We came here for breakfast with the kids. Enjoyed their selection, tot breakfast casserole, French…read moretoast, biscuits and gravy. Yum

Surprising and unexpected gem! Food was awesome, and staff were super friendly. Very reasonable…read morepricing! Will be back, highly recommend!

A little bit down a side road from downtown Ottowa, this statue commemorates the Radium Girls who…read morewere tricked into sacrificing their health for corporate greed. Could be a little bigger, but it was nice that someone had added a scarf and flowers recently.

I learned so much today! The mansion history was very interesting and the history about Ottawa was…read morefascinating too. The tour was ten dollars and was well worth it. I was told Christmas is a really great time to visit. I didn't even know about this mansion until a few days ago. I searched for other things around Starved Rock and foind the mansion. It was the best part of the day.

Beautiful turn of the century home. The docent was very knowledgeable (maybe a bit too…read moreknowledgeable). She shared the history of the home, it's pervious uses and work being done to restore it to the time of the Reddick family's occupancy. We stopped as an activity during a road trip but had to leave a before the end of the tour to get back on the road. The home had beautiful plaster detail, original wood work, windows, doors, and fireplaces. Definitely worth visiting to appreciate the architecture of days gone by.

My friend and I had an errand out in this area and decided to see what else there was to see while…read morewe were here. This museum (the home of the Hegeler and Carus families, who were involved in a local zinc company and also a publishing house, Open Court Press) is a national historic landmark and is unique because it was owned by the same family the whole time, & they never made any fundamental updates to the house so it's largely as it was when designed by WW Boyington (who also designed Chicago's Water Tower and the old Joliet prison) in the 1870s. Several rooms have been restored, but you can see in areas where it hasn't where time is taking its toll (for example, the main hall was painted with egg tempera paint, and that organic element [the egg] is now degrading after 150 years). Still, the parquet floors are amazing, and details like pocket doors, carved wooden decorations and historical elements like the speaker tube system in the walls for speaking through the house are unusual! The house also contains the only German-style turnhalle (gymnasium) in a historic home in the US. Other interesting details include an ornate butsudan (buddhist cabinet shrine) due to Hegeler's interest in Eastern religions. We just took the general tour ($15), but you can do half house (upper or lower half for $50 each) or whole house tours ($100). The longest one is apparently 3.5 hours with two breaks and children are discouraged since it is long. You must register for the tours as they max out at 6 people. Despite it saying "masks are required" and our temperatures taken at the door, our guide was initially trying to take his mask off to talk and the other couple on the tour followed suit. When my friend and I left ours on, they all put them back on at some point. The rooms do have 6 foot markers on the floors, but since some of the rooms aren't big, if you had a full tour group this would be an issue. There is an elevator so the Mansion is handicap accessible. Overall, this seems to be one of the bigger attractions in LaSalle, so take a tour if you're in town.

This mansion is beautiful and a amazing historic site to see!! The house tour is incredible! I…read morehighly recommend going here and learning about this incredible family!

Really cool. I recently did the evening tour which ends when the sun is almost gone for the day…read more The guided tour itself is really informative, you get 90 minutes of history and walk a total of about a mile inside the old prison grounds. You get to walk inside the West cellblock and a few other buildings. Sadly, several of them were burned by morons during the period between 2003-2017 when this was totally vacant and unused. But funding comes in little by little to make repairs. The old portion of the prison was designed by the same architect who designed the famous Chicago water tower. There are some newer elements as renovations were done in the 1950s and 1990s. The docents are very knowledgeable and have good stories to tell about the infamous former inhabitants of the prison. If you want to save a little money you can do a self guided tour as well.

We came for the haunted house. It was fun, and I enjoyed being able to walk around the property…read more There are multiple attractions you can visit, although one was full of flashing lights and no warning of such, so I had to close my eyes while my husband guided me through. There are too many people with neurological issues affected by strobes to not warn patrons. That was an awful experience. I hope to come back some day and do a tour during the day. The location is very interesting.

I was on my way to Tizzy's for ice cream. When I noticed this beautiful scenery of flowing water. I…read morequickly pulled over and got out of my car. I was mesmerized by the water flowing down the dam. There is free parking and benches for you sit down and inhale the scenery. The sight is just so relaxing and peaceful. Such a remarkable historical landmark in Lyons. The river itself is amazing. It's very enjoyable and will relax your mind. I was excited to learn the history about this amazing tower. "Hoffman Tower is the name of a tower in Lyons, Illinois, named after the brewer George Hoffman Jr. " It was built in the year 1908 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978." The Tower is reputed as the first building in Lyons to be lighted by electricity."

