Just off I-55 in McLean, Illinois, is a place where you can play over 100 arcade and pinball machines for 25-75 cents a pop.

A natural sandstone bridge nestled within a mature forest in southern Illinois.

Take a trip back in time at this retro cinema dating back to 1954.

A 30-foot-tall goat tower in central Illinois is home to a herd of Swiss ungulates.

In a historic steel foundry east of the Mississippi River, thousands of wooden crates hold the architectural remnants of buildings long gone but not forgotten.

A mini Wrigley Field for mini baseball players.

A relic of the Cold War in Chicago.

This former nursery supplied plants for the creation of Chicago's largest park.

A massive bur oak tree believed to be some 500 years old is the centerpiece of this quiet urban greenspace.

Known as the "Cross At The Crossroads," this massive metal cross is just short enough to avoid the FAA.

Though it's thrived abroad, this forgotten Dunkin' rival has just one store left in the States.

A former atom smasher turned into an art gallery.

This national park dedicated to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem still displays its military past.

Where a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse met one Saturday and changed their lives forever.

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.

This art gallery and oddities boutique bewitches visitors with a trove of occult trinkets and eccentric antiques, work by an ever-changing roster of underground artists, and classes in tarot and other mystic arts.

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.

More than 8,000 drinking jugs say “Cheers!” to a guy named Toby.

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

A 400-foot-tall tall map of Chicago makes this once-ignored building stand out.

This lagomorph-obsessed Route 66 emporium is home to a giant jackrabbit that sits in a bunny graveyard.

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

This bronze sculpture on a former squash court marks the secret origins of the Atomic Age.

An eccentric park and pool.