No One Celebrates Groundhog Day Like Woodstock, IL

Groundhog Day is here and outside of Punxsutawney, PA, there's another place where this ritual is a really big deal. Woodstock, Illinois is where much of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray was filmed. They go all out with a four-day festival dedicated to this furry rodent, his weather prediction and the movie that has become a classic and is still well-loved more than 25 years after its release.

Throughout Woodstock, there are many filming sites that are marked letting you know that they are the spots where scenes took place, including a sidewalk marker showing the scene where Murray repeatedly schleps through slushy snow. During the festival guided tours take visitors through many of those filming spots.

The Cherry Tree Inn Bed & Breakfast

On a media visit I took last year with the county's convention and visitor bureau, we got to see some of those sites - including the town square which served as Gobbler's Knob in the movie and the Public House where the toast to world peace took place. I also had the pleasure of staying at the Cherry Tree Inn Bed & Breakfast. It's the inn that was featured in the movie at 344 Fremont St. The lovely victorian home has four rooms and you wake up to a gourmet meal the next day.

This year's Groundhog Days also included an opportunity to meet Stephen Tolowsky, who played Woodstock’s favorite insurance agent, Ned Ryerson, in the movie.

The event involves a prognostication ceremony early on Groundhog Day complete with a polka band and an appearance by Woodstock Willie, the town's own weather-predicting groundhog. Even if you aren't there visiting for the Groundhog Day events, it's a lovely place to visit any time of year. The downtown square is lined with quaint shops and eateries and you'll find Bill Murray's face on a large mural just off the square. For more info on the fest, go to woodstockgroundhog.com and for more on the area to to visitmchenrycounty.com. 

From the inbox: Wilderness Resort adds new attractions and activities

This year I wanted to bring back my "From the Inbox" series of posts on here and on my food blog, ChicagoFoodieSisters.com.

I get so much great information in my inbox, but don't have time to write about it all. Each week, I'll share something from my inbox and let you get a peek at a press release about something really cool and exciting. Here's the first one for the year. It's been quite a while since we've been to Wisconsin Dells, but it's definitely been one of our favorite destinations that we have visited as a family. We have stayed at Wilderness Resort before and they're adding more fun this year. Read on..

Experience New Attractions and Activities
This Winter at the Wilderness Resort

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — Waterpark enthusiasts looking for a break from winter and a chance to try some new things need to head to Wilderness Resort, America’s Largest Waterpark Resort located in Wisconsin Dells.

During the week of January 21 the resort will be adding three climbing walls to its Timberland Playhouse area.

According to Chris Ebben, the resort’s attractions director, “Each of the walls will vary in difficulty and appearance, and all are certain to provide a memorable experience for participants by offering a wide variety of challenges.”

Wall options will include: The Circuit Breaker, which has a tech feel with lights featured throughout connection lines and handholds. Participants may choose either the round flashing holds or solid square holds to reach the top. The Speed Climb, which is intended for the naturally competitive and encourages climbers to race to the top as fast as possible. The LED lights in the corners and timer help create a fast-paced, high-energy experience for participants. And, The Time Traveler, which offers a fast challenge, participants must reach the top before the countdown clock runs out. The adjustable clock and optical sensors task participants with trying to gain points by "capturing" the sensors on the interchange symbols.

Each wall will be 24 feet tall. It will cost $5 to climb one wall or $12 for three climbs. In order to set up the new climbing walls, some hours will be adjusted in this portion of the hotel from January 22-25. This information is listed on the resort’s blog at https://www.wildernessresort.com/blog/new-climbing-walls-coming-in-january/. 

  Also new at the Wilderness, The Wild Kids Club is now offering family yoga and family dance parties. The family yoga classes are held from 8-8:30 am on Saturday mornings in the Wild WaterDome and include avariety of stretches and poses to help increase flexibility, muscle strength and tone. The Wilderness supplies the yoga mats so all families need to do is show up in comfy workout clothes.  The family dance parties are held on Friday and Saturday evenings from 8-8:30 pm in the Wild West lobby. They feature popular music for littles to get their groove on. It’s a great way to get the last of the wiggles out of the kids before they head off to bed. 

Those with a sweet tooth will love the other new attraction at the resort: the Candy Cabin, in the Wild West lobby. It features all sorts of heavenly hand-dipped delights including homemade turtles and sea salt caramels. There is also an area where guests can watch candy makers in action whipping up amazing treats like Frogs, Bears and Moose that are made just for kids!

Finally, those with an eye on springtime will be happy to hear that the Wilderness Resort’s Wild Rock Golf Club just found it has been selected by the United States Golf Association (USGA) to host a qualifying round for the 2019 US Open on May 8, 2019. The course will also be hosting WSGA’s Net Partners 2- Man Championship on September 15 and 16, WSGA Net Partners Championship September 18 and WSGA’s Senior Championship September 19. For more information on any of these events visit WSGA.org

            The Wilderness Resort consists of over 600 wooded acres in Wisconsin Dells and is home to Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort, which features 444 guest rooms, 40 Vacation Villas, 76 Frontier Condominiums and 35 cabins. It is also home to Wilderness on the Lake which features 108 luxurious two and three bedroom condominium units overlooking Lake Delton; and Glacier Canyon Lodge, which features 460 upscale condominium units. 

