Enjoy an overnight stay at Starved Rock Lodge, a $50 gift certificate for dinner at the delicious Nodding Onion, and a "behind-the-scenes" tour for two of the Hegeler Carus Mansion, a National Historic Landmark.
     The Mansion sits on part of what was once a three-acre estate that featured extensive walking paths, a gazebo, a reflecting pond, flower gardens, a greenhouse, tennis courts, and a railroad trolley car. Edward Hegeler commissioned W. W. Boyington, the architect of Chicago's famous Water Tower, to design the Mansion. Built in the Second Empire style, the Mansion is a grand presence in the Illinois Valley. The lavish 16,000-square-foot, seven-level home features a mansard roof, dormer windows, molded cornices, decorative brackets; and a tower crowned by a 30-foot cupola. A horseshoe staircase leads guests to the main entrance of the home and to an elegant wrap-around porch that graces three sides of the residence, a full story above ground. Because zinc was readily available from the nearby Matthiessen Hegeler Zinc Company, the metal is used throughout the Mansion.