We've been to Swedish Days in the past and found it to be your above average town festival. Plenty…read moreof vendors, food, drinks, rides and carnival games, etc. Today however, we went to the Swedish Day parade..our first time seeing this part of the festival. The route runs through three different roads and lasted a good 2 hrs. They featured a good number of high school bands and other lively entertainment, including a ton of Shriners. Our favorite was a South Side performance group and the Jesse White Tumblers. Neither disappoint. We went with a large group of of friends who corded off and staked a tent for our groups use. If you're going with a large group you'll want to arrive early and do the same, as the parade route gets pretty packed. Cheers.

I gotta say, Swedish Days was A LOT more fun than I anticipated!…read more Geneva to me is sorta a new discovery. I have only been frequenting downtown Geneva for the past 3 years or so, clearly because I live under a rock. My Fiance and I love to walk up and down 3rd St., visit the shops, stop for some good food and eat some delicious sweets. And Swedish Days takes every aspect of this quaint downtown, puts a carnival in it, some good music and a touch of small town to bring Swedish Days together. After this year I can easily say I would not frequenting Swedish Days just like the MANY people I met there from the area and even from out of state!

Just love the annual display of pumpkins. I'm always amazed by the creativity of the kids, with…read moreall the cute, and unique ideas. I like that this festival has stayed the same every year, and hasn't gotten over the top, (like the St. Charles scarecrow festival). It's just a fun, enjoyable event that all ages can enjoy. The pumpkins are displayed on the courthouse lawn in downtown Sycamore, on Rt. 64.

I attend this event every year...rain, snow or sun. And, yes, there have been all three. It's great…read morefamily friendly event. The pumpkin designs are very creative and fun to look at. The carnival is good for kids and so is the parade. It's larger than you would imagine for such a small town.

While I usually have to beg and plead my husband to visit STC, he was a good sport and accompanied…read moreme with to the Holiday Electric Parade. He grew up around the area, and isn't the biggest fan of parades, but was a good sport. I love visitng St. Charles and think it's a quaint little community. A lot of people showed up and the residents and visitors were out in droves claiming their piece of the concrete with their fold up chairs and blankets. J & I found a pretty good place to stand and watch the parade by Harris Bank. Harris Bank was giving out complimentary cocoa, coffee (big cups too) and cookies and the bathrooms were open. Very nice touch on their part! Parade pretty much started on time and moved along like a parade should. I can't stand big long gaps in between. It was fun seeing all the lights and all the whimsical christmas- floats trotting down Main Street. Nice that they had an announcer pointing out which float/ group people were from. Dragon Float was impressive with steam coming out. Didn't stay for the entire thing, had to beat the traffic out, but glad we went. Parking was free and treats were a bonus. It was a tad cold, but a fun thing to do and something new that we haven't tried. Great for kids. I appreciate the fact that St. Charles makes a point to engage the residents.

A celebration of craft beer for hop heads, by hop heads? Though I don't pretend to know much about…read morehoppy beer, I'd like to learn... and a June day borrowed from 'A Time to Kill' (oh my mugginess!) in Two Brothers' parking lot seemed like a good enough place to begin my education. And so it began. Though the Hop Juice Festival is only in its third year, the juice is out of the bag and it's almost impossible to snag a VIP ticket unless you get on that super early (they're $65 and include five beers, admittance into the tap house, unlimited food + a special dinner buffet, a seat and access to real restrooms vs. porta potties). Otherwise, admission is free! After experiencing firsthand how wildly popular it is, I won't be surprised if it eventually morphs into an exclusive ticketed fest à la Three Floyds' Dark Lord Day. There is a point to all this madness: The fest commemorates the annual release of Hop Juice Double India Pale Ale (100 IBU's!) and also a beer exclusive to this festival, Hop Juice Black. I didn't try it, but was told it's Hop Juice's more aggressive sibling. In addition to Two Brothers brews, the much-hyped (and closely guarded 'til day of) guest beer list gets people going like Pavlov's dogs. The lines can be a bit intimidating, but don't let them deter you as they do move fast. What's important: Bring patience, sunscreen and a gypsy spirit - wandering around the grounds is fun and making new friends is easy! What isn't easy is finding parking (arrive early!) but the fantastic selection of exclusive and rare guest beer taps makes up for it... as does the food! Two Brothers serves turkey legs, housemade bratwurst, their famed fish tacos and more on the cheap - many of the items are only $4! Eight hours of live music will keep you entertained and the Brothers dedication to the Make-A-Wish Foundation makes this a feel-good affair. Well done good sirs!

