News and Updates

Bloomington, Minnesota

Bloomington, Minnesota

Bloomington Minnesota is home to the Mall of America, and the behind-the-scenes tour was full of surprises for John McGivern.

The rest of the city was also full of surprises. He didn’t expect to find a ski-jump, the largest bicycle products distributor in America, the first tap room in Minnesota and a goat farm!

Lincoln Square, Chicago

Lincoln Square, Chicago

Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood boasts a main street straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. John McGivern enjoys the German roots still present, but also finds many ethnicities in this diverse neighborhood.

Sister Bay, Wisconsin

Sister Bay, Wisconsin

If you googled popular Wisconsin tourist spots, Sister Bay would definitely be at the top of the list. Sister Bay was named after the unincorporated Sister Islands just off the horizon in the bay.Its endless shoreline has been a hotspot for tourists since the late...

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

n 1900, Kalamazoo was the celery capital of the world! No kidding. The nearby “mucklands” –which must not exist where I live-are perfect for growing celery! Earlier, in the second half of the 1800’s, Kalamazoo was known as paper city. The Bryant Paper Company here in Kalamazoo became largest Michigan manufacturer of book paper. And by World War II, a score of local mills made Kalamazoo the largest paper producer in the nation.

Le Claire, Iowa

Le Claire, Iowa

Le Claire is a storied river town, a classic Mississippi River port that boomed in the mid-19th century. The old river pilot homes are still here, which are testament to the fact that river pilots were needed because here is where the river makes a sharp turn to the...

Indiana Dunes

Indiana Dunes

Formed more than 10-thousand years ago by glaciers, the area was first home the Miami and Potawatomi tribes. The area quickly thrived thanks to its location to not just Lake Michigan, but also rivers –helping the fur trade and eventually steel production, flourish. But water wasn’t the only mode of transpiration that brought in commerce. Railroads brought in goods and people.

Today, the Indiana Dunes are a hot spot for visitors in the Midwest and beyond.

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is located in Southeastern Minnesota. It’s about an hour and a half drive south west of the Twin Cities and about 50 miles due east of Winona on the Mississippi River. Today, Rochester has residents and visitors from all around the world. The population of the city is about 120,000 and the Mayo Clinic employs over 40,000 of them.

Galena, Illinois

Galena, Illinois

This charming town in northwest Illinois is named after a mineral mined here 20 years before the gold rush in California.

Milwaukee’s Harbor District

Milwaukee’s Harbor District

As the name proclaims…The Harbor District begins at the mouth of the Lake Michigan Harbor and stretches southdown the river.

The Harbor District surrounds Milwaukee’s Inner Harbor–the place where our three rivers come together –The Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic River all flow into the harbor of Milwaukee at Lake Michigan.

About John

About John

John has shared his memories through his one-man shows for his whole career. His stories are personal and funny and touching and familiar, and they remind us all that as specific as we might believe our experiences are, we all share a universal human experience.