Most museums ask you to imagine the past. This one puts you inside it. The Griffin Museum of…read moreScience and Industry, set in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side, occupies the last remaining building from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition -- and that alone makes it worth the trip out from downtown, before a single exhibit is even in view. https://lisaefreedman.com/the-griffin-museum-of-science-and-industry/

Museum of science and industry brings the best of the best…read more Great spot for kids. There is so much to see and do. But as a highlight reel, the updated water exhibit was excellent. All the interactive science stuff in the balcony level is super fun. There are plenty of things to check out that it requires a full day or multiple short days. There are not enough words for me to say how great this place is, so come through.

I like that area because I like taking pictures and videos of trains play around in the area About…read more4 years ago there was Griffith train station and they closed it during construction now it's a train thing but they still have the 80s railroad single in the park that signal is from Main St a block away the Erie Lackawanna trail takes place of the railroad tracks.In 2003 or not they put that trail there and put some tracks right next to the train like the Monon but they end off by some trees.In 2008 they removed a signal and the tracks conecting to the EJ&E tracks.The Erie Lackawanna tracks were of no use.In 2012 the Erie Lackawanna tracks were no more there so they cut down the trees and railroad crossings these are the streets that Cn removed 1 S Broad St 2 E Main St 3 N Cline Ave 3 E Lake St. Cn left some leftovers from the tracks but the C&O on the south side of the tracks still in use.

One of the best and biggest art museums I've ever been to…read more I brought my 11-year-old son with me on a Monday morning in August. The only downsides were just how insanely packed it was, and the price of admission - $32 for adults (but free for my son at least). But it's worth it to fork over the cash and brave the crowds. The collections are stunning and expansive and truly breathtaking. The paintings are well spaced out with ample descriptions and information. Like most museums of this size and prestige, the building and the people watching are just as interesting as the art. Definitely hope to return someday as I've barely scratched the surface!

What a fabulous place for various artists and artwork! It was great to see all the different pieces…read moreand styles in this collection. The art institute is huge and covers a wide variety of different styles. It's a big place so expect to spend some time here. Map shows different levels and different stairs and elevators leading to different places. They even have a cafe in the 3rd floor. Really cool place to check out in Chicago while you're here. They do have free lockers for large backpacks and items near the front.

We had such a wonderful time visiting the David Davis Mansion. Our tour guide, Jeff, gave us a long…read moreand detailed tour that was both informative and engaging. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and made the history of the mansion come alive. One highlight was learning about David Davis's close connection to Abraham Lincoln, which added an even deeper historical significance to our visit. That piece of history was fascinating and memorable. We highly recommend the David Davis Mansion to anyone visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful historic home with a rich story, and with guides like Jeff, you're guaranteed an excellent experience.

We toured the David Davis Mansion on a chilly December afternoon. There was one else there for a…read moretour so we had our own private tour. The mansion was beautiful and decorated for Christmas. The house has many artifacts that are true to the Davis family. We learned a treasure of information from our tour guide Jeff. He was able to answer both of our questions and we had many of them. Jeff was able to tailor the tour to our interests providing a personalized experience. This tour of an exquisite mansion was top-notch due to Jeff and his wealth of knowledge and pleasant personality.

I was REALLY looking forward to this place and it did not disappoint. I was there for the animals…read moreand dinosaurs... I really don't care about a lot of other items but it still had a great display for what I was interested in. I did buy tickets on Groupon. I think I saved about $30ish dollars in total doing that so I highly recommend checking there before buying on their website. I could be wrong on the amount but definitely saved a good amount of money. I also bought the tickets ahead of time which is HIGHLY recommended. This place was packed. The Pokemon exhibit was sold out which is fine with me - I was not interested but definitely drew a bigger crowd. In regards to dinosaurs, Sue the Tyrannosaurus is the best part. You cannot go there without seeing Sue. The museum has a huge gift shop which is great but the 'Sue' items were not great from the gift shop. I didn't buy anything which was very surprising. There were the taxidermy animals too which were nice to see how many different species of animals there are in the world. I definitely enjoyed my time here and highly recommend. I love the History Museum in NYC, Washington DC and London and this is right up with those!

