MISSOURI: Branson after dark

One of Branson's oldest attractions, the impressive Silver Dollar City theme park marries Ozark tradition (100 working craftsmen at any given time on premises), the American love of eating (100 places to eat what was recently rated the best theme park food in the country) and great thrills (12 coasters, 30 major attractions in total.)

At Christmas, the park features millions -- that's right, millions -- of lights for its annual holiday festival; even still, not every corner of the park is covered, as you can see in this snap from the kiddie area. Deliciously creepy.

MISSOURI: Glass half full

The half-empty cities of America's Rust Belt have got to be among the most fascinating places on the continent. Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Buffalo -- each of them more interesting than the last. Really -- what's cooler than a town that's reinventing itself? Sure, some have stronger visions and bolder plans for the future, while others appear to be directionless, but all of them are, in their own way, working towards a better future.

St. Louis stands out among the shattered post-industrial towns of the Midwest for one very important reason: The population went up by about 6,000 in the last count. This is really stunning news for a city that has been losing huge chunks of people since the 1950s. Once the fourth-largest city in the United States, it now ranks at No. 52, behind Sun Belt suburbs like Arlington, Texas and Mesa, Arizona.

As is the case in any other city in the US that has suffered severe population decline, one has to blame the local government as much as the shrinking economy. St. Louis made a lot of boneheaded moves in its time, that's pretty clear. Today, it's a small part of a very large and active metropolis; it has had to claw its way back into the good graces of the region; to say that has been (and is, and will be) a struggle is putting it mildly. The city still ranks terribly on crime; the perception of lack of safety is a huge obstacle for many.

That said, there's always something new and interesting to see when you visit -- of particular interest is how the Lafayette Square neighborhood has bounced back - shoved between two freeways and next to masses of low-income housing, one of the prettiest public squares (with some of the best historic townhouse architecture you can find in the Midwest today) is now the hub of a very cool neighborhood with good restaurants and bars. This is definitely a town I want to spend more time in.

ILLINOIS: Land of Lincoln

To this former Chicagoan, it has always seemed fairly obvious why Illinois politics are so incredibly dysfunctional. Who in their right mind wants to spend more time than absolutely necessary in Springfield, the state capital? This is not exactly outrageous thinking; most folks in Chicago prefer to pretend there isn't an Illinois out there, beyond the city.

This is not necessarily an attitude you take going in, but more a formed opinion after various disappointments in places with names like Normal and Peoria and Kankakee and Rockford. To some, they're home; to the rest of us, they're no place to linger terribly long.

Of course, not every town in Illinois is hum-drum and not every corner of the Land of Lincoln flat as a pancake; Springfield is at first glance kind of a nowheresville, but contains, as most of us know, an incredible amount of history. Not only can you tour Abraham Lincoln's home and law office and visit the library and museum dedicated to Lincoln's legacy, there's also the Route 66 connection, with excellent stops like the Cozy Dog Drive In, food pictured above. (An annual festival, in September, draws Route 66 fans from all over the globe.)

It's been a rough year for Springfield -- besides the economy, which has brought a lot of economic development plans for the region to a halt, there was the very public embarrassment that was the now former state governor, Rod Blagojevich. Locals seem more keen to focus on the fact that this was also the year that an Illinois state senator, who announced his candidacy for national office here on the steps of the old state capitol, was sent up to Washington to be the president. So there's that.

WISCONSIN: Feeling the chill

The Dane County Farmers Market is by all measures one of the fiercest in the Midwest; it wins awards, it impresses its friends, it draws big crowds. Even when it's barely 30 degrees out.

If you drive down to Madison's Capitol building looking for the Saturday morning affair right about now, you'll notice that there's nothing going on. No, they're not done for the year; they have just moved everything indoors. On account of it being very cold.

Through Christmas, the market is held inside the capital city's beautiful Monona Terrace convention center, which steps down the hill from the foot of King Boulevard, towards Lake Monona. Yesterday, the market filled an entire half of the first level, down by the water, where dudes were out fishing in boats, no doubt bundled up tightly under their camo jackets.

At this point, the market is moving away from greens and into root vegetables; beyond that though, there's enough organic and grassfed meat to feed a small town. There's cheese, lots of baked goods, lots of people. The place is jammed, even an hour before closing.