This was our first time attending the Dupage Native Plant Sale. It is now held at the Dupage Event…read moreCenter and Fairgrounds. Parking and admission were free. This is a 2 day event selling over 150 different types of native flowers,grasses,shrubs and trees. There were many volunteers around to ask questions and get recommendations. Plants are not restocked daily so best is to go early on the first day. It gets crowded and with so many people pulling wagons and carts,patience is required! They do have a few trays to use but best is to bring your own boxes. Cash,check or credit cards are accepted but I wish the checkout area was in a different location than where the plants were being sold as the lines for checkout were very long. Proceeds benefit the Dupage Forest Preserve.

Amazing! Loved checking out all the 4-H projects! Special shout out to @ikonicglass for an amazing…read moreglass blowing experience!

This is a fun, fun event!! Had a great time. Great music, good food, and lots of great beer!…read more Very easy access to the event with Metra stop very near the entrance.

Best craft beer selection. Those guys at Flesk Brewery make the best beer with raspberries, and I…read moredon't like fruit in my beer. What the neck. Truly five star is you want great craft beer. Nice surprise. Wish I had you at BurgerFi.

The real highlight here is the carnival Giant Drop ride. Go…read moreon it with someone who is scared of heights, you'll doubt yourself.

This past weekend Glen Ellyn sponsored their annual Taste. This was my first time to Glen Ellyn's…read moreversion of a family fun weekend that most times is overrun by annoying teenage punks. Lombard Taste, you know what I'm talking about. I would say this is your average, run-of-the-mill, get what you pay for (it was free) local festival. For being a "Taste" there wasn't all that much being offered from local vendors. There were maybe 4 vendors with local treats like Tap House Grill, Chicks 'n Salsa, Chicago Prime Meat Market and a pizza joint. The rest of the food was your "eat with caution, likely to induce some serious commode time" typical carni-culprits like gyros and meat on a stick. Who doesn't love deep fried snickers that are advertised as "tastes like warm fudge"? ughhhhh. The arts and crafts were a sight for sore eyes. Actually, eyes that hurt really, really bad. They did have a climbing wall that seemed to be quite a hit with the youngsters. And I totally would have scaled that thing if not for the fear of ripping my pants open in front of the school-aged innocent. The free concerts on Saturday night made up for what could have been a bust of a weekend. Tin Horse, a country chick's band, and The New Invaders, a 60's cover band, kept us highly entertained throughout the cold night. Part of that might have had to do with the beer tent and those little $5 red tickets. My advice to next years Taste Committee - pick it up a notch, think about what people actually want to see/do at a festival, not just what's always been done. Promote local biz but do it in a modern way that will make people want to come back next year.

What a surprise to find this mural in Lombard! I love murals and public art in general, and am a…read morebig fan of Kelsey Montague's #WhatLiftsYou public mural project. I've visited the one she did in Nashville, and have considered taking a trip to visit the one in Indiana as well. So I was delighted when, on the way to an early morning breakfast at Honey Berry Cafe in Yorktown, I found this purely by accident since I took the long way round the mall. It's between what is currently (as of August 2019) a Barre Studio and Amazing Eyelash. It's really the definition of blink-and-you'll-miss-it. I hate to name an anchor store, since it was Carson's and that's a dead brand, but JCPenney is the next closest. I was there at 8:30 on a Monday, so the mall wasn't open and the only people here were people heading to workout at Barre or Orange Theory. So it's possible that people stop here all the time and everyone knows about it, and I just am a city slicker who's out of the loop (um... so to speak). Though it should go without saying, if you do stop here for a photo, be mindful that you're in a mall parking lot, and the place where the mural is happens to be right by a sharp curve where the driver would probably not see someone who wasn't standing on the sidewalk. Exercise great caution! But take a moment to appreciate a really nice bit of public work.

I would absolutely do this again in a heart beat! My boyfriend and I had such a great time walking…read morearound Naperville and learning its history while enjoying a verity of different dishes, some of which I wouldn't have thought to try if I were out exploring by myself. Mike was an incredible tour guide! Funny, personable and knowledgeable!! We had so many laughs our group. By the end of it, we all felt like friends who had know each other for years. We even said it would be fun to have a reunion tour. It was a memorable day, one I will cherish for a long time to come. This is an absolutely must do if you're in Naperville! Doesn't matter if you've lived here your whole life, or just passing through. You won't regret the experience

