Benld, IL
When They Who Name Places spun the Wheel of Fortune, Benld, IL lost a vowel. Actually this mumble was invented by combining the town founder's three names, way back in 1895: Ben(jamin) L. D(orsey). Benld is famous for its coal, its Russian and Italian coal miner descendents, its meteorite , and its dinosaurs, made by an amazing artist named Charlie McGrady (whose studio we plan to feature at a later date). Al Capone opened a dance hall here, to entertain his goons who hid out with the local Italian diaspora when things got too hot in Chicago: The Coliseum, which burned down a few years ago. The best way to enter Benld is through the back door, from the North. Take Lake Ka Ho Road (also spelled Ka-Ho and Kaho) past big old oak trees, down hills, over creek bridges, through fields that suffuse the air with corn dust, like blonde hair streaming sunlight and diffuse notions of "America." Raptors! People in Argentina will pay over 50k for a dinosaur from Benld, m...