Expansive and colorful studio of Minneapolis art-star, Doug Padilla.

Chilly air billows out from the entrance of an abandoned mine on a steep hillside, providing a refuge for Ice Age fauna and flora.

Hidden in the grounds of the Fort Dodge Museum is a "real" and terrifying petrified giant.

A single artist is behind these large-scale models made of hundreds of thousands of two-inch wooden matchsticks.

This simple home was the beginning of a long journey for the iconic Western film star.

Small and slightly hidden, the American Writers Museum is preserving the legacy of America's finest authors.

This house renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright was the centerpiece of a lavish 20th-century estate.

In the loving memory of a tragically deceased role-player this Illinois park is decked out with both dungeons and dragons.

This botanical garden outside Chicago boasts an array of more than 300 varieties of lilacs.

The mysterious white squirrels of this Illinois city are treated like sacred cows.

Tour the luxe "glass cage" that inspired and unnerved the architecture world upon its debut.

The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

Home to a protest movement, a bombing, and a dramatic change in labor history.

These abandoned grain silos and tunnels are an urban exploration dream.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

What may be America's largest classic video game arcade lurks inconspicuously in a Chicago suburb.

The world's only known button museum.

An enormous park-like oasis, full of famous Chicagoans' graves.

This shop for all your super spy needs hides an educational secret.

This morbid, delightful curiosity shop offers everything from animal bones to human teeth.

The world's only three-story rotary jail is now a museum to a bizarre trend in prison design.

A giant pair of thick black glasses mark the tragic demise of a trio of rock and roll legends.

Home with Gothic windows featured in a famous painting.

An old town theater converted into a celebration of the hobo legacy.