Best fall weekend road trip within 2- 3 hours of Chicago

In My Humble Opinion
1

So we’re having the kitchen floor refinished next weekend, which means we need to vacate the premises for 3 days while the fumes dissipate (and because of the layout of our place, you have to walk through the kitchen to go just about anywhere).

Where should we go? If we could count on nice weather, I’d say southwestern Michigan, but one can’t count on that at this time of year, so a place where there are also non-outdoor things to do would be good. A HS friend has invited us to Grand Rapids during ArtPrize, which kind of sounds cool, but I was kind of thinking more along the lines of a weekend with just the two of us…

Brainstorm away!

2

Maybe Waupun, Wisconsin. A dozen statues in parks around town, including the original large casting of The End of the Trail. The main cell block in the state prison is the oldest building in Wisconsin still in use for is original purpose. The Horicon National Wildlife Refuge a couple miles out of town may be teeming with migratory birds. The County Park on the edge of town has some remnant virgin forest.

3

If you make it to Grand Rapids I would also recommend http://www.meijergardens.org/.