Chicago Getaways

Michigan Avenue Bridge and Wrigley Building at dusk.

Article by: Lonely Planet authors, May 2008

Oak Park & around

The suburb of Oak Park spawned two famous sons: Ernest Hemingway was born here, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked here from 1898 to 1908. The town's main sights revolve around both men.

During Wright's 10 years in Oak Park, he designed a whole heap of houses. Stop at the visitors center (tel: 888 625 7275; 158 N Forest Ave; 10am-5pm) and ask for the architectural walking-tour map (usually a free, photocopied page), which gives their locations. Ten of them cluster within a mile along Forest and Chicago Aves; the homes are privately owned, so all gawking must occur from the sidewalk. To get inside a Wright-designed dwelling, you'll need to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio (tel: 708 848 1976; 951 Chicago Ave; adult/child 4-10 $12/5) nearby on Chicago Ave.

Despite Hemingway calling Oak Park a 'village of wide lawns and narrow minds', the town still pays homage to him at the Ernest Hemingway Museum (tel: 708 848 2222; 200 N Oak Park Ave; adult/child $7/5.50; 1-5pm Sun-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat). The exhibits begin with his middle-class Oak Park background and the innocent years before he went off to find adventure. The ensuing displays focus on his writings in Spain and during WWII. Admission includes entry to Hemingway's birthplace (tel: 708 848 2222; www.ehfop.org; 339 N Oak Park Ave; adult/child $7/5.50; 1-5pm Sun-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat), where you can see his first room.

Indiana Dunes

Lake Michigan's prevailing winds created the 21 miles of sandy beaches and dunes that comprise Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (tel: 800 959 9174; admission free except West Beach, which charges $6 per car). Behind the sands, large areas of woods and wetlands have become major wildlife habitats and the breeding grounds for an incredible variety of plant life. Everything from cacti to hardwood forests and pine trees sprouts here. In winter, when the lake winds blow, you may well hear the low hum of the 'singing sands', an unusual sound caused by the zillions of grains of sand hitting each other in the wind. The beaches and surrounding trails offer hiking, biking, birding and, of course, swimming.

Cheese!

Wisconsin is cheesy and proud of it, if you hadn't figured that out yet. The state pumps out 2.4 billion pounds of cheddar, gouda and other smelly goodness from its cow-speckled farmland. Local license plates read 'The Dairy State'. So embrace the cheese thing. And how better than via a road trip to the USA's largest concentration of cheesemakers, who happen to reside around Monroe, 60 miles south of Madison?

Follow your nose to Roth Käse (tel: 608 328 2122; 657 Second St; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun), which creates unusual varieties like 'buttermilk blue.' Buy it at the onsite store, or watch 'em make it from the observation area (weekday mornings only). Several more producers also let you watch their process; get specifics from the Traveler's Guide to Wisconsin Cheese, Beer and Wine, free from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (tel: 608 836 8820), and available at shops and visitor centres throughout the state (or call and they'll send you one).

For serious R&R, spend the night at Inn Serendipity (tel: 608 329 7056; 7843 County P; $100-115 incl breakfast) on a five-acre working organic farm in Browntown, just west of Monroe. This two-room B&B is about as green as it gets. It's powered by solar and wind systems, the owners compost all food waste, and they've built their bathroom using recycled windshield glass for the tile.