SeasonalGifts, Goodies & Detours: Early Holiday Shopping in NW Illinois
Turn the gift list into a road trip, with antique shops, bakeries and coffee stops across all four Northwest Illinois counties.
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Seasonal
SeasonalHello, October: Fall Events in Northwest Illinois
From fall festivals and lumberjacks to castle tours, scarecrows, and Halloween fun, October is packed with reasons to explore Northwest Illinois.
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OutdoorsSeptember Outdoors in Carroll County: Trails, River Views and Scenic Stops
September is one of the best months to spend outside in Carroll County. The heat of midsummer begins to ease, mornings feel cooler and the landscape starts its gradual change toward fall.
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SeasonalAn Apple Picking Day in Northwest Illinois
Pick your way into fall at two Northwest Illinois orchards, where fresh apples, cider donuts and easygoing country days are ripe for the taking.
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SeasonalA Fall Weekend in Carroll County: Where to Stay, Shop and Eat
When September brings cooler mornings and the first hints of fall color to northwest Illinois, Carroll County becomes an easy place to slow down for a weekend.
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SeasonalMeet the Pawpaw: Illinois’ Native Fruit Festival
Get a taste of fall at Paw Paw’s 3rd PawPaw Festival, celebrating Illinois’ native fruit with food, music, and small-town fun.
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History & HeritageHistory Hidden in Plain Sight: A Carroll County Road Trip Through the Past
You do not need a time machine to explore the past in Carroll County. You only need a comfortable pair of shoes, a little curiosity, and enough time to notice what is around you.
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SeasonalSmall-Town Christmas: Holiday Traditions Across Northwest Illinois
A tree lighting in Sterling, a house tour in Mount Carroll, a lantern-lit village in Fulton and fifty decorated trees in Savanna: four small-town holiday traditions across four counties in a single December stretch.
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SeasonalMake the Most of August: Fairs, Theatre & Local Saturdays in Carroll County
August has a way of making everyone look at the calendar and wonder where summer went. The good news is that Carroll County still has plenty of summer left to enjoy.
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Food & DrinkWhere the Locals Eat: A Sauk Valley Food Crawl
Sixty-year pizza landmarks, a 1963 waterfront marina, a Rock Falls bakery going since 1942: seven real Dixon, Sterling and Rock Falls kitchens that add up to a full day of eating your way across the Sauk Valley.
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History & HeritageWalking in Reagan's Footsteps
From the Dixon boyhood home where he lived from 1920 to 1923 to the Tampico apartment where he was born, a day tracing Ronald Reagan's Lee and Whiteside county roots, plus the depot, courthouse and prairie that filled in the rest of his boyhood landscape.
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OutdoorsWhere to Picnic, Grill & Spend a Summer Day in Carroll County
Summer does not always need a big plan. Sometimes the best day starts with a cooler, a few lawn chairs, something easy to eat, and a place where everyone can relax for a while.
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