illinoiskid

I’ve been here on numerous field trips in my youth and I can say they have wonderful museums…the Riverfront Museum Campus is definitely worth checking out. They got an art museum, history museum (Burpee), science/children’s (Discovery Center), and so forth. Midway Village and the Tinker House are also cool places I hear.

They also have a nice arena in the Metro Centre. A 10,000 seater, it is very cozy and is a great place for concerts. I think they have a hockey team too.

The downtown is fairly nice, the Rock River is stunningly gorgeous, the parks look decent, the airport is improving, they just renovated Cherry Vale Mall, and there’s a lot of other commerical development going on along I-90. Don’t forget Magic Waters waterpark, either. This town has struggled with its loss of manufacturing jobs, but it’s coming back, I can feel it. Its proximity to Chicago, Iowa, and Wisconsin doesn’t hurt either.

in the mood for a summer concert at an amphitheater? i highly recommend alpine valley, possibly the best outdoor venue to see a concert in the midwest. the parking is a bitch but it’s all worth it to experience some good music and good times in the country.

being a small agricultural/college town isolated in western illinois, there isn’t a whole lot to do. the college campus is fairly decent and downtown macomb has its moments including the square and a few good restaurants and a few shops. wal-mart supercenter is one of the main attractions though, sadly. you do kinda feel isolated here though. it’s a good idea to have a good working car here, so you can go up to the quad cities once in awhile and go for nice rides in the country. the st. louis rams also used to do spring training here.

a lovely college community and fine downtown shopping and dining, clustered around the elmhurst Metra commuter rail station. like an old town, the downtown lights flash red after hours. it is also a very conservative community with lots of middle class families living in old but nice housing stock on city blocks. there are industrial parks and some retail on the outskirts of town. only 20 minutes from everywhere, including downtown Chicago, Woodfield Mall, O’Hare, and Naperville.

nice place to visit, but not a nice place to live due to all the yuppies pricing everyone out of town. when you visit, there is plenty to do downtown including a riverwalk, the DuPage Childrens’ Museum, North Central College, the Naper Settlement Museum, and fine shopping and dining. parking can be a bitch during special events and at other times though, so be forewarned. the annual Ribfest offers the finest barbecue and entertainment in the suburbs. last year, ted nugent rocked the place.

an okay town over-run with rich people. the downtown is okay, but arlington heights, palatine, and even west dundee are better choices for shopping and are more urbane.

a lovely downtown, the wonderful fox river, immaculate dining choices, spring hill mall, nice parks, and grand old victorian homes with big porches and big oak trees, and a few new subdivisions on the west side. what more could you ask for from a town of 7,000?? it’s perfect!

elgin, once a former sleepy city on the fringes of chicagoland is back up and bustling again. a trip to downtown elgin will find you exploring the new library, a plaza that offers tribute to heroes who died saving a man from the fox river, a civic center featuring the lovely Hemmens Auditorium theater, some nice shops, and glorious views of the Fox River. the Fox River bike path runs through the heart of downtown and is highly recommended. the area around the Grand Victoria Riverboat Casino is also nice. elgin has two large parks, Wing Park and Lords Park and both are recommended. elgin also is fortunate to have 2 hospitals…Sherman and St. Joseph’s. the village has a good residential base (but the east side isn’t so hot)...and is rapidly expanding westward and will surely have 100,000 people by the 2010 census. its randall road and I-90 corridors are already bustling with retailers, hotels, major industrial and commerical buildings. good day trip indeed!

located northwest of chicago, it has a lovely downtown centered on its Metra commuter rail station, with large lovely condo buildings and a variety of ground-level upscale national retailers and restaurants. the lovely arlington park horsetrack, lutheran retirement home, nw community hospital, and a good selection of industrial and commerical buildings as well. the intersection of 12 & Palatine also features a multitude of retail and dining options. and AH’s 75,000 residents live in a variety of housing styles ranging dating back 100 years ago up to the 1990s. great place to spend the day.

the county seat of mchenry county, il…it features a lovely square that makes you feel like you stepped into a time warp or a movie. indeed, the woodstock square was heavily featured in the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. the square features the historic Opera House, historic Courthouse, and charming shops and restaurants. the current mchenry county courthouse and government offices are in a state-of-the-art facility in the northern part of town. a small hospital is located on the southern edge of town. there are splotchy areas of nice residential neighborhoods, with a few run-down ones in betweeen. there are also plenty of industrial and agricultural buildings as well as some abandoned retail buildings (with new ones as well) making route 47 a mostly unpleasant drive. nonetheless, it is a nice little town and is worth it all for the “square” alone.