Browse the best Illinois roadside attractions, tourist traps, road food, and more at Silly America. Plan your next road trip through Illinois and find all the most iconic (and silliest) sites along the way!
The Gold Pyramid House in Wadsworth, Illinois is a curious site. When driving by on your way to Six Flags Great America you might think you’ve accidentally turned out of the Chicago suburbs and into ancient Egypt. But I assure you, you haven’t left the US. 2007 The six-story...
Chicago is a city known for its baseball. After all, we have two teams: the Cubs and the White Sox. So it’s no wonder Chicago is also home to a giant metal baseball bat titled Batcolumn (or Bat Column). Batcolumn has stood outside the Harold Washington Social Security Administration...
If you drive or walk past the Big Monster Door at Big Monster Toys in Chicago, Illinois, you’ll probably do a double take. That’s what happened to me the first time I went past. “What is that?” I squealed in delight at the giant yellow door with a giant silver knob...
There’s no better autumn activity than visiting a pumpkin patch and picking out that perfect pumpkin to transform into a Halloween jack-o-lantern. One of my favorite Illinois pumpkin patches is Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois. Richardson Adventure Farm is best...
Welcome to a new series of US state-inspired snack ideas and snack mixes that will give a local flavor to your road trip through all 50 states. Here I’ll feature regional snacks that each state is known for and combine them into one scrumptious savory and sweet snack mix to eat on...
How much do you love ice cream? Enough to eat a giant cone? How about enough to eat AT a giant cone? The Twistee Treat franchise offers fast food and ice cream delights in giant ice cream shaped buildings across the US. About the Twistee Treat Franchise In 1983, Twistee Treat was founded...
Have you ever found a roadside attraction hidden in your own backyard? I have. Meet the giant cow statue at the Gene’s Sausage Shop rooftop beer and wine garden in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. In 1972, Polish immigrants John and Gene Luszcz, opened a small...
When I think about finding a home where the buffalo roam in the United States, I think of South Dakota, North Dakota (home of the World’s Largest Buffalo and the National Buffalo Museum), or Wyoming. I don’t necessarily think of Illinois. But you can find roaming bison in...
Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket is an iconic Route 66 restaurant in Illinois. In Willowbrook, just off the famous route, and present day Interstate 55 (I-55) , this chicken joint has been serving up chicken since the 1930s. In the late 1930s/early 1940s Ervin ‘Irv’ Kolarik...
The De Immigrant Windmill in Fulton, Illinois, is an authentic Dutch Windmill that was manufactured and prefabricated in the Netherlands before being shipped and assembled in the American midwest. It is said to be one of only two Dutch windmills in the United States. De Immigrant Windmill...
