Illinois news

• Call your mom on the way to Little Palestine

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Committing to the 20-mile drive to Little Palestine offered the perfect amount of yap time with my mom on the phone. She loved the idea of a “broke day trip,” as we weren’t really a vacation family. But it was only on my way to Bridgeview’s Al Bawadi Grill that I realized she had never […]
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• About aboutism

  01-07-2026 20:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In developing any kind of novel exhibition program, the presiding question is rarely that of the work itself or the program’s formal and historical bent, but rather that of the audience. Who is this for; to whom do we address? How do we do so? These questions, of course, only trouble one’s mind when there […]
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• House of a million records

  01-07-2026 18:45 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I hadn’t heard of Mendota before March, when I discovered a reason to visit. The town is about 90 miles southwest of Chicago and maybe a 30-minute drive north of Starved Rock State Park. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Mendota’s population at 6,894 as of 2025, a 2.3 percent decrease since 2020. Mendota hosts a […]
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• Oak Park Festival Theatre doubles the fun (and challenges) for this year’s outdoor season

  01-07-2026 18:15 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Back in the day, rotating repertory was a hallmark of summer theater in the United States. Companies (many located in bucolic outdoor settings) would offer different shows on different nights of the week, often using overlapping ensembles of actors. It’s challenging for the artists, but also a treat for audiences, who don’t have to wait […]
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• Under the sun

  01-07-2026 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Social Fabric is a glimpse into the vibrant lives, objects, and spaces that shape our city, cocurated with community archives and local photographers. On a hot summer night last July, I had the urge to go out and document. The sky was clear, I had a new flash for my camera I wanted to test […]
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• Film (s)trips

  01-07-2026 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Moviegoer is the diary of a local film buff, collecting the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to offer. It’s ironic that, on the occasion of the Reader’s Broke Day Trips package, I’ll be writing about attending the Temenos—the previously ongoing screenings of Gregory Markopoulos’s Eniaios—in Lyssarea, Greece. The only […]
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• Where the paper at?

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In 2013 I faced a life sentence. As I went through pretrial in Kane County’s jail, I received a heartfelt letter from my dad that reminded me I still had a lot to live for despite my incarceration. That letter became the most important piece of paper that I own, and under Illinois’s new mail […]
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• What to do in Gary, Indiana

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Gary, Indiana, often gets a bad rap, but the Miller Beach neighborhood is a favorite summer day excursion for my partner and me. About an hour away by car, and accessible by the South Shore train line, Miller Beach is located at the southernmost point of Lake Michigan. The beach itself is clean, uncrowded, and […]
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• Volo Bog State Natural Area’s living, quaking bog

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Drive about 55 miles northwest of Chicago to find the arcadian Volo Bog State Natural Area, home to what’s called the only open-water quaking bog in Illinois. That means plants, including tamarack trees, actually float (and quiver) atop a mat of moss on the bog. A short boardwalk, itself afloat on the water, explains it […]
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• Unplug with nature, architecture, and pastry in Lake Forest

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  If “all” you do is stroll to the Skokie River Nature Preserve and meander 3.6 miles of trails through prairie, woodlands, sedge meadows, and savanna, Metra fare (or gas—parking is available at all destinations mentioned here) could be the only expense of your broke day trip. When stepping off the train, you might first power […]
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• Time traveling in Sumter, Wisconsin

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  About 35 miles from Madison, Wisconsin, along U.S. Highway 12 between Baraboo and Sauk City, the membrane between parallel universes thins to nothing. Pull off the road at the big steel sphere, and you can walk into a world powered by “level seven love energy” and populated by extraterrestrials, colossal bugs, and an orchestra of […]
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• The Wisconsin boneyard where giant fiberglass mascots go to die

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Fiberglass isn’t forever, but the apparent corpses in this potter’s field of pop culture detritus will outlast us all. Beginning in 1978 with the 145-foot musky that greets visitors to Hayward, Wisconsin’s Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, the antecedents of the FAST corporation (Fiberglass Animals, Shapes, and Trademarks) built a reputation as a go-to manufacturer […]
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• The McHenry Outdoor Theater is everything a drive-in should be

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  It’s easy to be a cinephile in a city like Chicago. Here, movie-lovers are spoiled with an embarrassment of filmhouse riches like the historic Music Box Theatre, the Siskel Film Center, the beloved Davis Theater, back-to-back Dolby cinemas, multiple dine-in venues, and even a (truly bizarre) seat-rattling, face-spritzing, amusement park ride-like 4DX. But when it […]
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• The Eugene V. Debs Museum is a font of labor history

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The crisp, early May air tickles my nose through open car windows as I veer off I-94 toward 111th for a quick pit stop. I pass the Walmart Supercenter and the municipal-landfill-turned-private-golf-club before easing to a stop in front of a towering building of glass and bright red brick.  I look up at the Pullman […]
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• Southeast Spotlight: Watson and Watson Dental Association

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Watson and Watson Association8325 S. Stony Island Ave, Mon, Tue, Wed, and Fri, 10 AM–6 PM, Thu closed, Sat 8:30 AM–1 PM once per month (773) 768-3100, watsonandwatsondental.com, Instagram @watsonwastondental A trip to the dentist should never feel like a clinical chore, but rather like a warm welcome home. At Watson and Watson Dental Association, exceptional […]
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• Shore Land excavates Chicago’s buried histories