Awesome museum if you like natural history- culture, artifacts, fossils, and most recently Pokémon!…read moreI've been a fan of Pokémon for many years, so I really wanted to see the fossil Pokémon exhibit at the Field! Came here a few days ago with one of my friends - who is also a fan of Pokémon. Tickets are 48$ for adults. Since the Pokémon exhibit requires times entry, it means you'll have to usually buy your tix ahead of time online. This means you'll also have to pay online fees for tix, and you'll have to forgo any discounts such as student discounts if you qualify. Student discounts require that you purchase tix in person, as you can't buy a Pokémon tix separately online without the entry tix to the Field. Now onto the good stuff... the exhibits! I shall discuss the Pokémon museum first. I knew for a long time that many of the fossil type Pokémon were based on true animals from the past. The exhibit did a good job bringing the magic of Pokémon and tying it in with real life. So while the exhibit was very cute, it was also informative. Great for young kids and Pokémon adults (like myself)! Pokémon featured included Kabuto, Omanyte, Pikachu (of course!), Aerodactyl, Tyrunt, etc. At the end of the exhibit you get a voucher for purchasing items at the popup store. They had most things in stock- so I was able to buy a hat, a t shirt and an excavator Pikachu plush. There is a 5 item max including 1 max Pikachu plush. They had a really cute hoodie, but sadly they didn't have any in S or M size. They had plenty of clothes for larger sizes L and up. I spent about an hour in the Pokémon exhibit and another 20 minutes or so in the popup store. Afterwards, I spent the next couple of hours perusing the other exhibits - including stones/gems, prehistory (dinos and big mammals), Tibet, China, plants and modern day animals (taxidermy). There was a lot to see, but after a while things started to look the same. For those thinking about doing the Pokémon exhibit- if you're not that into Pokémon, it might not be worth it. But if you're a Pokémon fan, I think it's worth it, especially if you want the event exclusive merch!

I've driven past Gary, IN soooo many times but never stopped to see Michael Jackson's childhood…read morehome. On our way back from Indiana Dunes, we decided why not just check it out since it's on our way back to Chicago anyway. I was honestly surprised how many people were there when we came, but maybe it's because of the recent movie. It looks like people bring gifts and sign their names on the sidewalk and street. There's not much else to do besides look at it. It's surrounded by a fence, which is understandable. It's a neat stop if you're on the way to or from something, but probably not something to go out of the way for unless you're a huge fan. The street is on has a few abandoned houses and right behind his house is what looks to be an abandoned high school. People do live in the nearby houses so visitors should all try to be respectful and keep noise down!

We made the trek to the city of Gary for this house. It's not just anyone's house, it's The Jackson…read more5's house! We didn't see much in the area outside of people just coming to this home. It was gated, so there wasn't much you can see except for knowing that this was once a house that the Jacksons lived in.

A nice little museum located w/i the beautiful Kankakee Amtrak depot, from 1898 for the IC Rr and…read moreon the Natl Register of Historic Places. The museum holds three model train layouts, each of a different scale; a number of display cases of scale model trains, dishes and schedules. Outside is a 1948 Pullman passenger coach which has been partly beautifully restored and redecorated, a UP caboose and a streetcar which once operated in Kankakee.

We had our wedding at the train depot a few weeks ago. I will never hold another event there. Don't…read moreget me wrong, the place is beautiful, and it was the right size for our event. We had the worst experience with Peggy and her "assistants". The first time we met with Peggy she was very nice and willing to help us make the day perfect. After we signed the contract that all went away. We met with her a few times leading up to the wedding. Her story and pricing would change every time we spoke with her. She told us the contract was out of date and that she does not go strictly off of the contract and that it was just a formality to hold our date. We were told the price we owed which we were fine with. Then the week before the wedding she wanted to meet with us again. Her and her assistant tried to charge us over double the agreed upon price. She was the one who told us when we could get in the Depot the day of the event given the price we paid (Goes by hourly). She told us to come at 2:30pm and then charged us an extra $100 for it. Things she told us came with the rental price we paid she quickly tried to turn around and charge us for. She was very rude and unprofessional. They put together a timeline for the wedding day which was completely opposite of what we had wanted. It only gave us about 10-15 minutes for our ceremony and only 20 minutes for pictures. They were rude when we told them we needed about 20 to 25 minutes for the ceremony, and more time for pictures. Our vendors have said they do not want to do weddings here because of her rudeness and unprofessionalism. She told me for months that they do all the setup, that I was to bring in the decorations and do 1 table to show them how I wanted it and they took care of the rest. The day before the wedding comes and we set up a table and Peggy was so rude to my mom who worked hard on decorations and told her "you don't expect me to do this?". She was nasty about it with mom and told her that there will be a fee if we set anything up. That was not in the contract and Peggy had been telling me for months that this was just something they do. Peggy made so many disrespectful comments about our decorations. We were contracted to have the building until 11pm. At 8:30pm the air was shut off and they were trying to push us out the door. Many of our guests have told us they saw her drinking our beer for our guests. She has posted pictures of our wedding without our consent (and yes, I checked the contract). We contacted the city to get this addressed and they just give us the run around saying meetings are scheduled and we will get a call back within the next few days. We have called multiple times and just keep getting the run around. It is a shame because the money is used for events downtown, but to deal with this kind of person does not make it worth is. She was a nightmare to work with. NEVER AGAIN!

They were closed when we stopped by on our travel down Route 66. Even though we only got to see it…read morefrom the outside and for a quick drive around, I'm good with giving 'em a 5. It's every bit like you'd expect from an 'old prison'. It was built in the 1800's and, of course, when checking out the gate where Elwood picked up Jake in the movie Blues Brothers it looked exactly as expected. Even from the outside there's some good photo ops. Probably won't ever be in the area again, but am sure glad we had the opportunity to see it.

The ol' Blues Brothers started their movie off at this place.....and now you can tour it!read more