Awesome Ottawa tours
road-trips
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Awesome Ottawa tours road-trips 〰️
Embark on Unforgettable Road Trips with awesome ottawa tours!
Ready for a wild ride through the most quirky, fascinating, and hidden gems of Starved Rock Country and beyond? We're always on the hunt for the coolest, most offbeat sights and events to make your adventure truly epic!
Meet Lady Carbonia, our trusty 15-passenger van, your gateway to these incredible journeys. Buckle up and get ready for a series of thrilling explorations and unique escapades!
Check out our lineup of current and upcoming trips, plus a sneak peek at what’s in the works. Each adventure promises surprises and unforgettable moments!
Join us for a road trip like no other—where every mile is an adventure!
“lady Carbonia”
Our tour vehicle is a 15-passenger Ford Transit, affectionately named after the original, unofficial name of Ottawa, Illinois, before it was officially known as an I&M Canal town.
want to be informed of upcoming Road-Trips? click the “open form” button below.
In the works
2025
Morton Arboretum Vivid Creatures
An Exhibition of Colorful,
Large-scale sculptures at the Morton Arboretum.
Vivid Creatures: An encounter with colorful forest friends, a new outdoor art exhibition at The Morton Arboretum, is an invitation to explore our connections with the natural world through giant, colorful, playful animal sculptures placed outdoors amid towering trees and sweeping green vistas. Each artwork tells a story about the interconnected relationships between creatures and the ecosystems where they live.
Guests of all ages can delight in an oversized white-tailed deer, brittle button snail, fox squirrel, dragonfly, and sandhill crane—all animals that either migrate through or are part of the Illinois region—depicted in larger-than-life artworks up to 24 feet tall.
The sculptures will be placed among the tree collections and natural areas of The Morton Arboretum, the Chicago area’s largest public garden, where many of these creatures live.
The five steel-and-concrete sculptures were created exclusively for The Morton Arboretum by Fez and Heather BeGaetz of Portland, Oregon.
Graue Mill and Museum
at Fullersburg Woods
Graue Mill and Museum provides a glimpse into the rich history of Fullersburg. This four-story structure displays a collection of Native American arrowheads as well as artifacts from the Settlement Era. A mill powered by a dam was in place here from 1835, when the Torode family built a saw mill at the present site. In 1838, Frederick Graue moved to the area; he bought the mill in 1850 and converted it to a grist mill. Mr. Graue was also a resolute abolitionist, and the mill soon became a station on the Underground Railroad, which offered assistance to fugitive slaves on their journey to freedom. The cellar houses the massive gear system that operates the buhrstone that still grinds grain. Civil War memorabilia, maps and newspaper articles document the nineteenth century events that affected local residents. Educational and enrichment programs at this site include Civil War battle reenactments, art shows, holiday craft sales, corn husk doll making demonstrations, and dramatic presentations about the Underground Railroad.
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Route 66 Museum, & Lunch in Pontiac, Illinois
The Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum is the repository for thousands of pieces of historic memorabilia from the glory days of the Mother Road. Come learn the history of Route 66 in Illinois, see images of the road's wonderful history, and hear a few great stories about life in America when Route 66 was the most important highway in the nation.
Cahokia Mounds-collinsville, illinois
CAHOKIA MOUNDS WORLD HERITAGE & STATE HISTORIC SITE is the largest pre-Columbian site north of Mexico. At its peak, around 1100, this metropolis stretched over 4,000 acres, encompassed about 120 earthen mounds, and hosted a population of nearly 20,000 individuals – larger than London at that time. The State of Illinois now protects roughly 2,200 acres of the central portion of the Site. Including 72 of the nearly 80 remaining mounds, as some mounds are situated in unprotected portions of the Site.
Abraham Lincoln Home- Springfield, Illinois
Husband, Father, Neighbor, President
Abraham Lincoln believed in the ideal that everyone in America should have the opportunity to improve their economic and social condition. Lincoln’s life was the embodiment of that idea. We know him as the sixteenth president but he was also a spouse, parent, and neighbor who experienced the same hopes, dreams, and challenges of life that are still experienced by many people today.
ALBERT CASHIER HOME AND GRAVESITE- JUNE 2025
There are over 400 documented cases of women disguising themselves as men and fighting as soldiers on both sides during the Civil War. The case of Albert Cashier, born "Jennie Hodgers" with a female sex assignment, is one of the most famous because Cashier continued to live as a man after the war and was not discovered until a couple of years before his death. His consistent and nearly life-long commitment to a male identity has prompted some contemporary scholars to think of Cashier as a transgender man.
History & Halloween
🎃👻 Get Ready for a Spooktacular Family Adventure in Ottawa! 👻🎃Hop on our Halloween-themed bus tour and explore the most decked-out, jaw-dropping homes in town! 🚍🏡 From ghoulishly grand decorations to spine-tingling setups, these homes are pulling out all the stops for Halloween! 🎃🕸️
Perfect for families looking to add some extra thrill to their Halloween season. 🧙♀️🕷️ Don’t miss out on this fang-tastic experience—it's a monster mash of fun and fright! 🎉👻