The Gold Pyramid
37921 N. Dilleys Road, Wadsworth , Illinois

This building is a little outside of the realm of Chicagoland, but when we heard of its existence, we immediately tacked this architectural oddity onto our list. If you want to learn more about the bazaars and all the wonders of Egypt you could buy within this compound of weird, do visit their Web site. I'm here to tell you that as architecturally shocking as this building might be, it's really kinda creepy. I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and the gates, which are strung between two yellow cement walls filled with hieroglyphics, were locked and I could only peer through them, past the dilapidated gift shop, past the acres of driveway gravel that I can only imagine were once a parking lot to hold all those who would make their pilgrimage to this Waco-wannabe, and past the enormous statue of a pharaoh's sarcophagus, to see a pyramid dot the horizon.

I'm exaggerating a bit, but this thing was closed when I arrived. I had just driven the hour and a half from Chicago just to see it, and I was peeved. Nonetheless, we all must still tip our hats to brave souls who decided that rural northern Illinois was a good place to put a pyramid of gold, regardless of what all the Pabst-drinking, pickup-truck driving yokels hooted as they drove by, showering the stop sign with bullets.