The museum is free and a nice place to stop in if you have kids and are walking around downtown…read moreWheaton. They have a charming train display on the lower level that children tend to love! The main floor focuses on local Illinois history. It's a small place, and the upper level is currently under construction, but being free makes it well worthwhile even as they spruce things up.

All of you that took pictures inside should be ashamed of yourselves. It's clearly posted…read morethroughout, now go sit in the corner for 10 minutes and reflect on your rebellious nature. Ok, so first of all it's free. But, you can make donations ($4 is "suggested") I like places like this and was happy to make a donation. The building is cool, it was built by John Quincy Adams (distant relative to the former President) as a Library, he lived across the street and gifted this wonderful building to the community. Why only 3 stars you ask? I wanted to click 4 stars.. but when it said "Yay! I'm a fan." I just couldn't. I'm glad that I went once, but that was enough. Many of the displays are specific to only a few families that have made extensive donations of items, this is cool except that I was looking for more specific information on the formation of the towns throughout the county. Also, maybe some juicy gossip.. like the stuff about the how Wheaton became the County Seat.. or how the towns were named.. etc.. and maybe some founder's pictures. The first room on the left is the main exhibit (and to me most interesting) There are some nice period pieces of clothing and family pictures. Quite a bit of information about the trains (and the stations and architects) that run through DuPage County and the Illinois Prairie Path that took some of their places. I spent the most time in this room. It's easy to walk by, but when you first enter the museum, on the right is a display about the building worth looking at.. pictures of the museum going back to the horse and buggy days.. almost missed that because we were engaged with the people at the desk right away. (very friendly) I didn't get the train exhibit in the basement, it was operational (push the button) on the day we were there and held our interest for all of a few moments.. I think you have to know and understand about these things. I was distracted by the placement of the buildings/locations in relation to the tracks, things were out of whack. I know it's supposed to be impressive.. but I was kind of "meh" The second floor used to have a stage and seating. That's been removed but the room is still attractive with it's tall ceiling. It's worth a visit, but I wouldn't plan a day around it.

My camera club went here one blustery night in November. We got full-access to the place. I ran…read moreinto James up in the attic and he was a wealth of information. There is a ton of gear here. Some of is seems bone-stock and much has been restored. Plenty of cool stuff. You do not have to have an interest in firefight to find this place cool. Not juts for kids, either.

Spending a day in Elgin looking for something to do brought us to the Elgin Fire Barn No 5 Museum…read more I don't think I've ever been to a fire barn/house/department museum before, but as museums go this one was done well. It's not very big, but they've packed a bunch of information and displays in. Dale asked if we wanted to wander about ourselves or have a guided tour and we chose guided tour. Between Dale and James I don't think there's anything in the museum they can't tell you about. Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of fighting fires in Elgin. The displays are all very well done and everything is very well taken care of. If you're in the area and looking for an interesting place to spend an hour or two definitely stop by the Fire Barn Museum. If you're not in the area but interested in fire fighting the trip will be worth it.

I loved this farm /regional zoo. There were sheep's cow goat rabbits chicken llama donkey owls…read more....coyotes and lots of different birds. The employees all seem to enjoy working here and the animals are well taken care of. It was a beautiful day in Illinois and we were allowed to pet the animals at the facility. I even saw some ponies! This is not a typical zoo as there are no large predators but it's cute and well designed that you can spend a good hour or so strolling around. Good for family with small kids!

A very clean smaller zoo. Kids are free and adults cost $12 each. If you are in the area it might…read morebe worth checking out! This is a good zoo to checkout with small children. There's coyotes, deer, cows, horse, llama, goats, chickens, and ducks. It's a little unclear if you can pet anything as the signs say "we bite." Does that mean pet at your own risk? I just assumed don't do it at all. It also wasn't clear if you could feed any of the animals outside a 30 min window that was listed on a flyer hung up.

The senior South Elgin Park District to Starved Rock Lock and Lunch was so enjoyable with…read morepersonable staff Jess and Ed facilitating representing the Park District. Everything went smoothly and relaxed. Excellent driving by Jess and Ed was at our lunch table. Definitely recommend going on their excursions.

