of steel and stone. Allerton Park and Retreat Center is Read more…
Famous author, Wallace Stegner once said, “It should not be denied… that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom…. This is the essence of the American mind. We long to escape. Read more…