Travel Tuesday, August 28

With the launch of our new Up for Amazing campaign, the fall travel season is officially upon us. And at $3 million in paid media, including out-of-home, digital, online video, social, connected TV, and so much more, this is our biggest fall campaign yet.

This season's campaign will continue promoting amazing Illinois road trips and fall getaways earound the state, including the Great River Road, Shawnee Forest Country, Galena, and the Blackhawk Waterways area!

Speaking of Blackhawk Waterways, we stopped by Dixon for the annual CVB meeting, where we celebrated the area's continued traveler growth and highlighted some of the biggest things coming down the pipeline for Illinois tourism. We also spent some time talking about the vital importance of local DMOs, such as Lee County Tourism, who graciously hosted me on Friday for a tour of the Nachusa Grasslands and the Franklin Creek Grist Mill. Along with the fascinating tours, I enjoyed some R&R at the Lincoln Way Inn Bed & Breakfast, a lovely country retreat in the heart of Lee County. As Tourism Director, I love partnering with local organizations and getting a firsthand look at the amazing experiences available in Illinois.

Last week was also another big week for the Illinois Bicentennial! I was honored to attend the Illinois Realtors Bicentennial Plaza dedication in Springfield. The Bicentennial Plaza is a brand-new pedestrian walkway linking the Lincoln Home National Historic Site with the Governor’s Mansion along the Jackson Street corridor in historic downtown Springfield. After the festivities, I was ready to keep celebrating, so I stopped by the Eli's Cheesecake Illinois Bicentennial Birthday Cake Celebration in Springfield with Eli's Cheesecake president Marc Schulman for even more bicentennial fun. As we move closer to the big day on December 3rd, keep your eyes open for even more opportunities to get in the 200th-birthday spirit.

Your friend in Illinois Tourism,

All great pizza has a story, and that’s deeply true for one of Chicago’s finest deep dish shops, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. Lou Malnati’s namesake got his start young, working with his father, Rudy Malnati, to prepare some of the city’s very first deep dish pizzas in the 1940s. Rudy was instrumental in developing the recipe for Chicago-style deep dish, which made its saucy debut at Pizzeria Uno in 1943. Throughout the 1950s, Rudy and Lou co-managed the budding Pizzeria Uno, and by the early ‘70s, Lou was ready to strike out on his own. On March 17, 1971, Lou opened his very first store in the Lincolnwood neighborhood, and the legend of Lou Malnati’s was born.

After Lou’s death in 1978, his sons took over the family business, creating what can only be described as a Chicago pizza empire. Over the coming decades, Lou Malnati’s would grow to more than 40 locations, with a successful mail-order service delivering fresh pizzas to deep dish fans across the country. And after 45 years of success, Lou Malnati’s finally began expanding outside Illinois, opening a store in Phoenix, Arizona in 2016.

Lou’s epic recipe has become widely accepted as the preeminent example of Chicago’s classic deep dish, winning multiple best-of titles and the undying love of pizza enthusiasts the world over.

Like what you see? Uncover more Bicentennial stories on our website