Pizza & Pasta Express, 104 N. Division St. in Carterville, (985-6262) offers youngsters a chance to sit in train-car booths and munch on pizza, pasta, salads and sandwiches while oversized electric trains and trolleys chug along an overhead track. A "Thomas" table lets kids play with the popular wooden trains while waiting for the pizza to arrive from the oven. The atmosphere and prices are family-friendly and a pizza buffet special offers variety and saves money.

Boo Rochman Memorial Park on the Giant City Road south of Pleasant Hill Road south of Carbondale features towers, bridges and other fantastic castle-like structures that children delight in exploring. The fenced park is a popular site for children's parties and is open from dawn until dusk unless the weather is bad. A pavilion can be reserved for parties by calling 549-8221.

Fossil hunting: The cuts through rock on Interstates 57 and 24 reveal fossils on the exposed surfaces. Find a safe place to park, use insect repellent, and check out the remains of ancient critters. Plenty of fossils also are visible on the polished stone restroom walls in Giant City Lodge. Just make sure nobody hits you with the heavy wooden door on their way in.

Makanda boardwalk: Arts, crafts, friendly dogs and hand-dipped ice cream cones are among the offerings in the village of Makanda. Across the way is Alan Stuck's jewelry studio, where he makes one-of-a-kind creations from gold, gemstones, even dinosaur bones.

Tamms Depot: The old railway station, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has a curved structure so the stationmaster could sit at the station and keep an eye on both tracks - the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the Mobile and Ohio.

- Linda Rush