            Combined, these three properties offer four indoor and four outdoor waterparks that total nearly 500,000 square feet – that’s over 12 football fields of extreme water fun! The Resort is also home to Wild Rock Golf Club; The Woods 9-Hole Executive Course; Dodge ‘Em City; Timberland Play Park, a 35,000 square-foot, four story adventure with ball blasters, slides and crawl spaces; the OK Corral Lazer Tag Arena; Marshall Training Lazer Maze; The Wild Abyss and Wild Buccaneer indoor 3-D black light mini golf courses; bumper boats; indoor and outdoor go-karts and kiddy-karts; Wisconsin’s first canopy zip line tour; Northern Lights Sky Ropes Course, three room escapes and outdoor Jurassic mini golf. 

Travel & Adventure Show Coming to Chicago January 12 & 13

Cultural entertainment takes place throughout the weekend
on the Global Beats Stage. (photo provided)

Where you do start when you want to plan a trip? You probably take to the Internet hoping to find some of the information you're looking for. But nothing beats face to face conversation from experts that have been there are represent exciting destinations. That's what is so great about the Travel & Adventure Show. It returns this month to Chicago for the 15th time! Chicago is one of nine cities that will host this exciting show.

The two-day show features domestic and international locations with over 350 exhibitors ready to share travel tips, answer questions and help you get started on planning a dream vacation - whether it be through the Great Lakes states, the Western U.S., Europe or Taiwan. If you're looking for a fun hiking adventure, a luxurious cruise or a getaway to a tropical place, there's plenty of info to get you thinking about places you may not have ever thought about putting on your travel bucket list.

Throughout the weekend there will be cultural entertainment on the Global Beats Stage, travel theatre with talks from experts, appearances from travel celebrities, such as Samantha Brown and Rick Steves, and fun activities, including scuba diving and camel rides that are included in show admission. The show is open to all ages and fun for families, couples and singles.

Fun activites, such as scuba diving and camel rides, are included
with show admission. (photo provided)

"The Travel & Adventure Show is like the Internet come to life! Discover hundreds of destinations from around the world and meet one-on-one with travel experts who will help you find, personalize, and book your next trip at a price that you won’t find anywhere else," said Jim Forberg, COO of Unicomm, the parent company of the show. "Learn how to travel like an insider from dozens of interactive seminars on 4 dedicated travel stages right on the show floor.  There is also activities for the entire family including the chance to take your fist scuba-dive in our heated pool, camel rides and more."

For info and show tickets, visit www.travelshows.com 

Beat Winter With a Stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee

We've hit the official beginning of winter and sadly that means months of cold and snowy weather are ahead. If you want to escape for a night or two from the Midwest winter without traveling to the Caribbean, you'll want to make plans for a visit to Great Wolf Lodge, which opened in July in Gurnee, Illinois. 

The Great Wolf Lodge has so many features and activities that there's something for everyone - no matter what age. I was there shortly after they opened with three teenagers and they had a blast. 

The attractions include mini-golf, bowling, gemstone mining, ropes course, Creation Station (where you make your own stuffed animal), arcade and more. The biggest hit with them was MagiQuest, which I enjoyed myself. Each player gets a special wand and it's like a virtual scavenger hunt where you have to stop at various portals for clues.

The Snowland celebration in underway and runs through January 4 with daily snow showers in the Grand Lobby and visits from Santa Claus. There’s also a life-sized gingerbread house constructed from more than 600 pounds of gingerbread dough and 1,300 pounds of sugar. 

Guest can enjoy Hot Cocoa with the Great Wolf Kid, Cookies with Mrs. Claus and the Polar Wolf Walk. There will also be holiday movies playing in the decked out Grand Lobby. Kids can attend North Pole University to earn a Snowploma.

Other fun everyday activities such as kids’ yoga, story time and family bingo will keep the kids busy when they're not in the water.  And in the water park are pools and slides and play areas for splashing. There's a four-story tandem tube ride, a family raft ride, wave pool, a lazy river, kids’ play pool and more. Cabana rentals are also available.

Keep in mind that when you reserve a room, you get access to the water park for both the day you check in and the day you check out. If you want to arrive early and splash around you can do that and if after you check out, you're not quite ready to head back out into the cold, you can stay and enjoy the water park until closing time. For more info on rooms and amenities  go to GreatWolf.com.

Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort

While we all have Santa on the brain during the holiday season, I wanted to share a little about one of my favorite little towns, Santa Claus, Indiana where we've spent time in the summer and fall seasons. It's the place where it's Christmas all year long and even in July you'll spot Mr. Claus. One place you may happen to see him is at Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort where he may be cruising around on a golf cart. 

