The first part of the summer this year had a bit of a plan….and the next part was to spend some time just south of Chicago with some friends for July 4th celebrations. (250th anniversary after all…!!)
With a few days here to hit some high spots……there was a singular lack of any ‘must see’ events for the big anniversary, so we took this opportunity to visit the Chicago Botanical Gardens.
It’s quite the place, all 385 acres of it……
Expecting a hot day, and with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon, we set out early…both to make the most of the cooler part of the day…and to…..hopefully….avoid being drenched in a thundershower……
When entering the gardens…the first part of the landscape you meet is the lake……beautiful….a popular spot for wedding pictures….!!!
We were headed to the cactus house first…..but to get there we passed through the bonsai garden….always a fascinating place…..
The Chicago collection was no exception…..I particularly liked the plum tree……with both blossom and fruit on it……amazing…..
….but the cactus house was no disappointment either……
Trying to follow the map…our next stop was the Japanese garden……as I crossed the bridge there was an enormous turtle feeding on ‘something’…(no idea what…but it looked like it was munching on some floating weeds)
The Japanese garden is a loop trail around an island…..a lovely stroll…..
Once you have looped around this section…the bridge off now had us at the other end of the Botanics…we were not quite sure where we were on the map…but we could see these shimmering globes on the water….so we headed that way.
There are three sections to this art installation that is the Shimmering Summer event for the season…….if you look closely at the globes…you can see my blogtographer has been up to his tricks……there’s me in the reflections…LOL
They were really pretty on the water……the big ones on land were emitting music as well….!!!
We were just too early for the blossoming of the corpse flower…..according to the information boards it was due to open the following week ( I was not disappointed….!!!)
The Chicago Botanics are beautifully laid out with one section segueing neatly into the next. Gorgeous landscaping and pristine management.
As the thunder started to roar around us, it was time to hit the road and head back to the trailer. We made it to about 20 minutes from home when the heavens opened and we drove the last bit in torrential rain with vague visibility. As we drove…I was watching google maps as roads in the area were closing with flooding…..!!!
Our next venture out with our hosts could not have been a more stark contrast to the serene beauty of the Chicago Botanics.
After a lovely breakfast out we visited a local tavern….Edwin’s Place. Formerly the Miami Gardens.
An unassuming little establishment in Peotone Illinois…..run by a lovely lady, Janice, and named for her late husband with whom she bought the place.
This prohibition era establishment was the former bar and brothel built in 1929 and run by the infamous Chicago character, Al Capone. Janice has maintained the bar and the back party room in its original condition…and if you ask her nicely she will take you back there to see the room where all the notorious gangsters partied and gambled.
The history of the place is fascinating…..the walls in the entryway are lined with memorobilia and newspaper articles.
There are photographs of the patrons themselves…!!!
The photo below of the last supper was recreated for The Godfather movie.
And Janice has maintained the floors and ceilings in there original ornate splendour…..
She even has the actual money laundering till that they used to count bills, the first unit made by NCR….and there used to be a basement large enough for up to 20 cars. If you read the newspaper article regarding John Dillinger and his escape from the posse chasing him, Capone hid him in Miami Gardens and gave him a different car to escape the law.
If you visit this place and meet Janice….be sure to ask if she will show you the special tiles in the shower…..!!!
Extra Pix
OsteoPraxis on the road 
thanks for a lovely stroll through beautiful gardens….I do truly love Japanese landscaping. Another very interesting find in Edwin’s Place…anything Capone is always Hollywood…ish.
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