Illinois Travel Guide 2008 - (Page 37) Each season offers something special in Illinois. We’ve chosen the Top 10 things to do all around the state in spring, summer, fall and winter. No matter what time of year you choose to visit, you’ll never be bored. Find even more ideas at www.enjoyillinois.com, where action-packed 3-Day Getaways take advantage of Illinois’ four amazing seasons. • Learn how the sock monkey toy got its start during Sock Monkey Madness in Rockford, held every March at Midway Village & Museum Center. See collections from around the world and try a sock monkey workshop. • Chicago is lucky enough to have two Major League Baseball teams, the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. Both teams kick off the season with their much-anticipated home games in April. • Every April, Galena celebrates Ulysses S. Grant’s Grand Birthday Celebration in honor of the Civil War hero elected U.S. president. Festivities include a parade, tours of the Grant Home and living history encampments, where you’ll get the chance to meet General Grant himself. • The town of Galesburg honors author and poet Carl Sandburg (its native son) in April with the Sandburg Days Festival. Literary, cultural and children’s events mark this annual fest that features music, dance and poetry. • Golf season runs year-round on the Southern Illinois Golf Trail, but the weather is perfect in spring. Start putting in Marion and make the rounds through all five of the Trail courses, ending in the lush green hills of the Shawnee National Forest in Vienna. • April marks the return of the monthly Sandwich Antiques Market, an indoor/outdoor fair featuring hundreds of exhibitors selling quality antiques and collectibles at the Sandwich Fairgrounds, rain or shine. • In early May, a dozen towns along Illinois Route 66—stretching from Chicagoland’s Joliet through Central Illinois to Towanda—welcome visitors to the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor with lively festivals and events celebrating the Mother Road. 800/2CONNECT s PRING • Tiptoe through the tulips and other spring flowers at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. The weekend Garden Chef Series, featuring noted chefs preparing dishes with garden-fresh ingredients, begins in May. ROBIN CARLSON/CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN • Kids Day happens in May at Cahokia Mounds, a U.N. World Heritage Site in Collinsville that holds the remains of an ancient Mississippian Indian culture. Learn flint-knapping, pottery-making and Native American games. • Cruising season opens in May for the Shawnee Queen River Taxi, which paddles the scenic Ohio River with a friendly crew that narrates points of interest as it makes stops at Cave-in-Rock, Elizabethtown, Rosiclare and Golconda. Left to Right: Fans cheer on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Sock Monkey Madness at Rockford’s Midway Village & Museum Center, tulips in bloom at the Chicago Botanic Garden ILLINOIS. MILE AFTER MAGNIFICENT MILE. 37 http://www.enjoyillinois.com
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