For some of us, when visitors come calling, there’s that sense of dread - where can you go to entertain kids of all ages?

Enter the Chicago Botanic Garden.

This is one of my favorite places to go, chiefly because it is beautiful. Not just “Isn’t that some pretty landscaping?” nice, but downright “Yes, I don’t care if I blow my wedding budget - I have to get married here” kind of beautiful.

It’s also a happy medium when you have older people in the crowd that don’t need to see the children’s museum, and younger people who think anything indoors is boring.

With the kids, I steer them over to the Railroad Garden as soon as we get there. (Insider Tip: Don’t forget to get stamped on the way out - that way, when the kids have had enough of the Japanese Garden or the rose display, the adults can draw straws and take the kids back here for awhile.)

This season, they’ve added six Frank Lloyd Wright buildings - very cool. There’s always something new to see here, and the kids quite frankly just can’t get enough. The train engineers are the nicest bunch of docents at the Garden and are always willing to take time to talk to you and the kids.

Once the kids have had their fill, you can take as many of those posed “candids” as you like of the kids in nature’s beauty (All told, I think I took 70 shots yesterday - and that was without trying very hard!) They can also work on completing their botanic garden bingo cards, complete with a kid favorite - stickers - available at the information desk. The kids were thrilled to finally find the Japanese lantern!

See? Even a rowdy nine-year-old can dig the serenity of the Walled English Garden.

I love the Chicago Botanic Garden - and consider yourselves lucky to live close enough to go whenever you want. It’s my weekend Quick Pick - check it out! (Another Insider Tip? If you can bike, the North Branch trail runs straight through the garden - avoid the parking $$$ and take a bike!)

Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Rd.
Glencoe
Admission: Free
Parking $15 non-members, free for members
Railroad Garden: $5 adults ($4 members) $3 kids ($2 members)

Technorati Tags: Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Highland Park, North Shore attractions, botanic gardens, children’s gardens, flower displays

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Deerfield(t) , Evanston(t) , Glencoe(t) , Glenview(t) , Highland Park(t) , Highwood(t) , Kenilworth(t) , Lake Bluff(t) , Lake Forest(t) , Northbrook(t) , Northfield(t) , Wilmette(t) , Winnetka(t) , Skokie(t) , Kids(t) , Check this out!(t) . You can leave a response.