Galena DeSoto House Weekend — Galena, IL

An almost-lost 1850s mining town two hours west of Chicago, perched on bluffs above the Galena River — 85% of Galena's buildings are on the National Register. The bride's group books a block at the DeSoto House Hotel, where Lincoln gave a speech in 1856 from the second-floor balcony and Ulysses S. Grant lived for two years before the Civil War. Saturday opens at Frank O'Dowd's Pub for a slow breakfast, then a walk down Main Street's six-block historic district — Galena Cellars Vineyard tasting room, the Galena Canning Co. for jam, the Sticky Boy Trading Post for the bride's silver-and-leather inheritance bracelet. Lunch at Vinny Vanucchi's. Afternoon at Galena Spa for the lavender-honey scrub. Saturday-night dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes (a James Beard semifinalist Northern-Italian in a converted brewery cellar). Sunday: a walk through Grant Park to Grant's home, brunch at Frittata Café. Decompression: a stop at Eagle Ridge for the gardens before the drive back to Chicago.