Chicago Botanic Garden aka: Chicago Botanical Gardens

If you don’t mind getting a bit damp, go on a rainy day. I went on Father’s Day and though there were fair number of people about I was told that it was nothing like the usual crowd becase it was drizzling all day. The colors of the foliage & the flowers are much brighter on seemingly dreary day.

There’s a little wooden bench perpendicular to a rose arbor in the English Walled Garden which was perfect for writing a journal entry when I ran out of film. No one walked by for ages and it felt quite special to have so much beauty to myself.

Worth it! Best time is in the spring…

I could wander around here all day. The variety of flowers is endless; its breath taking. One of the things that I noticed was that patrons are always dressed nice. Perhaps because it was located on the north shore. You know that if this was in the middle of the city, people would show up in ratty jeans and their favorite hoody.

I visited the gardens when Chihuly had his glass sculptures installed there. Very cool!

http://www.chihuly.com/

The Japanese Garden is especially serene. Absolutely worth a visit.