Stumbled upon this by chance seen it off in the distance and had to stop...so much history in this…read morebuilding

My husband and I enjoyed a great tour on Father's Day Sunday…read more Suzanne, our interpreter, was very thorough and our tour group was small, consisting of only two other adults--shout out to the couple we met from Downers Grove! The tour was about an hour long and was more about the various families who've lived in the house over the past 110+ years rather than Frank Lloyd Wright himself, which was very interesting. If you're visiting a FLW home, there's a good chance you already know something about him, thus there really isn't need to discuss the architect himself in great detail on this tour. It was sad to hear about the many items original to the house that had been stripped from the walls, etc. and sold over the years. Stained glass windows are still out in the world with various owners, as well as fixtures and furniture, but these items can't be repurchased until the mortgage is paid off. Our interpreter said that Christie's Auctions knows where many of the items are now, so hopefully they can get them back down the road. Another Yelp! reviewer mentioned that some light fixtures and paint colors in the home obviously aren't original and they seemed to be bothered by this. Personally, those cosmetic things didn't matter to me. Upgrades are going to happen over the years. There is a boardroom now, and the home is rented for private parties, weddings, and more. The bills needs to be paid and other sources of income are vital to keeping a home like this open to the public. The $20 per person admission fee felt appropriate to me, given that the entry fee is helping to pay down the last remaining $100k left on the original $1.7million montage. Wow. They've come a long way. Wright In Kankakee (WIK) "is the not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the acquisition and preservation of Frank Lloyd Wright's first prairie style design." All of the volunteers were super friendly and the gift shop had a lot of lovely items for sale. We took a Duffy Electric Boat ride around the Kankakee River afterward. $10 per person for 30 minutes and the ride left from the dock near the Bradley House. All in all, a terrific way to spend and afternoon. Highly recommend.

Just finished a tour of this Frank Lloyd Wright home. Tours run an hour long and cost 15 dollars…read more Recommend a visit! I had a great tour guide all to myself, which was nice as usually there are many people on tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings. There was a bus load of people leaving when I began my tour. Tours are on Friday and the weekend. Friday is probably best to avoid crowds! Beautiful home on the river with a lot of history. Glad it was restored!

Advertised pallbearers, flowers to put on casket before burial, taps, gun salute, service. Arrived…read more35 mins before meeting time they already gone & service almost over without son & other family. Directed to permanent tent for services, no graveside burial or site seen, nothing as advertized. Someone read couple bible readings. Told that other groups waiting, to leave fast & come back (over 2 hours away) in couple weeks & should be buried. Body & flowers went where? Hideous experience. Tempted to retrieve & go elsewhere. Could not get real answers before choosing.

I found this on the old Route 66 mini road trip and I had no idea that this was even on my drive…read moreafter looking and planning my road trip so I had to stop. The ALNC is almost a 1000 acres with nice uniform tomb stones from any angle that is so cool and perfect with all the contours of the small hills and dips of the land. I stopped by on a Sunday and although the property was open for visitors the building were closed but it was still a cool place to visit. ALNC is a national cemetery available to all armed service members and family depending on eligibility and requirements and for the full experience you have to go Monday to Friday 8 to 4:30 except on federal holidays.

No tour was available. Looks well maintained. Not worth the trip unless you are in the immediate…read morevicinity.

On December 5th, Walt Disney would have been 115 years old! Crazy to think he died 50 years ago at…read morejust 65. On December 5th, they did a little party type of thing outside the house to celebrate. Walt started his magical journey (ie was born) on the 2nd floor of this home. That's just crazy to think about! Walt's parents actual bought the land, then designed and built the home from the ground up! Walt's family ended up moving to Missouri when he was 4 or 5 years old...but it all started with a man born in Chicago who would make a mouse! As a Disney enthusiast, I wanted to roll by and check the place out. They are currently in the process of restoring the home to it's 1901 state when Walt was born. However it was neglected for years! The current owners are Disney people and on board with the historical significance, planning to do great things! Read more in this great Trib article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-walt-disney-house-20150807-story.html A few days ago on Walt's birthday, they unveiled the new honorary street sign Disney Family Avenue! I just love it! This home needs to be marked as an official Historical Landmark. Let's do this Chi City!