OK, this is just too good to pass up…
Sure, Illinois lacks the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pyramids of Giza, or the Colossus of Rhodes.
But it does offer visitors the Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois, the prehistoric archaeological remains of Cahokia Mounds, and a 170-foot-tall water tower shaped like a giant catsup bottle in Collinsville.
Echoing the ancient seven wonders of the world, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism on Thursday plans to launch a “Seven Wonders of Illinois” promotion. It will be announced officially at the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Chicago.
Visitors to enjoyillinois.com will be able to make nominations through February, said Jan Kostner, the bureau’s deputy director.
Those nominations can be for anything residents and visitors consider wonderful about Illinois — parks and historic sites, statues and museums, cheesy roadside attractions and naturally beautiful scenic spots.
Let’s stipulate up front that “the governor’s hair” should be included in the list to avoid the repetitive submissions. Otherwise, have at it. And, as always in posts like these, snark is heavily encouraged.
- "Downstate" in Rockford - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:11 am:
“Jane” the dino at the Rockford Burpee Museum
- Archpundit - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:17 am:
I have no snark–I think it’s a great idea–even though the current administration makes me want to be snarky about it.
Cahokia Mounds is an amazing archeological resource and if there is any snark it’s how this administration and those before it refuse to take the steps to properly protect it from encroaching development.
- DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:19 am:
Bus tour of the empty governor’s mansion to go along with a ” sighting of the governor contest”[must have photo for proof] with a cash award to the winner.
- d-town - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:32 am:
A sights and smells tour of the Staley plant in Decatur. If you’ve driven over that bridge, you know what I’m talking about.
- fedup dem - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:33 am:
How about the utterly clueless nepotism-addicted County Board President here in Chicago, along with the incredibly-gullible electorate?
- diane - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:33 am:
Amazingly, Cahokia Mounds is studied extensively in Europe. In this country? Not so much. It is indeed a treasure and historic resource.
- Pat Hickey - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:33 am:
I always admired the Morraine north of Charleston Illinois - where the glaciers stopped. I also go in for Dogs Playing Poker and Pool oil paintings - craven south side sophisticate.
- ZC - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:48 am:
Cahokia Mounds sounds great, but for a wonder, I nominate the prehistorical archeological remains of democracy at 121 N. LaSalle.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:07 am:
When I have international guests, these are the places on my short list to take them to discover Illinois:
Goose Lake Prairie - largest prairie preserve
Illinois Beach - largest natural beach on the Lake
Nauvoo - great views, great history on LDS
Eureka College - small-town heartland of Reagan
North Michigan Avenue - world class city
Peoria Heights - Illinois river palisades
New Salem - where Lincoln’s spirit was born
- cermak_rd - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:08 am:
Is Cahokia Mounds also the historic site of the last ethical government that operated in Illinois?
- Ali Bin Haddin - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:10 am:
You have not been to Illinois unless you have seen:
1. Al Capone’s grave
2. Prison cells occupied by former governors
3. Paul Powell’s shoe box
4. Video tapes of Mayor Daley’s crowd control techniques at the 1968 Democratic Convention
5. One state contract with price tags clearly visible
6. One ticket stub from the last Cub’s World Series triumph.
7. One road map of the state with exits clearly marked for vacations in Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri and Indiana.
8. One play in Peoria
9. The headquarters of the Women’s Christain Temperance Union
10. The Sanitary Canal
- Gene Parmesan - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:28 am:
The Double-Decker Outhouse in Gays, Illinois has to be on this list.
- winco - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:30 am:
the entire state could be billed as a wonder–The Bermuda Triangle of Taxpayer Money.
For specifics, one could visit McCormick Place, the Dan Ryan Expressway, and O’hare’s expansion. Downstate and the suburbs have their share too, I am sure.
- Ali Bin Haddin - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:34 am:
And More to see and do!
1. Dick Durbin’s flip-flops.
2. Barak Obama’s ash tray.
3. The gov’s private stash of hair care products
4. Mike Madigan’s underlined copy of “The Prince”.
5. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s birthplace.
