So You're Starved for Nature

Photo: Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune Darien —Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve is the kind of place where, on a snowy Saturday morning, you could find yourself face to face with a coyote. The one I met looked, in its bushy winter coat, as big as a timber wolf. He had found a perfect home in these 2,500 … Read more

What's the Best Minor League Ballpark?

Above, from left: Joliet Slammers; Chicago Dogs; and Windy City Thunderbolts Photos: (Slammers) AHJ Photo; (Dogs) Daniel Boczarski; (Thunderbolts) Gary Middendorf/ Daily Southtown Sure, Chicago is blessed with two major league franchises. But if you’re looking to catch some baseball on a budget — or just want to see the game up close — there … Read more

Rub Elbows With Literary Greats

Downers Grove/La Grange/Naperville —Anderson’s Bookshop hosts more than 400 events a year at its three locations. Known for boosting local luminaries in the making, as it did with Veronica Roth (Divergent) and former Chicagoan John Green (The Fault in Our Stars), the minichain is also a must-stop for international megastars: J.K. Rowling made one of … Read more

35 Acres of Weirdness at the Volo Auto Museum

Volo —No, you won’t find Pee-wee Herman’s bike in the basement of the Alamo. That’s because it’s at the Volo Auto Museum, a time capsule of all things — well, just plain all things. Here, five highlights. Oprah’s “Biggest Splurge Ever” The talk show host gifted herself a $365,000 1996 Bentley Azure on her 42nd birthday so … Read more