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Being a tourist in your own city offers a chance to look at your world anew. Artist JeeYeun Lee’s Shore Land project takes that premise a step further by delving deep into the contested history of the city’s lakefront. Shore Land looks at six sites along Lake Michigan through audio walks that mix historical documents, […]
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• Reconnect with nature and yourself in the Palos Preserves

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Humankind has been looking to the skies for guidance and reflection for the entirety of its existence. However, in the course of technological advancement, we’ve sacrificed the stars—in heavily urbanized areas anyway. A night of camping at Palos Preserves goes a long way towards re-establishing that connection to our pre-Anthropocene selves. Established as an official […]
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• Juju’s Vintage is the kitschy Harlem Avenue shop worth the trip

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Where the city flirts at the borders of Niles and Park Ridge, Juju’s Vintage greets you with a kitschy window display that resembles an animated short brought to life. Inside, bejeweled tiaras, jumbo seashell necklaces, and elaborate fur hats gather in color-coded pockets. I first visited the shop, run by the fabulous Jules “Juju” Breen […]
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• Help support Illinois residents experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness regain their independence with your purchase of a 7X Bingo Multiplier instant ticket

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Illinois Lottery has been nationally recognized for its trailblazing work with specialty tickets dedicated to raising awareness and funds for worthy causes affecting our local communities. In collaboration with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), a portion of every dollar raised by the 7X Bingo Multiplier ticket directly contributes to organizations that support […]
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• Graphite love

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Encased in protective plastic sleeves is a quartet of letters from my daughter. On the back of each I’ve written the date I received it and my guess for when she wrote it. I reread them often, and they’re separated from the rest of my possessions like fine jewels that I carefully hold The first […]
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• Get weird in Michigan City

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Of all the cities along the south shore of Lake Michigan, Michigan City has the funkiest vibe, lacking the overt swankiness of New Buffalo or the gritty industrial landscape of East Chicago or Gary.  But what gives Michigan City its character are the strange, historic, architectural marvels that dot the harbor and downtown. That includes […]
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• Drive yourself bananas in the best way at Long Grove’s Sock Monkey Museum

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I was barely ten minutes into my trip to Long Grove, the quaint village located about 50 minutes outside of Chicago, and I was already being inundated with monkeys. “Illinois’s first historic district” may be well-known as the home of the Robert Parker Coffin Bridge (a site well worth checking out in its own right), […]
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• Drive two hours south of Chicago and meet the giants of Route 66

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  It’s the 100th anniversary of Route 66, and in Chicago, you’re at the start of the Mother Road. A two-hour-and-change drive takes you to a colorful collection of statues illustrating their place in advertising history.  Take I-55 south to Atlanta, Illinois, get off at exit 140, and see “Lumi,” a large fiberglass lady, greeting you […]
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• Carbon Hill School Museum in Grundy County is preserving the state’s forgotten coal mining history

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Many of my hot summer days as a child were spent in the coal mines of Grundy County, floating in the water-filled caverns that bloom into a series of local lakes. Feeling the cold, dark depths beneath your kicking legs felt like a rite of passage, hovering above the infinite nothingness of those long-abandoned mines. […]
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• Berwyn is quietly becoming an art town

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Just west of Chicago, Berwyn makes for an easy, low-cost afternoon built around public art, neighborhood eats, and historic bungalows. Starting at the Berwyn Metra station, yellow banners hanging from light poles and lining nearby streets will signal your arrival in the Depot District, Berwyn’s historic downtown corridor. Established in the 1890s, the Depot District […]
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• At Taylor Cemetery, Sangchris Lake’s eeriest secret has Donner Party roots

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The forest is creepy enough on its own: eerie silence punctuated by sounds of skittering creatures, millennia of demonic legends, the constant threat of twisting your ankle and being left to rot among the mushrooms. But Sangchris Lake State Park in Rochester (just southeast of Springfield) holds a grisly secret with a connection to American […]
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• At Cahokia Mounds, the largest ancient city north of Mexico hides in plain sight

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  About three hundred miles southwest of Chicago lies the largest pre-Columbian site north of Mexico: Cahokia Mounds. From around 1050 to 1350 A.D., Cahokia was the largest city in North America, with a population of between 15,000 and 20,000. The 2,200-acre site, located in what’s now Collinsville, Illinois, has 80 of the original 120 earthen […]
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• A west suburban ice cream trail that is a dare more than a recommendation

  01-07-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I didn’t consult a medical professional when I set about visiting every west-suburban dessert destination on this trail. In full disclosure, I didn’t visit all these shops in a single day, so consider eating your way through this path all at once as more of a dare than a recommendation. In any case, I do […]
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• Chicago Reader Volume 55, Number 18

  01-07-2026 14:33 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Chicago Reader Volume 55, No. 18. July 2026.
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• Put down your phone and pick up a map

  01-07-2026 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Y’all, we are NOT spending this summer on our phones. Consider this a call to put down the device and pick up a map (or take the route suggested herein) for a Wisconsin getaway that combines nostalgia, vernacular art, and budget travel. Pack some snacks, make a playlist of road-trip bangers, and assemble your adventure […]
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