Whenever I go to a new area, especially for a night event, I like to go early to see what the area has to offer. Prior to heading to Homewood, Illinois, I learned it is home to the largest collection of Richard Haas murals in the world.

An American muralist best known for his architectural murals, Haas first started beautifying Homewood in the early 1980s. His use of trompe l’oeil style is meant to create the optical illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. His murals often take up one entire side of a building.

For Homewood, it was an opportunity to bolster interest in the downtown area. For Haas it meant the freedom to create murals to tell the history of Homewood and the area in general.

We took a self-guided tour of all the murals, allowing us to casually stroll the whole area. The magnificent murals depicted an old filling station, a 1950s diner, a theater marquee and other scenes conjuring images of the past.

Our tour ended at Twisted Q Barbeque, our choice for dinner. We split fish tacos and a taco salad, which was as colorful as it was delicious. The large portions were perfect. I couldn’t pass up the strawberry rhubarb pie, and I am glad I didn’t.

Photos courtesy of Twisted Q Barbeque

We finished the night at Homewood Auditorium for spooky fun with Chicago Knockouts Roller Derby League, featuring a few of our friends as skaters. The Zombies beat the Vampires, but it really was just about the cause and the fun.

— John Wroblewski, online writer