Midway Monkey Madness

It is up to Beppo the super-monkey, the Wonder Twins, and Gleek to stop Gorilla Grodd from ruining a carnival that has come to Metropolis.

Whether you’re a born-and-raised Illinoisan, a recent transplant, or just passing through, Illinois Curiosities will have you laughing out loud as Richard Moreno takes you on a rollicking tour of the strangest sides of the Prairie State. Take a date to the World’s Largest Laundromat, a 13,500-square-foot facility in Berwyn with 153 washers and 148 dryers in nearly constant use. Enter Chicago’s “sub” culture with a museum visit to the U-505, the only German submarine in the United States. Visit the site in Carthage where Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith was murdered on June 27, 1844. Learn about the strange case of H. H. Holmes’ notorious Murder Castle and the sad tale of Burr Oak Cemetery.

This volume is based on the recognition that heritage is popular and popular culture is now readily transformed into heritage whose meanings and myths reshape social life and political and economic realities as well as re-make “tradition.” The papers in this volume consider: What does popular heritage look like? To whom does it speak? Is it active in dissolving class and cultural boundaries or just in reproducing new ones? How do societies manage a heritage that is fluid, immediate and that straddles extremes of serious conflict and hedonistic frivolity? When/under what circumstances is the creation and expression of new cultural forms – popular culture – capable of being transformed into heritage?.

Giant fiberglass wieners atop a hotdog stand. Wild green parrots that live in the city. A double-decker outhouse. A museum dedicated to surgical science. Statues that weep. Find out where these and other eclectic sites are located in Oddball Illinois, an offbeat travel guide that's a mix of Fodors and News of the Weird. There is more between Chicago and St. Louis than cornfields and plenty of fascinating places in the Windy City that aren't on Michigan Avenue. Oddball Illinois won't point out the hottest club in Chicago, the quaintest small-town bed & breakfast, nor the most scenic hiking trail in Illinois. This book will, however, tell about the locations of America's One and Only Hippie Memorial, Scarlett O'Hara's green drapes, Popeye's Hometown, and several places the local Chambers of Commerce would just as soon be forgotten. Behind all the odd sights is some wonderfully interesting history and a chance to see some underappreciated sites throughout the state.

Completely new tenth edition! Illinois Off the Beaten Path features the things travelers and locals want to see and experience––if only they knew about them. From the best in local dining to quirky cultural tidbits to hidden attractions, unique finds, and unusual locales, Illinois Off the Beaten Path takes the reader down the road less traveled and reveals a side of Illinois that other guidebooks just don't offer.

GREEN LANTERN B'DG chills out at a water park on Earth, but his day in the sun is anything but fun.