The resort is situated right next to the town's big attraction - Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, which makes it a super convenient place for lodging when you visit the area. There's a walkway that leads to the amusement and water park and there are also shuttles that run throughout the day. There's also a lot of activities in the resort itself if you plan to spend a day or more hanging out there, including a water park, two playgrounds, two basketball courts, a family pool and kiddie pool, a fishing lake, miniature golf, paddleboat and kayak rentals and more. 

Although it's an RV park, you don't need an RV or even a tent. More than half of the sites are RV rentals or cabins. Rudolph's Christmas Cabins feature electric fireplaces, upscale appliances, Christmas decor and a large covered deck - definitely the way to go if you are more of a glamper than a camper.

Cabins do book up in advance for the summer season, so if you're planning out your travel for 2019, now is the best time to make your reservations. Keep in mind that they also have a full itinerary of fall fun during their Halloween Weekends.

The resort has been named National RV Park of the Year and has been named Best RV Park in Indiana by Reader's Digest.

For more information, visit lakerudolph.com.

Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical Playing at Theatre at the Center

For several years I've visited the Theatre at the Center at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster around the holidays to see the musical of the season. This year that would be Miracle on 34th Street. 

Set in 1947 as the original motion picture was, it's the classic story of a skeptical young girl who has second thoughts when she encounters a very convincing Santa Claus hired by her mother to work the holiday season at Macy's. Directed by Linda Fortunato, the show features Courtney Jones, Christopher Kale Jones, Neil Friedman, who are all magnificent, but it's local 6th grader Stella Rose Hoyt who steals the show.

If you need a little push of holiday cheer to get you in the spirit this season, this will no doubt do it. It's just as charming (or moreso) than the beloved holiday movie. Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical runs through December 23. For showtimes and tickets, go to tickets.com or contact the box office at 219-836-3255.

A Peek Inside Tribune Tower

This past spring I was selected as one of six bloggers/influencers in the Chicago area to serve as WGN Radio Brand Ambassadors. A couple weeks later we were invited to a meeting at WGN Radio's offices and studio in the Tribute Tower to meet some of the producers and management and radio personality John Williams. After some discussions and lunch in a conference room, we got a little tour that included some parts of the building that aren't open to the public and not many people get to see. It was quite a thrill.

I love history and architecture and it was the coolest thing to spend time in this building, which was competed in 1925. The design was selected among about 260 entries in a contest by the Chicago Tribune as it planned to develop new headquarters. A hefty monetary prize was offered for a design of "the most beautiful and distinctive office building in the world." The winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, with buttresses near the top. Sculptures and decorations were done by American artist Rene Paul Chambellan. The tower was inspired by a French cathedral.

A amazing feature of the building is that pieces of historically significant sites were incorporated into the building construction, a total of 149, that mostly were collected by Chicago Tribune correspondents. Among the stones, rocks and bricks are pieces from St. Stephen's Cathedral in Austria, Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, the Palace of Westminster, petrified wood from the Redwood National and State Parks, the Great Pyramid, The Alamo, Notre Dame de Paris, Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb, the Great Wall of China, Independence Hall and the Berlin Wall.

The lobby itself, which at the time could be viewed by the public, is stunning with famous quotes carved into the Wall of Inscriptions. Shortly after our tour, WGN Radio began its move to its new studio and the building emptied in anticipation of conversion of the entire building to private condominiums. Also in the lobby is a large map of the U.S. that was created from shredded money.

We also had a chance to hang out a little in the studios on the first floor that looked out onto Michigan Ave. where spectators could view live broadcasts through full-length windows.

We also had a chance to visit the 24th floor with the office of legendary Tribune publisher Colonel Robert R. McCormick and see his original fireplace, a hidden staircase and a hidden bathroom. Then it was all the way up to the top for some breathtaking views of the city. After my visit, I posted some photos from our tour, including some of the tower at the top. A former co-worker commented that she remembered visiting the building in the 1950s when that area was an observation deck that was open to the public. She said she and her friends went there occasionally and admission was 50 cents.

It was such an enormous privilege to have the opportunity to get this glimpse into several parts of this historic building. As a history buff who has been involved in my local historical society for more than two decades and who has authored three local history books, I recognized how lucky I was to be one of the last people to do this tour. And as a writer who has spent two decades crafting articles and columns, it was moving and emotional to stand in that landmark and think of all the journalists who also wrote articles and columns in that building - working to inform and enlighten readers through an impartial lens of honesty and integrity. 

Although it is sad that WGN Radio was moving from such a significant and nostalgic place that had been its home for so long, I've since had the opportunity to tour their new offices at 303 Wacker Drive and well, time moves on and it seems it was time for the station to move on to a more modern space. I'm so grateful to have been able to see both the old and the new office. 

Only time will tell what's in store for the Tribune Tower. In 2020, renovations should be complete and new tenants will be able to enjoy some pretty spectacular views of our beautiful city. On our tour, there was mention of preserving the 24th floor as is, or possibly dismantling it to be relocated. My understanding was that the lobby will likely go largely unchanged. However, knowing that the Tribune Tower will never be quite same, I am glad I was able to see what it once was.