Posted on 08/18/2023 9:03:16 AM PDT by MplsSteve
My fall vacation is coming up in the next month or so. I'm gonna stay relatively close to home and will be travelling thru central and southern Illinois and Indiana.
I wanna see Lincoln's home in Springfield as well as other sites in that area. I'm planning on heading east into Indiana and see some national parks down there.
I like going off the beaten path and have been known to spend a day sitting near a railroad station and watch trains go by.
I know this area is pretty big geographically but I'd like some advice on what Freepers like to visit, where they like to eat, places they like to stay and most importantly, places they like to avoid.
For example, I've heard a few anecdotal comments that Springfield Illinois is not particularly safe as is Decatur, etc.
Let me know what you think and thank you!
It's a super-sized public library that's poorly run. Just fine to miss it. It sucks. Been there.
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses/2024/apr-8-total/where-when/
Paducah, KY has the best pulled pork in the country. KY and Barkley Lakes. French Lick was mentioned, Nashville, IN is a tourist trap, Hoosier National Forest is pretty. I would IL like the plague, and now avoid it altogether even tho 69 is not finished.
We drove over one of those covered bridges daily long ago.
It has been updated since.
AGREE!
If you go through Champaign-Urbana, there is a World Heritage Museum in Urbana near the U of I campus.
The view of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers converging also is nice. But the town is almost completely abandoned. It’s like a ghost town.
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During the floods (2011?), the Corps of Engineers decided to blast the levees down stream from worthless Cairo, Illinois to “save it”. In the process flooded hundreds of thousands of valuable farm land acreage in Missouri.
If you follow I 55 South out of Springfield you come to Cahokia Mounds State Park just at the east edge East St Louis. The site is a state monument but being Illinois is not Federal. It should be. I advise heading back north after your visit and avoid East St Louis. From the top pf Monk’s Mound you get an interesting view of the Gate Way Arch across the river at StLouis
Cahokia had a population greater than London at the time at around 25,000. The site is a truly fantastic American treasure. Cahokia is an extremely important site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia
I think the old slave house is closed. Don’t worry, still plenty of slaves in IL. Cave in the Rock is pretty cool. It was free last time I was there.
Pick someplace else to go for vacation.
Next question?
There are two naturist campgrounds in northwest Indiana worth checking out. I’d go during the week when it’s less crowded. Cabins for rent. Lots of forest and sand dunes for hiking. Swimming pools. Google for more information.
I have been back to Champaign quite a number of times, and in spite of it - Champaign-Urbana - being a large university city (home of the University of Illinois), I cannot think of anything in particular to tell a tourist to go see.
We lived in CU from the mid '70s to the early '90s. And, yeah, all I can think of is Univ related stuff.
I was last through there in 2005 (or so), and it had changed enough that I really had trouble navigating it. Now, I'm sure, it's even worse.
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