Amy’s on vaycay right now, on the Mother of All Road Trips (1,165 miles in 48 hours, thank you very much) and so we wanted to share with you some of our favorite local road trips. So without further (traffic?) delay, here are Chambanamoms Top Five Road Trips:
1. Flesor’s Candy Kitchen, Tuscola
Feel like traveling back in time? Take a short drive out to Tuscola and have lunch — and ice cream, of course — at this vintage soda fountain. Take home some homemade chocolate, too; the chocolate-covered salted caramels are to die for.
Flesor's Candy Kitchen in Tuscola is one sweet road trip. Photo by Amy L. Hatch
2. Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry
Don’t let the drive discourage you from spending a day at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Several new exhibits, including the popular and fascinating “Science Storms” make this worth the trip. Hint: Go on a summer Saturday for smaller crowds and less traffic. Round off your trip with a visit to the nearby Hyde Park neighborhood, which President Barack Obama calls home, and stop for dinner at Medici on 57th.
3. Chicago’s North Shore
Maybe you want to stay overnight after your visit to the Museum of Science and Industry — how about making a weekend of it and staying in Chicago’s North Shore. Visit some world-class venues (Chicago Botanical Gardens, Ravina Festival) and eat to your heart’s content in the area’s many family-friendly restaurants. Still not enough fun for you? Stop by the nearby Six Flags Great America in nearby Gurnee.
4. Sugar Grove Nature Center, Bloomington
Sugar Grove Nature Center is located in picturesque Funks Grove, Illinois, a 1,000-acre prairie grove site that was home to pioneers who settled there in the 1820s. There’s also a blacksmith forge (only open the third Saturday of the month); an observatory where they hold nighttime events; and a number of programs for all ages and some just for kids (including an annual overnight campout in June.
5. Children’s Discovery Museum, Normal
A great little children’s museum, the Children’s Discovery Museum has lots and lots of hands-on activities for little ones, in 24,00 square feet and three stories. The Paint Wall is a very popular exhibit (who doesn’t want to paint on the wall?) and the dance room is also always well-received. Plenty to do here for big kids and the littles.
Got a road trip you want to share? Let’s hear it!
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I will be heading on a road trip to Glacier National Park soon, and I plan on pulling into the park after about 36 hours. I figure I have done 12 hours straight (with three stops for gas and necessities) to the far side of PA, so what’s a few more hours tacked on top of that?
Gotta love a road trip!
Indianapolis, baby!!