Tours in Brookfield

The pilots at Sun Aero Helicopters Inc. have been training pupils in the autogiro arts and transporting clients through the skies since 1991. Inside their base at Lansing Municipal Airport, aviators maintain a 12,000-square-foot hangar area and 3,000 square feet of training offices and high-speed computerized flight-planning facilities. Expert pilots impart their knowledge to up-and-coming FBI agents, police officers, emergency medical technicians, and leisure pilots during one-on-one training sessions in Robinson and Bell copters. Pilots also give landlubbers a skyscraper's view of Chicago's landmarks, such as US Cellular Field, the John Hancock building, and the Sears/Willis Tower. When they aren't transporting rally drivers, golfers, and famous wiffle ball players with private charter services, Sun Aero serves national media companies with aerial photography and land surveys.

Ray Johnson was just a freshman in high school when he had an encounter with the paranormal. He and his younger brother were horsing around, running back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, where they saw their mother standing at the stove cooking dinner. The next time they entered the kitchen it was mysteriously empty, and Ray’s mother came down from the upstairs apartment where she’d been all along. Ray and his brother could never explain the woman—or shadow of a woman—they’d both seen cooking that day, but it did spark Ray’s interest in solving mysteries, leading him to become a criminal investigator and, later, a historical and genealogical researcher.

A Chicagoland native and history buff, Ray explores the legends and mysteries swirling around the Windy City—which fill his book Chicago’s Haunt Detective, the blog he writes for ChicagoNow, and his narration during Voices From Beyond tours. Working with two paranormal experts who handle the technical side of ghost hunting, Ray leads walks through Elmhurst’s spookiest sites, including the Elmhurst College Mill Theatre, the White Birch homestead, and Cottage Hill.

The future has arrived and it's gliding in at a comfortable 6.5 mph. Introducing the Segway, a brand-new transportation device that was publicly released in 2002. Streets, sidewalks, and sidewalk cafes will soon be blessed with the presence of these two-wheel wonders, forever altering human life. Picture this: you need a wide-brimmed western hat to wear to Cowboy Formal 2009: Git Yer Grind On, but your calves hurt from morning calisthenics. Hopeless? Not with a Segway.

With a ticket to the opening weekend, you'll get first access to The Sinkhole, the newest hauntsperience provided by Chronicles of the Cursed. This panic-fueled jamboree is the demented brain-baby of Nightmares Inc., a production company responsible for the Dream Reapers haunted house in Melrose Park, one of the top haunted houses in Illinois. Journey into Chicago's most offensive pothole and traverse through the underground gauntlet of nightmarish sewer-beings who don’t fight crime and enjoy pizza.

Chicago Hauntings' "ghost bus" whisks passengers away on interactive trips to the second city's spookiest locales. Founder Ursula Bielski and her crew of paranormal researchers split their signature tours between historical yarns on the bus and time exploring supernaturally active sites on foot. The rotating itinerary of stops includes the site of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the location of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, and the spot where Resurrection Mary met her fateful end.

Along with her primary routes, Ursula leads specialty tours including daytime trips based on The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's bestseller about serial killer H. H. Holmes, and strolls down one Chinatown block where every building is allegedly haunted. She also hosts private tours, pub crawls, and kid-friendly excursions during which youngsters hear toned-down tales and learn about ghost-hunting equipment more advanced than their dog Sherlock.

The Chicago branch of Gray Line's global sightseeing operation organizes a wide variety of tours and excursions throughout the Windy City, from architectural tours that send passengers coasting on the river and lake for sun-drenched educational cruises to shopping odysseys at Chicago Premium Outlets, where travelers can zip through more than 100 stores and restaurants after being shuttled to the retail utopia. Blues outings treat music lovers to raw licks, soul food, and real tears at celebrated concert venues such as Buddy Guy's Legends and Rosa's Lounge.

Gray Line's cherry-red trolleys transport visitors and residents alike to famous Chicago sites. Just north of the river, the vehicles idle before the Wrigley Building's sparkling white terra cotta façade, which in the 1920s stood as the first major skyscraper outside of The Loop. From there, the trolley may motor north to the John Hancock Center, where elevators to its observatory sweep guests 96 floors in 39 seconds. The trolley could also steer south to the Willis Tower, which lost its maiden name of Sears after being charmed by a passing cumulus cloud.