Completely new tenth edition! Illinois Off the Beaten Path features the things travelers and locals want to see and experience––if only they knew about them. From the best in local dining to quirky cultural tidbits to hidden attractions, unique finds, and unusual locales, Illinois Off the Beaten Path takes the reader down the road less traveled and reveals a side of Illinois that other guidebooks just don't offer.

Provides a guide for restaurants, attractions, accommodations, unique events, and festivals for the state of Illinois.

Use this book to find antique treasures at the Tinker Swiss Cottage in Rockford, an elaborate spa in the middle of central Illinois farmland, or Wyatt Earp's birthplace in Monmouth.

Dr. John Taylor’s compelling memoir illustrates the life most people only dream of: traveling and living abroad while working in a profession that creates real change in the world. Off the Beaten Path tells the story of Taylor’s evolution from his Quaker upbringing to a multi-faceted career as an urban planner and consultant. After spending several years working in poverty-stricken Calcutta and Patna during times of calamity, Taylor examines the lessons from his five-decade career and forty years working in Asian countries, including India, Thailand, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Throughout the book, he effortlessly weaves together vignettes of family life, adapting to new cultures, the tensions between his personal and professional values, and his post-career identity. Ultimately, for this transcultural nomad, the question of "where is home" resonates throughout a life rich with experiences.

Globe Pequot''s Off the Beaten Path series is devoted to the type of traveller with a taste for the unique. Each guide helps the reader discover the unsung, unspoilt and obscure places that the average tourist misses.'

In this updated edition, it's plain to see that the state of Illinois has only gotten weirder. Where there was once just a single Popeye statue in downstate Chester, today the town has monuments to Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea, Bluto, the Sea Hag, and more. The creepy Piasa Bird petroglyph on the bluff in Alton now has a roadside pullout with picnic tables, and the two-story outhouse in Gays has a new contemplative garden. With almost twice as many destinations as its predecessor, this edition boasts detailed information on each site—address, phone number, website, hours, entry fees, and driving directions—as well as maps, photos, and a wealth of regional history in the descriptions. Some new sites include Henry's Rabbit Ranch, the World's First Jungle Gym, Ahlgrim Acres (a miniature golf course at a funeral home), the Leather Archives and Museum, General Santa Ana's two wooden legs, the World's Largest Sock Monkey, the Friendship Shoe Fence, a truck stop with a marionette show, and a coin-operated fire-breathing dragon. There is more between Chicago and St. Louis than cornfields and plenty of fascinating places in the Windy City that aren't on Michigan Avenue, and here is a chance to see these underappreciated sites throughout the state.

Thoroughly updated, this handbook spotlights over 1,000 of America's most overlooked must-see destinations in a state-by-state, A-Z format. 300 color photos.

Travel guidebook to the multitude of lesser known attractions in the state of Illinois.