Peaceful, contemplative spot to visit. Sinnissippi Site, Sinnissippi Park, Sterling, Illinois. U.S…read more National Register of Historic Places. The site contains several Hopewellian Indian Mounds built between 500 BC and 500 AD. There are several nice trails, playground, shelters with grills, and open spaces as well.

Located only about a mile away from Anderson Japanese Gardens, The Rockmen Guardians are a very…read moreunique but hard to find set of sculptures. Locations on different websites are a bit misleading, some directing you far away from the actual sculptures which are southwest of the Nicholas Conservatory along the Rick Rive Rec Bike Path. It's not too far from the Boys & Girls Club of Rockford, and you can park somewhat close to them but will still need to walk a bit. This is worth the adventure of discovering the spot though, as I'm not sure anything similar exists nearby. For me, as a big video game fan, these really gave me the feeling of being surrounded by giant stone warriors - except that you can take a picture with them. With the river in the background, you can get lots of beautiful pictures with them as a quartet, though you also want some closeups to get some of the finer details. Throughout the armor, there's definitely a mix of different colors and textures and these stand with a variety of different interesting poses. Overall worth a stop if you're in the Rockford area, but also worth a special trip to visit Rockford for other fun tourist opportunities as well, particularly during the warmer weather months.

The Rockmen Guardians statues is a fun thing to stop and see if you're in Rockford. Located along…read morethe Rock River, these statues are on the side of the Rock River Recreation Path. If you're going by car, the nearest street address is that of the Rockford Boys and Girls Club (1040 N 2nd St #1). Once you get there these 10 foot statues are impressive to see. This is a great photo opportunity. I highly recommend The Rockmen Guardians!

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!

Such a fun tour! Took about 50 minutes and was jammed packed with surprises. If you want a fun way…read moreto learn some davenport history, this is a great place to go!

From the owner: In almost any city you visit, you can find historic home tours. Our home has it all: beautiful…read morearchitecture, family stories, artifacts from around the world, unique room designs, and more!

I had roughly 45 minutes before a conference call and it was a beautiful spring day, so I set out…read moreto walk towards the Rock Falls Sinnissippi Dam Walkway. It was a mere fifteen minute walk from the local Holiday Inn, but across the street from the walkway was the Hennepin Feeder Canal. The beginning/end of a 100+ mile canal leading all the way to the Mississippi or Illinois River (depending on which way you turn). Today the canal is a National Register of Historic Places and has 32 of the original 33 locks in place. I was blown away and took several pictures excited to celebrate the history of a project that was proposed in 1834, built between 1892 to 1907, and began operation in 1908. Due to transportation options that expanded rapidly after it's opening, the canal was only in operation until 1951. The official welcome center appears to be in Sheffield, IL, but the Rock Falls park site also notes the annual Hennepin Hundred, ultra marathon race: http://www.hennepinhundred.com "Parking for the Hennepin Canal Trail can be found at the Jim Arduini Boat Launch on East 2nd Street or at the state provided roadside pull-offs along Illinois Route 40 on the south end of Rock Falls."--from the Rock Falls visitors website.

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!

The tour was a little long, but it was free and a lot of the info was very interesting. It was neat…read moreto learn about the Deere family. The houses (you go in two different ones) are both very elegant and ornate. It's worth checking out if you're in the Moline area, but probably not very exciting for kids.

A stunning example of turn of the century luxury that has been preserved! Went here for a business…read moremeeting, actually the Butterworth center, and was just in awe. We kinda got lost initially and walked over to the Deere mansion. Wow, just walking around the perimeter was beautiful with a million dollar view of the river and a porch that encompassed the entire back exterior and was enclosed!! The grounds are meticulously kept down to the coach house.... After finding out that our meeting was at the Butterworth center across the street I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to explore the interior of the manse. When I heard 'center' I thought, oh great, some crappy new construction pole barn/building where everything smells new and is beige..... To my surprise, the Butterworth center is actually ANOTHER mansion that was owned by the daughter of John Deere and her husband. We didn't know where we were going and that was really great because we walked down what I can only assume to be a private entrance for carriages and now cars.....alright....here we go!! Entered in through clear glass doors with gorgeous wrought iron detailing that made me weak...then in front of me....an actual coat room. Yes, a room for coats. Just coats, with built in racks and a marble top dresser for ancillary details (I assume). My thoughts immediately went to the naughty things that may have occurred there over the years.... But I digress....I walked up one flight of stairs that were protected with gorgeous persian rugs to find a floor that was converted into a meeting center with banquet chairs hiding the true glory of what looked to be an entire floor of a parlor. Kept walking to the back of the room where I found the diagonal parque oak floor and a baby grand piano that was anything but 'baby'...... Not sure if I was to be exploring as much as I did but it was fun to imagine living there and the grand parties they had. Our meeting was REALLY in the carriage house behind the lovely gardens. That was nice, it was obviously partially a horse stable complete with hay loft, that had been updated and modernized with coats of white paint and cheap dry wall.... I like old things I guess. After our meeting we ate lunch in the gardens and we were lucky enough to be able to speak with a gardener who had done her internship at the estate. She gave detailed explanations of the flower beds and some secrets I can't divulge.... Not sure what type of events they host here on a regular basis but it sure has a grand feeling with enough space for your guests to mix and mingle in a professional setting yet has enough whimsy to feel festive!

Thunder Bay Falls is a must see on your way into or out of Galena! It's only about a 10 min drive…read moreout of the way for a majestic view of the waterfall. Depending on how much rain there's been will determine how full the waterfall is- the 1st time I came here, there was a trickle of water. This time (a full year later) was a full fledged roaring waterfall! This is a quick stop- it's just the waterfall! There's a gravel parking lot (usually the other cars are a dead giveaway). There are several viewing areas with selfie stations for you to prop up your phone! The wildflowers are beauty here too. If you brought a fishing pole, go for it! There are signs (and reviews) that clearly state you have to be a member or a guest of something in order to be here... we've never seen anyone enforcing the rules here. It's too much of a treasure to keep people away.

I meannnn... the waterfall was dry when we went so that was a bummer. Not much of a trail to walk…read morearound either. It's nice to visit but definitely probably better to go in the spring or summer when the water fall is actively running. There are a few posts that provide information about why Thunder Bay falls is important to the area. Still pretty cool to check out and get some fresh air.

We drove 5 hours from Illinois to come to this museum and aquariam…read more It was worth the time and costs. A ticket gains you admission for the day and the next day also. The museum exhibits were very interesting. The signage explained each exhibit very well. We purchased tickets for the 45 minute 4D film about the story of a mother whale and her baby whale's journey from Austraila to the Antartic. Spoiler Alert: The 4D effect was getting sprayed from above 5 or 6 times during the film. We are going to return tomorrow for day 2 of our admission.

We came on a Wednesday and explored before check in to our hotel. We got lucky and it was not…read morecrowded. Got to see the otter (we only saw one bu better than none!) and only a few exhibits were under construction/rehabilitation. I would recommend seeking out the hidden spots like the cave, mini movies, and the tower through out the expansive site. So many animals to encounter, tactile spaces for kids to touch and the newest ice dinosaur exhibit was epic for my son. All for one price and yes, it did take us two days to get through it all. Facilities are clean, many places to sit inside and outside were plenty of benches and shade in the outdoor areas.