Summer Fun

Here are some fun Summer Bucket List ideas:

• Go to an Amusement Park. Six Flags is in Gurnee, which is about an hour and a half from Creston.  Or you could travel to another state and visit Disney World, Orlando Studios, or Dollywood. 
• Attend an outdoor concert.  With the warm weather upon us, venues like Alpine Valley will begin to host concerts outside. Places such as Soldier Field and Wrigley Field also host outdoor concerts. 
• Go on a picnic. Booster Park here in Creston would be a nice place to have an outdoor meal. You could also venture to White Pines in Oregon, or Rock Cut in Rockford, or Starved Rock in Utica. Illinois is full of scenic places to enjoy a bit to eat in the open air. 
• Take a road trip. This is my personal favorite. Give me the open road and a fun place to visit and I'm off. There are plenty of shorter drives you could take in Illinois. You could travel on historic Route 66. 300 miles of it is in Illinois and you'll find plenty of kitsch and nostalgia along the way.  The Great River Road runs along the Mississippi.  You could go to Collinsville and see the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower or go to Springfield and see the Abe Lincoln Rail Splitter Statue.  Or if you're feeling really adventurous, leave Illinois behind and visit a National Park.  We have 63 National Parks in the US, so there are a lot of options. Each one will wow you in ways you never thought you could be wowed. 
• Grow a garden.  Who doesn't love fresh vegetables?  (Well, your kids might not...)  Growing a garden is a lot of work, but the rewards are, well, tasty!

• Go to a beach.  If you don't want to go far, there is Oak Street Beach in Chicago.  Or, you could go to Wisconsin or Michigan, where they have miles of shore and lots of beach options available.  Or, you could go all the way to the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean. 
• Ride in a hot air balloon.  Galena on the Fly, Inc can take you up above the rolling landscapes of Galena and Jo Daviess Counties.  Midwest Ballooning Adventures is located in Huntley and they offer a variety of options for your hot air ballooning pleasure. 
• Visit a winery, a distillery or a craft brewing establishment.  One can often find great food to go along with the great drinks.
• Go to a baseball game.  You can support local little league teams, or college baseball teams.  Or, if you want to go big, you can go to Chicago to see the Cubs or the White Sox, or to Milwaukee to see the Brewers, or to St. Louis to see the Cardinals.  OR, you could leave the area and visit one of the other 26 ball parks around the country.
  

• When you make that trip to the beach, you could also go water skiing.
• Take a canoe or kayak ride. Starved Rock offers kayaking on the Illinois River, and there are plenty of other options available as well.  You can even kayak the mighty Kishwaukee River, and canoes have been seen on the lagoon at NIU. 
• Go to a Farmer's Market, or outdoor flea or antique market. 
• Go to a drive-in theater, if you can find one. The Route 34 Drive-In in Earlville is not too far. McHenry also has an Outdoor Theater and the Midway Drive-In is located in Sterling. 
• Go camping.  Sleep under the stars. Watch the sun rise and/or set.  Do some star-gazing. Shabbona Lake State Park is a Dark Sky Park. Pitch your tent, grab your telescope and see what you can see in the night sky.
• Take a boat ride. You can go fishing on a lake or stream, or you can head to Chicago and go on the Architectural Boat Tour (I highly recommend it). You can also go sailing on Lake Michigan.   
• Go somewhere you have never been before.  I am trying to conquer National Parks and National Military Battlefields.  You can go to one of these place, or just choose a city or an area of the country you have never been to before and go.  Imagine all the new things you can discover when you venture into new territory. 

Get outside, to places and have a wonderful summer!

Photo Credit: Jennifer Payton Photography