Two Brothers spiced things up a bit this year with the addition of Hop Juice Black - a slightly…read moremeaner cousin to an already strong but well balanced beer. The balance in flavor helps hop juice from being feared by those who like a lighter beer but still provides plenty of punch to those who prefer something a bit heavier. This celebration is all about these beers and their release into the wild for the masses to consume. It also features the rest of the Two Brothers beer line-up, some great Two Brothers food (love the fish tacos!) and guest beers from other breweries like Lagunitas. On that topic, if you really want a guest beer get a lay of the land - there is a limited quantity of brew and there are 2 lines in a close area. I missed the Lagunitas Barrel Aged Imperial but I did get my hands on another guest brew later. The lines were a bit long this year, but nothing I wouldn't expect out of any similar event. With any kind of planning you can pick up food / beer tickets when you buy your take-home beer and avoid the other line all-together. Food lines were long earlier in the day but there was no wait later in the evening. Some of the day the Hop Juice lines were non-existent, and other times there was a decent wait. Things averaged out to be as-expected, but I wonder if there isn't some way to improve on it a bit for next year. In any case, the juice was loose and the crowd was great. It's good seeing people you know and meeting new ones while enjoying fresh, delicious, libations from a great brewer. Overall I had a great time and I'll be back again next year!

Midwest Brewer's Fest in Plainfield is at the Plainfield Riverfront Park with a ton of craft beers…read morein 2 oz servings. Parking is a good distance walk on a rocky, uneven path from the fest and costs $10! Good thing we had our emergency valet money in the car because we weren't prepared for that cost as the website listed free parking. My friend wasn't all that happy with paying for parking but I reminded him that the money all goes to a good cause. :D Plus!!! We got our tickets for free (Thanks, Candice!!!) - and they're normally $40 when you prepay. It was hot as balls on the day of the fest. Being hot as balls, it would have been nice to have more tents & seating set up for people to relax. Also, they had water kegs on the lawn, but were empty when I tried to get some water. Other than the parking, water and bathroom situation, I thought the event was well put together and ran quite smoothly. Because there were so many breweries, lines were relatively short. My favorite beer was the Watermelon from Horny Goat. I've passed Horny Goat in Milwaukee many times so was pleased I got to try one of their brews. They were out of their other two offerings by 3pm (two hours in) which suited me fine as I wanted the Watermelon...but others were leaving the line a bit crabby. Because of the extreme heat, we didn't stay the full fest and I couldn't drink as much beer as I would have liked. I had 17 tickets left at the end of the fest (started out with 25) and felt a bit sad I couldn't use them. On the long walk back to the car, my flip flop broke! Eek! So I had to gimp back to the car, dying to go pee because I refused to go in the porta potties onsite. All in all, it was a decent festival but could tweak some areas to make it amazing festival. I'll probably skip the fest next year unless the weather is nice and cool and the breweries promise to offer some more unique choices.

The Midwest Brewer's Fest seemed very well planned. For a $40 General Admission ticket ($50 at the…read moregate) attendees received a beautifuly printed, perfect bound brochure containing detailed Fest info which included a foldout pocket map of the festival grounds/beer tents and a description of each participating brewery with room for taking notes; a plastic beer 'glass', and 25 tickets for 2 oz. beer pours. If you're doing the math, that's just over 3 pints of beer. Of course it's difficult to do just a 2 oz. pour from a tap, so I estimate if you used all your tickets you probably had 4 pints of beer. I'm a lightweight and so is my husband, so we were more interested in tasting a variety of brews than in quantity of beer received, so the small pours were great for us. We got to taste a lot of beers, though we didn't get to them all. Our palate and backs tired out well before we began to feel the beer. There were four beer tents (A-D) with 14 brewers each. That's 56 brewers! Each brewery brought at least two beers. There were kegs of cold, filtered water all along both sides of each tent so attendees could wash their beer glasses, cleanse their palates, and stay hydrated. There was also a VIP tent, but not having VIP tickets I can't tell you what went on there. The lines for beer were generally short. Even the long lines were not a long wait. It was smart of the organizers not to oversell tickets. There was a designated smoking area occupied mostly by cigar smokers. It was not a smokers ghetto, but rather set up under a tree with some cushy outdoor couches and chairs. Cigars were sold on site. Now I have been known to appreciate a cigar with a stout or porter, but I do wish the designated smoking area had been at one end of the grounds or the other. Having it alongside the beer tents meant I often had cigar smoke with my ale whether I wanted it or not. There were also individuals who felt the designated smoking area did not apply to them and who hit me in the face with a blast of smoke while I was waiting in line for a beer. Not appreciated. Food was exceptional for a fest of this kind. Way better than hot dogs spinning on a roller. Heaven on Seven was there, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Windy City Paella, Aurelio's Pizza. I had paella and it was delicious. There was plenty of shade and seating in the food tent too. I heard some folks paid $10 dollars for parking. We parked free near the Village Hall and walked no further than everyone else. My biggest disappointment had nothing to do with the Fest itself, but with the brewers' offerings. There was an overabundance of pale ales, IPAs, and wheat beers. There were quite a few pumpkin ales too. My husband and I had really hoped some of the brewers would bring out their less pedestrian brews. There was not one sour to be had. There were a few Belgian abbey styles. At least one porter and one stout. We thought surely with so many brewers and beers that we would be able to extend our experience of what we know as beer, but there was not the variety of styles that we had expected. We were pleased to find mead and several brewers of ciders and perrys. The purpose of the fest (beyond celebrating craft beer) was to raise funds to restore the Plainfield Riverfront (the venue for the Fest) and support Pints for Prostates. I confess I won the tickets as a (very new) Yelp Elite. Had we spent $80 to find less variety than we expected, we might have been very disappointed because $80 buys dinner and a couple choice selections of beer at a good beer bar. I would still be impressed by the organization and experience of the Fest itself. Perhaps the organizers can persuade the brewers to take more chances with their offerings next year.

