I visited Tinker Cottage today because I am writing a paper on it for a school assignment and I…read morehonestly loved learning everything about this family who lived here. The lady who gave the tour was super kind and made the experience very try fun. This is definitely a must see if you visit Rockford. The library was so beautiful inside and I loved learning about the secret sparkly mirrors that were used back in the day.

A very old beautiful mansion from the mid 1800's that is a museum now. All the furnishings were…read moreowned by the Tinker family. It's very nicely renovated and preserved. It is also haunted. A must see in the Rockford area.

My daughter and I were visiting some friends in Rockford, when we decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese…read morefor play and lunch as my 3 year old had never been before. We did the one hour unlimited game pass, personal cheese pizza and salad bar for a grand total of $66. I always forget how expensive this place is, and was annoyed that the Chuck E Cheese car no longer has the camera, and the sketch picture was down as well. That kind of defeats the entire Chuck E Cheese experience. The bathrooms are gross, but I appreciate that the sinks are low enough for the littles. The salad bar was lacking, but what you'd expect from a pizza place. My daughter had fun, but I feel that there are newer children's places that will give you more bang for your buck.

Love this spot! Came here all the time as a kid and hardly recognized it coming back as an adult…read more It's been completely renovated and looks much more modern and new. They have games for just about every age of kid, and they even do monthly subscriptions that are a crazy good value if you plan on coming even 1 time a month (but if your kids are anything like mine, they will beg to come here way more often than once a month) They don't do a coin system anymore, they give you a play card and load it with a certain amount of credits. You then use that card to tap on whatever game you want, and it will tell you how many credits you have left. It also stores the tickets on there which is way better than carrying stacks of physical tickets with you all day. The manager at this location is super friendly and helpful. Most of the employees are too. Would highly recommend this place, and even more so getting a monthly subscription here, especially if you have kids (or even if you don't, I think I have just as much fun as they do!)

On a dreary Sunday in January we came from the Chicago suburbs primarily to see the garden train…read moreexhibit inside the conservatory. Although kind of small, the greenhouse did not disappoint. It is very lush, packed with a lot of tropical plants, trees and flowers. It also has water features, ponds and streams that have fish (koi?) in them. The train displays are super nice. They have miniature Rockford landmarks scattered around and trestle bridges made from sticks and limbs. This place is peaceful, relaxing, and very photogenic. $10 admissions, a bit less for seniors and kids.

It's nice, but a bit on the small side, I think they need to expand it a little more, but its…read moredefinitely something worth checking out. And why aren't there any frogs? Just Koi Fish, but no frogs.

Midway village is great. They have a free walking path and grassy field area open to the public,…read morewhich is beautiful in the spring, summer and fall. The walking path is about a mile around which is a great distance for us. They also have a veterans memorial off the side of the path. Next door they have a museum which I've never been to, but I have been to a wedding nearby and it was a really nice backdrop. I know they have lots of events here throughout the year, including a WWII re-enactment that people from all over the state and region come to. Definitely a place worth checking out.

Worth a visit and we didn't even see everything here!…read more If you're a fan of "A League of Their Own" you need to come see the exhibit about the Rockford Peaches and the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. There's also info about the history of the sock monkey and red heeled socks which are from Rockford, in addition to information about Camp Grant and other local history. We didn't go through the historical village part, but we did check out the dollhouse museum (apparently the collection of one person, but there wasn't really any information about them in the building and no one manning this space). The gift shop is small but well appointed (they need a penny smasher, though!) People can also rent spaces/venues here; there were two weddings happening here the day we were there! A nice smaller local history museum.

Excellent place to visit with or without kids. I really enjoyed traveling through the entire…read moremuseum. Downstairs they have a temporary exhibit highlighting fossils they are finding in the Green River Shale in Utah. From the large bones to the tiny buds of plants. The dinosaur exhibit on the first floor will particularly appeal to kids and vertebrate fossil fans. While I was drawn to the very nice collection of Mazon Creek concretions and my first in person view of a Tully Monster (which is the Illinois State Fossil). 2nd floor is more geology focused than paleontology and the 3rd floor is Biological. I spent some time looking at the different birds they had on display as well as the live reptiles in the education room. Plus a little fox at floor level where young children could Ben down and look eye to eye was a nice touch. We will definitely return. Rockford is close.

This museum is amazing! The amount of dinosaur fossils to view is incredible for being a smaller…read moremuseum and the staff is wonderful! We didn't realize it but the director actually showed us all the reptiles and let us hold/ pet them. She was so kind, patient and knowledgable! We will go back and highly recommend the trip!

This is a beautiful theater in Rockford downtown area. Highly recommend coming early before the…read moreshow you're attending especially if you plan to park in the parking garage across the street. It was only $15 to park in the garage and there were staff in the street directing traffic into the parking garage and helping people cross the street from the parking garage to the theater. The theater itself is very decorative and kept clean. All the staff were very friendly. The bathrooms are on the lower level. We sat in the lower balcony and it had a very good view of the stage. They don't allow outside food, and there is a quick security check prior to coming in. We came here for the Josh Gates show which was entertaining and it was nice to see a broad range of ages there to enjoy seeing Josh Gates in person.

I was in the upper balcony for the Foreigner concert. Foreigner was great but the theater HVAC…read moresystem needs to be fixed. It was literally like being in an attic. Also, one blonde haired 60ish employee took her job way too seriously. Nobody else was walking around bitching at literally everyone but her. Paid a lot of money to sweat my ass off.