Panton Mill Park: Absolutely amazing! Great splashpad, wide open scenery, including the Fox River…read moreand the dam creates a breathtaking view. Large clean restrooms add a comfort level. Events nearly every day all summer long, and even Santa Claus makes his debut on stage, for the Christmas tree lighting to a full house in early December. From concerts to Classic car shows and other family events, The South Elgin Parks and Recreation Department has really stepped up!

Great park for all ages. Safety conscious, and interactive. I am very impressed! We will be…read morefrequent visitors.

A few years ago, the city of Bloomingdale reconstructed Sunnyside Park. The new park is bright,…read moreinviting, and accessible to wheelchairs and strollers due to its even ground and ramps. There are two areas: one for little kids, and another for big kids. Aside from the ramps, there and multiple climbing areas: short structures for little kids (i.e. an alligator on the ground) and (obviously) larger and more complex for big kids (i.e. logs at different heights). Each side has a swing set: baby bucket seats, low regular swings, and two (total) special needs swings. The ground is rubber-type material and minimizes scrapes. There is one water fountain on site, bench seating, and an outhouse. There are many trees for shade. The nearby tennis courts and basketball courts were resurfaced when the park underwent the renovation. The park is maintained pretty well, though garbage sometimes overflows from the bins. In all, it's a great choice as far as local parks go. I'm already enjoying it with my 10 month old son, and expect we'll visit the park for years to come.

Haven't been since last summer but excited to visit again. Very cute museum with lots of input from…read morethe community, cool art and lots to learn about the surrounding area.

Great little zoo. Stay for the zookeeper talks, very informative. Great little place to support!read more

Haven't used the park much at Randall Oaks Park, but the petting zoo/barnyard is a fun place to…read moretake a kid if you want to kill an hour or so. Cheap to get in - $2.75 for adults, $2.00 for kids I think. You can buy bags of feed for the animals - those are $.75 per bag (usually need about 5 bags, depending on how generous you are to the animals!). It's not really a place to spend the whole day, but it's nice for an afternoon out. They have a couple of playgrounds for the kids, and it's my understanding they have party pavilions for rent - like at a forest preserve. Easy drive from Chicago - 90 W to Randall Rd. north; go about 5 miles and it will be on the left.

Another year, another Itasca Fest…read more We live minutes from the Itasca border, so getting here is a breeze. And so is parking -- though you do have to be willing to walk a block or two. But downtown Itasca is lovely. I think most people, if they drove through this little village of 8,300 people, would not expect very big happenings. But Itasca Fest is pretty impressive for the size of the town. Free admission, and there's a huge carnival, a big tent set up with plenty of tables for noshing at and a stage with live entertainment, bingo, a rummage sale, educational events for the kids (including interacting with wild animals) and of course plenty of greasy food to go around. Last year, there was a super-cool NASA trailer set up where you could play with various gadgets and learn about life in a spaceship. Honestly, I enjoyed it as much as the kid with us did. Unfortunately, no NASA trailer this year. Still, four stars for a solidly good time nearby and on the cheap.

Considering the majority of my big fat Italian family lives in Itasca, it's shocking that this was…read moremy first time here. And let's be honest, I came for the Bingo. We started here on Sunday night, the last night of the fest. Bingo is run by the Lyons Club and they do a great job of keeping the natives restless while having some personality. The guy working our row was awesome, was so friendly. Cards are 3 for a dollar and my dreams were crushed when I saw they were the sliders and not the stamp kind of cards. I was really looking forward to having a big purple stamper to dot up my cards. Each round of Bingo could win somewhere between $50-$70 but alas, I didn't have any luck. The final round was a cover-all game and cards were $1 each. The jackpot for that final round was above the $200 mark. In order to entertain us before the final round (and possibly because it was the last night of the fest, we were able to get as many free drinks as we wanted before the last game). I spent about $13 total on an hour of Bingo, which I don't consider to be too much of a loss. Did I really just write about Bingo for a full paragraph? Back to the fest. They have about 8-10 vendors for food including local restaurants. Rides are plentiful here, I couldn't even guess how many. Upwards of a dozen? Games were also not scarce, and they had all the classic games. I ended up winning myself a stuffed monkey. It's what every 29 year old adult female needs. I can only compare Itasca fest to Bartlett fest or Naperville's Rib Fest. I would probably prefer Itasca fest over both because it has WAY more games and rides than Bartlett, and isn't as crowded as Rib Fest. It's a new summer tradition.