| ST. CHARLES, ILLINOIS:
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 The hotel was restored at a cost of $9 million in 1996 and is now again re-opening under the ownership of two information technology entrepreneurs so guests can expect both a brush with history and fast connections to the Internet. Golfers, on the other hand, might prefer the Pheasant Run Resort built 40 years ago on a 175 acre farm on the east edge of town. Its sprawling 18-hole golf course allows golfers to forget they are only 30 miles from the world's busiest airport. |
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Non-golfers find plenty to do from taking paddlewheel
riverboat cruises to shopping in the historic downtown that won recognition
from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Great American
Main Street Award of 2000. Antique hunting's easy browsing the 75
dealers in the three markets of this self-styled "Antique Center
of the Midwest." More than 1000 dealers come every weekend in
summer for the Kane County Flea Market that's been staged continuously
since 1967. Worth a visit too are the 20 independent boutiques in
the Market Shops, on Third Street. One, for example, the Butterfly
Turtle Gallery run by Cathrine Bolin, has gorgeous fairy godmother
dolls made by Canadian artist, Jacqueline Kent. |
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| For dinner nothing beats a visit to Al Capone's
Hideaway, an authentic 1920's speakeasy down by the river. The surprise
amongst all the gangster décor and tongue-in-cheek wall promotions
is how good the food is in this steakhouse. And if you feel you need
church absolution after favoring a gangsta speakeasy hold off on desserts
till you get back to town to enter the 1851 St. Patrick's Catholic Church, now an eclectic Italian restaurant, Eighteen North. |
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