• Rockford
• Schaumburg
• Chicago

Rockford

Rockford was - and still is to a great degree - an industrial town. They have worked hard to expand a limited inventory of attractions into a magnet for tourists.

Anderson Japanese Gardens - If you've been following our accounts from Seattle you may have concluded that we like gardens. Our grandchildren do, too, now. Not only are they quiet, cool and relaxing but they are a lesson in life. It is amazing what plants can - and will - do to survive. Our favorite kind of garden is the Japanese garden. Until our stop at the Anderson Japanese Gardens we had thought that the best two were on the two coasts: Portland and Brooklyn.
  Twelve acres of Japanese Garden! Isn't that the antithesis of a Japanese Garden? They're supposed to be small. Never, in your strolls around these gardens, do you get the feeling of hugeness. And to sit in the enchanting tea house and gaze about you seems to completely shut out the rest of the world.
  Actually, as it was explained to us, there are two gardens: one patterned after an ancient Kamakura period garden and a newer, the Garden of Reflection which was 'patterned' after the Japanese style gardens. Quite frankly, it all looked 'Japanese' to us but the 'Reflection' garden did have more ponds and three golden angel statues which, obviously, are not Japanese.
  Open (May through October) 10a to 5p weekdays; 10a to 4p Saturdays and noon to 4p Sundays. Admission is $5 for the big guys, $3 for 'students'; kids 4 and under are free.
  For more information, phone 1-815-229-9390 or visit their web site: AndersonGardens.
  From I-90 eastbound, take exit 66 and turn right following Riverside to Alpine Road. Turn left and follow Alpine (southbound)  and drive to Spring Creek Road. Turn right, stay in the right lane. The entrance is at Park View Road which is just before the IL-251 interchange.
  From I-90 westbound, take exit 63 and turn right on State Street (US-20-Business). Drive to Alpine Road and turn right. Heading north, drive to Spring Creek Road and turn left. Staying in the right lane, drive westbound to the entrance at Park View Road ( just before the IL-251 interchange).

Burpee Museum of Natural History - Meet a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex plus a Woolly Mammoth (skeletal casts). Watch a series of animated dioramas included a thunder storm in an ancient forest. Who says museums can't be exciting!
  Open 10a to 5p Monday through Saturday; noon to 5p Sunday. Admission is $4; For kids $3.
  For more information, phone 1-815-965-3433 or visit their web site: BurpeeMuseum.
  From I-90 eastbound, take exit 66 and turn right following Riverside all the way to the Rock River, across the bridge and to Main Street (IL-2 which is 4 blocks beyond the bridge). Turn left on Main and follow it southbound to Boilvin where Main becomes one way - the wrong way - so you have to jog to the right 1 block and continue on Church Street. When you pass Whitman Street, go 2 more blocks to Locust. Turn left, go 1 block and turn left again onto Main. The museum is mid-block on your right at 737 N. Main.
  From I-90 westbound, take exit 63 and turn right on State Street (US-20-Business). Drive all the way to the Rock River, across the bridge and to Main Street. Be sure to follow the US-20 signs because State Street makes a half turn and becomes Jefferson Street just after Longwood. Turn right and drive north on Main to the museum at 737 N. Main (3½ blocks from US-20 Business.

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Discovery Center Museum - Another favorite stop of ours - at least when accompanied by 6 to 12 year-olds - is the 'children's ('discovery') museum. And Rockford, too, has one. Over 200 'hands-on' displays in which they can get involved, have fun, vent some of that stored up energy, and learn something worthwhile. Rockford's Discovery Center has been: "Recognized as one of the top 10 science museums in the country by Child Magazine". This is a well developed complex, - even has its own planetarium plus a giant, multi-level playground with a hands-on twist.
  Open 10a to 5p Tuesday through Saturday; noon to 5p Sundays. $4 to get in; $3 for the kids.
  For more information, phone 1-815-963-6769 or visit their web site: DiscoveryCenter.
  The Discovery Center is in the same complex as the Burpee Museum so follow the directions to the Burpee Museum (see above) to get here.

Trolley Car #36 - You've seen them in the movies and on TV. Now you can ride one of these old, open air trolley cars as it clangs its way along the Rock River and loops around through the old industrial area (just like in the movies, guys) and Sinnissippi Park.
  Fare i $4; $3.50 for kids (what happened to the nickel fares?). Departs from Riverside Park at 324 N. Madison Street.
  For more information, phone 1-815-987-8894 or visit the web page at TrolleyCar. Note: If you visit that web page you will also see they have a boat ride on the Rock River: the Forest City Queen. If you're interested in that, too, you can read the details on the web page.
  From I-90 westbound, take exit 63 and turn right on State Street (US-20-Business). Drive westbound to Madison Street which is the next street after 1st Street. Turn right and the park - and trolley - will be on your left.

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Schaumburg

If you are considering spending the night in the Chicago - and you are traveling on I-90 - you can't do any better than the Schaumburg area. And, if you are going to spend the night, here, there are always a lot of things happening in the way of entertainment. For a complete schedule, go to: ThingsToDo. Click on "On-Going Events" for those activities that are not date specific.

Visitors' Center - From the Northwest Tollway (I-90) take exit 8 and exit onto I-290 southbound. Almost as soon as you merge with the I-290 traffic you will be exiting so stay in the right lane. Exit at that first exit, drive on to Woodfield Road and turn right. Drive to Meacham Road (5 blocks) and turn right again. Drive 3 more blocks and just past Remington, on your left, is the Greater Woodfield Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1430 Meacham.
  For more information, phone 1-800-VISIT-GW.

Schaumburg Homestead Suites - Here is where we stay. Not only because of the price (make your reservations as early as possible because a lot of us like this place) but it has everything a traveling family might need. Queen or King beds (you can even get two), fully equipped kitchen (yes, microwave and refrigerator included), a dataport that actually works (we always carry our notebook with us) plus an ironing board (get the iron from the front desk). It is close to Chicago's O'Hare airport, - and, it is very easy to get to from I-90.
  From I-90, exit onto I-290 southbound at exit 8 and follow I-90 to exit 1-B (second exit). Turn right onto IL-72 (Higgins Road) and follow it 4 blocks to Roselle Road. Turn right on Meacham and drive 3 more blocks and turn right on State Parkway. Now you can see the Homestead.
  To view what the Homestead has to say about themselves - and to book your reservation - > click here <

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Chicago

You don't just stop and spend an hour or two in Chicago. At the very minimum it takes a day to see anything or do anything - and there is a lot to see and do.
  As with most Visitors' Bureaus, you can request them to send you a tourist packet which includes all kinds of information about the area. Chicago's calls itself a Tourism Bureau - and they are multi-lingual: French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
  We've never stopped there nor do we know how to get to their visitors' center but they will be happy to direct you.
  You can phone them at 1-877-CHICAGO (1-877-244-2246).
  The last time we toured Chicago with grandchildren we stayed at the Homestead in Schaumburg (see above) and hired a limo. Yes! a limo. The driver knew exactly where to go and how to get there - was always ready for us when we exited the museum or whatever and we had no traffic or parking problems. And it was a lot less expensive than you might think. Ask at the front desk of the Homestead and they can make arrangements for you.

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