I was a suburbanite long before I became the savvy city girl that I am today. In the time of…read morecurfews and strict parental rules, downtown Naperville was the next best thing to hanging out in the city. Yes, I understand, a distant second place! So, when I saw the Groupon for this tour, I had to seize the opportunity to reacquaint myself with a big part of my childhood. First of all, Naperville has come a very long way from what I remember it to be like. It's now a bustling suburban downtown with a wide variety of eateries both chain and local, shopping and service oriented establishments. It automatically made me very excited about what I was going to learn that day. This tour has a great balance between history and food. Mike, the tour guide is passionate about what he does and it's clear from his historical accounts about downtown Naperville. The tour stars out at the old Kroehler Furniture factory which has long since been re-purposed as condos and retail space. From here begins the leisurely two mile walk (comfortable shoes are a must for this tour) into the historic district of Naperville to feast on the beautiful architecture that has allowed it to acquired its historic status. Food stops on our Sunday tour included: 1. Orazio's Pub, which started doing toasted subs long before Quizno's came around and a hearty bowl of peasant style potato soup. 2. Quigley's Irish Pub, which is the actual pub from Dublin, Ireland! They dismantled it and brought it all the way here. I fell in love with this place and can't wait to go back for the Reuben egg rolls. They were AMAZING!!! 3. LeChocolat du Bouchard, where we actually met Cathy Bouchard who gave a very interesting mini lecture on the history and health benefits of the super-food Cacao. I loved it so much that I can't wait to attend a full seminar at her chocolaterie. What stood out as much as her passionate lecture was the Mexican Hot Chocolate. OH. MY. GOD. It left me swooooooooooning!!!!!!!!!!! That's reason enough to go back there. It was a warm day when we took the tour and I still gulped down every last drop of my drink! 4. Twisted Olive (even though this was only supposed to be a Saturday stop), where we sampled flavored olive oils I didn't even know existed. We were pressed for time here, but I would love to go back and purchase the habenero and cilantro olive oils. I really feel like they might take some basic recipes up a few notches! 5. Cookie Dough Creations, to sample actual cookie dough ice cream and cake batter. This was good, but a little too rich for my tastes. I actually couldn't finish my tasting portions of the two items. 6. Giordano's for a slice of heavenly stuffed cheese pizza. From here, the tour ended and you could continue exploring on your own or do anything else you pleased. The only negative comment I have about it is in the day and age of dietary restrictions, vegetarians and vegans, Mike should have really inquired if my friend and I had any restrictions he should be aware of because we were attending a food tour after all! So, I was sad to not sample the subs or soup at Orazio's because they were pork based, which I do not eat. From what I could tell, everyone else really enjoyed both items because they were gone in a flash. It was a great tour and I would recommend it to anyone who is in the area. Even if you're not, it's worth the drive to Naperville to participate in it.

This is one of my favorite summer festival to come and enjoy with my family. Great Food,…read moreEntertainment and Good Vibes. I have been coming here for many years and the vibes have always been good. The food prices are very reasonable. Food & Drinks range from $3.00 to maybe $6.00 if that much. Very inexpensive and budget friendly. This festival is a place for you to try different authentic foods, music and good vibes. You can shop the vendors tents and find some cool things to purchase. There are several stages where you can enjoy a live concert. There is a carnival with a few rides for the kids to stay entertained. I always look forward to coming here year. Taste of Melrose Park is always around the first week in September.

A bunch of us checked out the Taste of Melrose Park during Labor Day weekend. This is a food fest…read morewith free admission. Amazingly every food item was priced at $3 or less. It was fun to try all sorts of tasty foods. Many of them were Italian bites but there were other Mexican-style foods as well. We enjoyed items such as Italian beef, arancini, flat "fried meatball" sandwich, a "salad sandwich" that was quite good because of the fresh bread, cheese fries, cannoli, root beer float, slushie and a lovely serving of sfingi (freshly made "donut holes" made by nuns, how can you top that?). There are fair faves such as promotional freebies, carnival rides, a guy on stilts, and a clown pushing a mini-clown in a stroller (wha wha??). There is some entertainment as well (we heard bagpipers after someone belted out the Star Spangled Banner). This was sort of a folksy food fest, and the price was right. If you are looking for something fun to do next Labor Day weekend in the 'burbs, keep Taste of Melrose Park in mind.

This tower was NOT supposed to be built with taxpayer money. After it sat uncompleted for several…read moreyears, the taxpayers of Naperville bailed it out. Then, just 15 years later, this tower is crumbling. And no one is responsible? Really? Naperville has decided to spend 2 to 3 million dollars to repair it. (I bet it ends up costing more.) And no one is responsible for this thing falling apart after just 15 years? When it was supposed to last 100 years? By the way, it's ugly.

I was enjoying a summer day in downtown Naperville when I heard the carillon concert in full swing…read more What a treat! People gathered on the lawn to enjoy the soothing sounds of the bells in the air. The concerts are free, which is a plus! Because the performer is high up in the carillon, they broadcast a live feed of him/her performing, as well. A fun discovery!

A lot of monuments are along the Naperville Riverwalk, and this is one of the many. Dick Tracy is a…read moreclassic comic strip character, and he got a statue. It makes you wonder why that was. Because the assistant to the creator lived here. That sounds like not much of a reason, but the statue is nice though. For those interested, there's a story behind it. In the mid 1900s Dick Tracy was a lot more popular. The comic strip was created by Chester Gould, from Woodstock. Dick Locher was from Naperville, and was his assistant a few years, then took over after he retired. There's not a huge connection of Dick Tracy to Naperville, but this was enough for a statue. Have some fun taking pictures in front of it. It's located along the Riverwalk. This is close to the intersection of Water and Webster.

Good thing they moved this guy to higher ground because he was waist-deep in water half the time…read morewhen he used to be down closer to the river. People frequently ask "why is this statue in Naperville?" Well, Dick Locher, the assistant of Dick Tracy's creator Chester Gould, lived in Naperville and drummed up civic interest in it. I sometimes wonder if in the middle of the night our old gumshoe here ever meets up with "Darth Naper" who hangs out a few blocks away....