Chicago
This pop-art gallery is pure fun, from the colorful, cartoony prints and paintings to the building's offbeat history (it was an egg factory and then a…
Must-see attractions in The Great Lakes
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Michigan
This bold art museum impresses with its collections of Asian ceramics, Tiffany glass and modern abstract works.
Michigan
The museum has a sweet collection of some 65 vintage cars that sit in the old Lansing City Bus Garage, including the first Oldsmobile, which was built in…
Wisconsin
Forget the Packers (for just a moment), this is a must for train lovers: an enormous museum featuring some of the biggest locomotives ever to haul freight…
Wisconsin
This modest museum on Capitol Sq tells the story of Wisconsin's involvement in the nation's wars, from the Civil War through WWI and WWII all the way up…
National Automotive and Truck Museum
Indiana
This museum has a bit of everything, from toy cars to gas pumps to vintage rigs. Car buffs will appreciate that it sits next door to the Auburn Cord…
Gold Coast
It gets lots of kudos for its chardonnay, pinot noir and dessert wines (five-wine tasting from $7, three-wine flight from $10). The romantic, French-style…
Minneapolis
Walk down from Main St SE to this park jutting into the Mississippi River and feel its frothy spray. Quiet benches, skyline views and the chance to see…
Wisconsin
Big Bay is at Madeline Island's far edge, with a pretty beach and hiking trails. The well-maintained campsites are open year-round and book up fast…
Upper Peninsula
Few visitors make it to this long, isolated beach where you can find agates and other colorful rocks. Access is via the day-use area of Twelvemile Beach…
Chicago
Unless you're an acrophobe, no visit to Navy Pier is complete without taking in the views as you ride the 196ft-tall Ferris wheel. The spin lasts about 15…
Cleveland
One of 10 museums in the country with a NASA affiliation, Great Lakes goes deep in space with rockets, moon stones and the 1973 Apollo capsule, as well as…
Illinois
This small viewing platform looks out over Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge and is a fine spot for ogling migratory birds, waterfowl and shorebirds.
Indiana
Roam the quiet grounds tucked away in the woods to see traditional Tibetan colors and designs. The monastery also offers free teachings and meditation…
Minnesota
Modeled on St Peter's Basilica in Rome, the cathedral presides over the city from its hilltop perch. Guided tours (suggested donation $2) are available at…
Illinois
Despite Hemingway allegedly calling Oak Park a village of wide lawns and narrow minds, the town still pays homage to him by maintaining his childhood home…
Indiana
A couple of miles west of Madison, this large, wooded state park has hiking trails, views and waterfalls. It offers camping too, with tent and RV sites…
Chicago
Set inside the historic Water Tower, this small gallery showcases Chicago-themed works by local photographers and artists.
Cleveland
Take a self-guided walk on this humongous freighter incarnated as a steamship museum. It's docked beside the Great Lakes Science Center, which manages it.
Indiana
This is a tranquil landscape for hiking and biking. Want to spend the night? Tent and RV campsites cost $12 to $44, and simple log cabins cost $75 to $95.
Little Traverse Historical Museum
Gold Coast
This small museum has a worthy Hemingway collection, including rare first-edition books that the author autographed for a friend when he visited in 1947.
Illinois
Funk’s Grove is a pretty, 19th-century maple-sirup farm (yes, that's sirup with an 'i') and nature preserve. It's in Shirley (exit 154 off I-55).
Wisconsin
Folk artist and retired lumberjack Fred Smith's Concrete Park in Phillips is extraordinary, with 200-plus whimsical, life-size sculptures.
Upper Peninsula
In the city, on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Superior, the high bluffs of Presque Isle Park make a great place to catch the sunset.
Gold Coast
Located in an old schoolhouse, Peninsula makes fine whites and is often less crowded than other wineries. A five-wine tasting costs $5.
Mississippi Palisades State Park
Illinois
It's a popular rock-climbing, hiking and camping area by the Mississippi River. Pick up trail maps at the north entrance park office.
Chicago
The Great Lawn is the grassy area in front of Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, where everyone sits and picnics during concerts.
Detroit
This is the site of many free summer weekend festivals and concerts. While there, check out the sculpture of Joe Louis' mighty fist.
Indiana
One of the best spots to take in the rolling hills and color-shifting treetops across Brown County. Particularly good in autumn.
Michigan
The site has an 18th-century sawmill where costumed interpreters chop wood, plus historic displays, a zipline and nature trails.
Michigan
This museum houses Native American arts, historic maps and island photography. Admission is free with a Fort Mackinac ticket.
Illinois
Sixty miles northwest of Chicago, this museum sends trainspotters into fits of ecstasy with 200 acres of locomotives.
Minneapolis
This is one of the USA's largest campuses, with some 50,000 students. Most of the campus is in the East Bank neighborhood. Washington Ave SE and Oak St SE…
Chicago
The sexual revolution partied hearty for 15 years in the basement ‘grotto’ of this 1899 mansion. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner bought it in 1959 and hung a…
Cleveland
Pop into this small gallery inside the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and you'll emerge richer than when you entered. Literally, since the Money…
Chicago
The Paseo Boricua, aka Puerto Rican Promenade, is a half-mile-long stretch of Division St where many Puerto Rican shops and restaurants do business. It’s…
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
Cleveland
The shiny building impresses, with four stories of geometric black steel, though there's not a lot to see inside. The 2nd and 4th floors have the…
Chicago
Al Capone is now buried in this cemetery in Hillside, west of Chicago. He and his relatives were moved here in 1950. Al’s simple gray gravestone, which…
Paul A Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum
Ohio
Who collects pencil sharpeners? Rev Paul Johnson of Carbon Hill, Ohio, did for nearly 20 years, and his eccentric collection of thousands – America’s…
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