Located across the street from the Kane County Courthouse is the Geneva History Museum. This museum…read moredoes a wonderful job of telling the history of Geneva. One exhibit is dedicated to the exploring history of Geneva from its founding to the present. I loved seeing all of the artifacts and displays in there. Even though I am not a resident of Geneva there were items in the gallery that I recognized. There is are two other rotating exhibits with one being dedicated to educating children. There is an admission fee to enter and a gift shop as well. I wish I had time to see more. This is diffidently a museum that I would like to come back to and see more. I highly recommend the Geneva History Museum!

Sandi and I went down to see what was happening in Geneva for Swedish Days. I hoped that they would…read morehave a special exhibit for the Swedish Days Festival. The museum did not change its course by adding a special exhibit. I enjoyed learning more about Geneva and Hat has been important over the years. The receptionist greeted us warmly. The main historical room gave an overview of the history of the city. The interactive children's with train was enjoyable. The art gallery filled with paintings by local artists was enjoyable. You can even purchase the portraits. On the lower level you can find a genealogy room. If you are new to Geneva and want to learn more about this city check it out.

If you are a Blues Brothers fan, or a fan of Gothic and Romanesque architecture, you will enjoy…read moreviewing the old, no-longer-in-business Joliet Prison. It dominates the landscape! You can't go inside (too bad - I would be willing to pay for tours!) but you can park in a lot, walk around outside the imposing walls, peer into a few windows and through the fences, and read the large interpretive signs. If you are in Joliet, or "doing" Route 66, this is definitely a stop to make. It will make you ponder crime and punishment in the USA.

This is a great local farm! I disagree with Tina E.'s review -- the animals seemed to have pretty…read moreroomy enclosures that were outside for lots of fresh air. The chickens roamed free! It is great for children to see ducks, horses, pigs, chickens, a llama and more. The pumpkins were reasonably priced at 39 cents a pound and we had a coupon for 2 free gourds. I really think this is a great, hidden treasure and hope that people will visit Thanksgiving Farms instead of Wally World for their pumpkins. We'll be back for our Christmas tree -- can't wait. Notes: A great, very clean place to take photos of the kiddos. Not busy at all. Enter at Lindenwood off of Jericho and take Bryn Mawr to Westgate -- you'll be driving through a neighborhood to get there. Go and enjoy and support a local farm on Aurora's West Side!!! P.S. I did not think that the animals looked undernourished. But if anyone else goes and notices this, then please post.

While this place is cheap ($1 hay rides, corn maze, candle making), it was very unclean. I've been…read moreto lots of farms and this one was just gross. Not to mention most of the animals were kept in VERY small enclosures (a 3' by 5' pen for two full grown sheep, and two young piglets - under 8" tall- in a rabbit pen) and some were clearly underfed; I could see the ribs on both of the piglets and the ribs and hip bones on both of the horses. One of the sheep had green mucous coming out of its nose. No sanitizer anywhere to be seen. No one greeted us, although when we did find out who worked there they were very nice. I wouldn't recommend this place and we won't be going back.