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!

Located in a quiet community near downtown Dixon, Illinois, is Ronald Reagan's boyhood at home…read more A modest home in a modest neighborhood has off street parking for visitors, making access easy. A visitor center is located in a separate house from the original home. Informative Plex located throughout the ground along with a life-size statue makes for a nice visit and great opportunity stretch your legs before you get on the road again. Located about 10 minutes away from the John Deere historic site

Craig Hockenberry…read more Arrived in Dixon Illinois to tour the Boyhood home of President Ronald Reagan. The place is amazing and worth the stop! We learned so much about one of the greatest presidents of all times. The staff was amazing and the small town was perfect!

It's quirky, creative, a bit creepy, and oddly moving. Worth a detour through scenic backroads…read more A visit to nearby Norway, Illinois is also worth your while. Never seem to get there in-season to see the museum, but the general store does sell some lovely Scandahoovian kitsch, and about the widest selection of locally sourced preserves as I've seen.

The Agricultural Crash Monument is a hysterical historical site!…read more You'll find it along Route 71 a few miles south of the village of Norway, IL. It's a local monument that dramatically illustrates the fatal crash of American agriculture in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Be prepared! When you're zipping along Rte 71 and come upon the monument, your first thought will be, "QUICK! CALL 9-1-1!"

Went here because the prices are cheap! I reserved two tickets online but then had to cancel it the…read moresame day. The person I emailed was friendly and allowed me to reschedule it for free. I just had to give another time and day and it was that easy. The staff there showed me to the movie room. The bathrooms are clean. The room was clean.

Very good service yesterday and went to see Super Mario Brothers and very comfortable seatsread more

We had time to kill and took a drive up the Great River Road from the quad cities. We decided to…read moreexperience De Immigrant and what a treat. We didn't realize that there would be a guided tour with staff passionate and knowledgeable about their craft and history. We learned all about the process of adding a windmill to the community, how they actually work it, and what challenges they can face. What fun! The fact that they actually sell their product(s) for a very reasonable price across the street was neat to find out. We got home with some bran and flour. Looking forward to using it. We may have to sneak back by the local meat market for more as they'll be closing down sales at the gift shop for Winter.

I was looking foreword to exploring this cool windmill which was closed when I went, its seasonal…read moreand I should checked first but I was in the area anyway so not a big deal. This is an authentic working Dutch windmill and you can buy the finished products at the gift shop so you can take home some stone ground goodness and how cool is that, just go when there open.

Kapsa Monument Co did a beautiful monument for me and my late husband a few years ago and placed it…read morein a Hillside cemetery. The monument has a vase on each side. Recently one of the vases has become loose. I've tried to reach out to Kapsa a few times. No one ever answers the phone. I've left 3 messages in over a week and half stating my issue and asked for the favor of a reply. I've yet to hear back from Kapsa. This monument wasn't cheap. I've reached out to two other monument companies in the area in the meantime and they are willing to help but say Kapsa should stand behind their business and take care of this. If they can or can't, either way the courtesy of a reply is expected for such an expensive monument. I can't rate them good in the service area as they are non responsive.

Buyer beware. This place is absolutely awful. They will screw you on the contract and they are very…read moredisrespectful. They will intentionally and purposely omit IMPORTANT and KEY things from the contract, and this can screw you in the end. When I caught these items, owner refused to correct them. Here they are: 1.) They verbally said that ALL inscriptions and design are included in the price, but when you get the contract it does not say this, and when you ask the owner to add, he refuses. Don't ever sign the contract unless they clearly write in text that ALL inscriptions and design are included in the headstone price, just like they verbally say. 2.) Draft of the drawing, design, and inscriptions was not attached. How else will you know what the heck you are getting?!?!? Don't accept without this! 3.) Full names of the deceased were omitted. This contract is also combined into the application for the cemetery. Are we just trying to get the cemetery office to guess? 4.) Memorialist didn't sign the cemetery contract on the back, which is required before you can even place any headstone in the cemetery. The cemetery has its own rules which we all have to agree to. We don't own the cemetery. These are all normal procedures for all cemeteries. 5.) Approximate date of delivery was missing. You can't just put a season like spring or summer. The owner was very disrespectful. When trying to resolve this in a calm manner, he talked over me. I tried talking to the owner nicely on the phone, but all he did was hang up on me. Avoid this business, and go to others in the area that will: actually put in writing what they say verbally, are willing to actually fill out a contract completely, and treat you with respect. After all, if you are paying them thousands of dollars for a headstone, I would think that you would at least have the above taken care of. This place is absolutely awful. STAY AWAY.

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.

Go see a tribute to one of the most important figures of the American West, at his birthplace. In…read moreTroy Grove, there's not much in town except a memorial for Wild Bill Hickok. He is among the best known of the Western culture, so kind of a big surprise he was born in Illinois. Besides this there isn't much else. There's an information marker and a statue. Around here besides this there isn't much of anything. It's good for making a quick stop on the way to somewhere else. The plot of land its on is where the house he was born in was. Even though the house isn't there anymore, the informational marker has a photo of it. There's also a big bust of Hickok and there's a granite marker with a plaque. It's not much to look at, but it's interesting for a bit. There's not much else around it mostly. Best way to get here is if you're going somewhere like Starved Rock State Park, then it isn't real far away. It's a few miles off Interstate 39 to the east. There's no parking lot or anything like that, but there's plenty of room roadside to get out.

Dedicated on August 29, 1930 The Wild Bill Hickok Memorial is a state historic site operated by the…read moreIllinois Historic Preservation Agency. It is located across from a large picnic and play ground in a small green at the intersection of Main and Ottawa Streets in Troy Grove (Troy Grove was known as Homer at the time), Illinois. The Monument marks the approximate site of the birth of "Wild Bill" Hickok. The site features a plaque on a stone monument that honors Hickok's various services, as well as a facial bust of Hickok. If you are traveling by be sure to keep your eyes peeled Troy Grove is only .69 square miles so if you yawn you might pass it. Little historical sites such as this are common in the area as around the time of the civil war Illinois was sort of a Gateway to the west. I would also like to point out the site has changes since its dedication several years ago there was a wooden bust (it was attacked by termites) and has since been replaced, gardening and landscaping are always revolving as well. If you're a history buff or if you just like little trivial facts take the time to stop out and stretch your legs.

What a cool place with a neat backstory. Unfortunately we missed being able to get inside the home…read moreby about 30 minutes but enjoyed exploring the picturesque grounds regardless. It is sad to see the building falling apart in places, it is definitely in need of restoration. Still, the place is in a gorgeous setting with massive trees that make it truly peaceful. Bathrooms on site were open even when the home was not and were clean. There are plenty of videos on YouTube and history to be found online. I found a cool tie in to my personal family history. Apparently the builder of this unique home, Fred Francis, had a run in with my great grandfather and great uncle who were hunting on his property. Francis, being a naturalist and vegetarian disliked hunting and chased the two off his property. My uncle recounted the story to us and we walked the grounds. A neat place with an amazing story. Check it out here: http://www.cityofkewanee.com/document_center/FrancisParkBrochure.pdf

Don't miss an opportunity to tour the Woodland Palace. It was built by a recluse named Fred Francis…read morewho was way ahead of his time. He transported the bricks with a bicycle. It has the equivalent of air conditioning by underground tunnels. The doors opened and closed automatically. There is quite a story around this place, tours are cheap, and the inventions are fascinating. The house can be toured in 20 minutes. The surrounding park has plenty of camping spaces and hiking trails.