Ottawa, Illinois
Main Street (actually LaSalle Street) houses the Book Mouse and Roxy movie theater (with its pink blinking “O”). Stroll through Washington Square, site of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. Red and blue winter scarves decorate the senatorial candidates’ bronze statues, and twinkling white lights spin a magical web. On Jefferson Street, throw back a cocktail at the Row House Bar and gaze at the art deco headquarters of The Times newspaper, published continuously since 1844. Marvel at the Greek revival architecture of the Appellate Court—once the Illinois Supreme Court. Visit the Scouting Museum and dine at R. Grotto. Only eighty-five miles away and a quick one-hour-and-forty-minute drive from Chicago, take I-55 south, to I-80 west, to Route 23 south.
Best of Chicago 2010