6. Jesse Jackson’s love nest.
7. Minor league baseball in Marion
8. Minor league baseball at Wrigley Field
9. Bears 1985 Superbowl trophy polished with tears from 2006-07 season
10. Restored site of the St. Valentine Day’s massacre.
- Anon from BB - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:46 am:
How about the car/spike “sculpture” in Berwyn?
- OneMan - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:55 am:
The unused manson in Springfield
The Dolton fountain funded by the state with the help of the Shaws
Fully built yet empty jails
- Buck Turgidson - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:57 am:
The Illinois Republican Party HQ ruins in Springfield.
See the fossilized remains of a once-relevant society, devastated by civil war, theft, ineptitude, and invaders from the East Coast. Buy a keychain bearing the likeness of the mythical creature known as “The Umholtz.”
- jaundiced eye - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:02 am:
Any and all sections of the Great River Road as long as you punctuate the trip by stopping in some non-touristy towns, have a beer, search for the perfect pork tenderloin sandwich and listen to what locals are talking about. Also Quincy for not only a great historic district but also the darkest bar in IL: The Patio restaurant in a seedy hotel. Farnsworth House (”glass house”) out in Denny Hastert’s neighborhood. You can compare how it looks with the thousands of really ugly look-alike houses that are replacing farmland out that way.
- Will - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:02 am:
King Netpune the pig in Mount Pleasant.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/pet/neptune.html
- Justice - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:12 am:
Goofy Ridge, and any number of County Courthouses throughout the State. Also most of the places found on the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency annual calander. Good grief, I wish the smell in Decatur wasn’t mentioned. Won’t be able to do lunch now!
- Pat N Mike - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:15 am:
The Stockyards Gate.
- Some Guy - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:21 am:
Mixing real w/ fake
1) Former territorial capitol of Kaskaskia. You have to go through Missouri to get there.
2) Galena hills
3) Cahokia Mounds
4) Black Hawk statue
5) The Secret vault of Al Capone
6) the many-times toppled Haymarket statue
7) a shirt store in Alsip
- Belle - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:34 am:
The Dave Matthews tour on the Chicago River, complete with dinner, drinks and a demo.
- Goodbye Napoleon - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 11:53 am:
* Tony’s Italian Beef 70th / Pulaski It is a wonder of the culinary world.
Sorry for the off topic comment, but for all Sirius satelite radio subscribers: They are planning to drop C-SPAN from their channel line up. If this annoys you as it does me, please contact them and complain ASAP. Thanks!
- Lovie's Leather - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:37 pm:
You can’t really see Illinois without seeing the monument to where our governors have spent most of their time… wait, I mean the Dirksen Federal Building. My bad.
- Grocery Guy - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:41 pm:
Small business owners in Chicago. But you better hurry — they will be extinct after the Wal-Mart invasion later this year
- FAN OF SO ILLINOIS - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:42 pm:
The Beatles Museum and Bed & Breakfast in Benton, Illinois.
Rend Lake in Ina, Illinois
The Perfection Restaurant in Du Quoin, Illinois
Southern Illinois, in general!
- Bomber91 - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:46 pm:
Come see the mystery house on the corner of 5th and Jackson in Downtown Springfield.
They say it’s haunted by the ghosts of Governor’s past. What’s that in the distance? It looks like a floating hair brush! Scary stuff kids!
- Mr. Ethics - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:47 pm:
The Stag Beer Can silo
- Anon - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:51 pm:
Dixie Grill, Funks Grove
- Objective Dem - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:53 pm:
The old Chicago court house at Hubbard and Dearborn. A lot of famous trials like Loeb/Leopold and the Black Sox scandal were held here. It is also the setting for the Ben Hect play “Front Page”
* Bubbly Creek in Chicago (where the water bubbles from decomposing animal waste from the stockyards)
* Sites of John Wayne Gacy’s homes in Chicago and Springfield
* Site of Dr. Holme’s house of horrors (Devil in the White City)
* Site of Everleigh Club
* Site of the St. Valentine Massacre
- Anon - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 12:53 pm:
In southern Illinois….vacant business buildings (after being ran out of the state) and prisons, prisons, prisons!
- Rayne of Terror - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 1:08 pm:
While visitors are in Decatur for the smell, they can stick around for the Avon Theater, the west end bike path, and a tour of the giant piles of tree branches still lining the roads from last year’s ice storm.
- Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 1:19 pm:
* Lake Michigan
* Mississippi River
* Cahokia Mounds
* Garden of Gods
* Starved Rock
* Chicago Skyline
* Michael Jordan
* Al Capone
* Daley political dynasty
* Wrigley Field
* O’Hare Airport
- publius - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 1:46 pm:
how about the homes of presidential wannabes like frank lowden, lar-america first-daly, adlai stevenson,john anderson, hillary clinton, jesse jackson and barack obama
- one of the 35 - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 2:02 pm:
How about Old Main at Knox college in Galesburg (site of the Lincoln-Douglas debate)and the Muddy Waters Blues Museum in Westmont.
- pickles!! - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 2:29 pm:
Those are all great places, but Illinois is also the site of the 2016 Olympics, or else Daley will have a nervois breakdown
- pickles!! - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 2:32 pm:
oh, and don’t forget our biggest attraction in Peotone, the sigh advertising the future home of Abraham Lincoln airstrip and crash landing site (LOL!)
- Concerned Voter - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 3:31 pm:
Don’t forget to check out the lovely wildflowers planted along the interstate, and what about the ghost prison(s) that were built, the ones that have nobody to staff them and no prisoners.
- maggiemae - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 3:37 pm:
Dana Thomas House in Springpatch
Superman in Metropolis
- So-Called "Austin Mayor" - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 3:54 pm:
Haymarket Square and the graves of the Haymarket Martyrs.
- Jake from Elwood - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 4:11 pm:
Here are the seven JfE wonders:
1. The Henry County Courthouse (2nd place-Ottawa Appellate Courthouse)
2. Rip’s Chicken in Ladd–worth the wait in line.
3. The rolling hills of Galena
4. Lake Michigan as viewed from Beach Park State Park.
5. Mathessian State Park in LaSalle County–better than Starved Rock!
6. Cahokia Mounds–a given.
7. Millenium Park–both as an attraction and as a testament to government waste and graft.
- zatoichi - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 4:57 pm:
1. Coney Island Hotdogs in Springfield - What transfats?
2. Any slow pitch, 16″ softball game in Chicago.
3. Metro - pick a Saturday night.
4. Train Museum in Dupage County
5. Science and Industry
6. Superman statue in Metroplis.
7. Rail in the Capital to leave your fingerprints
8. Ike’s in Charleston
9. My backyard - tourist trap rip-off, tax write off of course.
10. Left field bleaches in Wrigley on a hot sunny day with beer, chips, and brats.
- vole - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 4:59 pm:
For 4 months — corn, bean, corn, beans, corn, beans. For 8 months — grey field, black field, grey field, black field. Illinois, the greatest sacrificial landscape in America.
- Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 5:16 pm:
a few more not on the list yet:
-Northerly Island/Meigs Field (aka worst April Fool joke ever)
-8XX N. Elston, Chicago (Tony Rezko’s office, where most Blagojevich appointment, contract, and other decisions were apparently made until the Feds came calling)
-Renaissance and Collinsville Hotels (you pay to stay, they don’t)
-Sen. Dick “Dick” Durbin’s magic front yard in Springfield (where he miraculously turns from a flaming liberal to a reasoned moderate for the hometwn TV cameras)
-The Obams/Gutierrez Chicago Home Show (The “Rich Dad” approach to real estate investing where you, too, can score big on the purchase of your very own house by insider buying below market and paying almost nothing in property taxes)
- Nearly Normal - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 8:13 pm:
Take a trip on Route 66. Lots of places to see along the Mother Road. That includes the Dixie which is in McLean not Funks Grove. However, there will be maple syrup made in March in Funks Grove now that we finally got some cold weather.
- It makes cents... - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 9:04 pm:
The Crenshaw House, commonly known as the Old Slave House, in Equality was built in 1838 and is the only known location in Illinois where blacks were kept as slaves before, during and after the Civil War.
- anon - Thursday, Feb 8, 07 @ 10:46 pm:
Someone from 70th and Pulaski listens to CSPAN?
- Papa Legba - Friday, Feb 9, 07 @ 1:08 am:
The Rosemont water tower.