heymarykate's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Batavia, Illinois
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Chicago, Illinois

Dialogo

This abstract sculpture is rumored to cast a hammer-and-sickle shadow once a year.
Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room

Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.
Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Water Cribs

These chunky stone towers out in Lake Michigan are the key to Chicago’s drinking water.
Chicago, Illinois

Lower Lower Wacker Drive

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.
Chicago, Illinois

Chopin Theatre

Theater has had many different incarnations but has survived the ravages of time.
Wilmington, Illinois

Gemini Giant

This historic Illinois "Muffler Man" has been converted from axe-touting lumberjack to rocket-wielding space ace.
Chicago, Illinois

The Alvin

A Chicago Movie Palace Lost to Time.
Monticello, Illinois

Robert Allerton Park

The park that the Chicago Stockyards built.
Chicago, Illinois

Flat Iron Building

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, this Chicago building is a vibrant hub for artists.
East St. Louis, Illinois

Gateway Geyser

Man-made geyser that rises to the exact height of the Gateway Arch.
Chicago, Illinois

Rosenberg Statue

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.
Lincoln, Illinois

Phone Booth on a Roof

Today this bizarre rooftop phone booth seems like a piece of kitsch but it was once used to spot disastrous storms.
Woodstock, Illinois

George Stickney House

This softly rounded mansion was built without corners not to avoid evil spirits, but to make them more comfortable.
Peoria, Illinois

Peoria Scale Model of the Solar System

The world's third-largest scale model of the planets.
Chicago, Illinois

Bubbly Creek

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.
Atlanta, Illinois

Paul Bunyon

While he no longer has an eatery to give him context, this off-brand Paul Bunyan still holds his giant hot dog with pride.
Lombard, Illinois

Lilacia Park

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

Wicker Park

Once called the "Polish Gold Coast" it is an icon of the neighborhood that bears its same name.
Chicago, Illinois

95th Street Bridge

This urban drawbridge gained eternal pop culture fame when the Blues Brothers jumped it while it was raised.
Chicago, Illinois

World Artifacts on the Tribune Tower Walls

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.
Normal, Illinois

Abandoned Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School

This abandoned 19th century orphanage started as a boarding school for children of Civil War veterans.
Chicago, Illinois

North Avenue Baths Facade

Former bath house turns gastropub.
Batavia, Illinois

Fabyan Windmill

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.
Mattoon, Illinois

Illinois’ Original Burger King

The multinational Burger King chain is banned from operating within 20 miles of a family restaurant filed under the same name.