BOTANIC GARDENS' WONDERLAND EXPRESS

In my previous post I mentioned our visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens' Wonderland Express, the annual holiday display of model trains meandering through replicas of the famous skyscrapers and historic landmarks of Chicagoland, all of which are made of natural materials. The craftsmanship is just amazing; the details and use of natural materials so unique. Here are some of my favorite buildings and landmarks:

As a train crosses over the Michigan Avenue Bridge, replicas of famous skyscrapers such as the Sears Tower, Tribune Tower, AON Building and John Hancock Building stand along miniature conifer trees and poinsettia plants.

Behind the replica of Chicago's Union Station sit the Chase Tower and the Wrigley Building with its clock tower.

The detailing on the building replicas is so exact: even the famous Art Institute lions, with their unusual names of "On The Prowl" and "In An Attitude of Defiance", have on their Christmas wreaths.

Both the Museum of Science and Industry...

and the Field Museum were surrounded by miniature conifer trees, poinsettias and other festively-colored plants.

The trellis criss-crossing over the Great Lawn of the Pritzker Pavillion lies in front of the curls-of-tree-bark, Frank Gehry-designed band shell. It's all surrounded by small lighted conifer trees and multiple-colored poinsettias.

It's winter, so the new Maggie Daley skating ribbon has to be featured.

It's quiet now that the Bears season is over, but the stadium looks beautiful surrounded by poinsettias and dwarf fir trees.

Not only is the Michael Jordan statue in front of the old Chicago Stadium, but a tour bus holds a replica of one of the Blackhawk's Stanley Cups.

Plants such as Blue Carpet Juniper surround the famous Water Tower.

The Chicago History Museum is surrounded with beautiful greenery and bright red poinsettias.

Chicago is the home of President Obama, and his family home looks festive surrounded with beautiful red plants 

There's even a miniature replica of the Picasso sculpture.

This video shows you how volunteers and experts assemble the tracks, trains, greenery and buildings and how it all comes together, down to the snow falling on the delight visitors, both young and old.

Wonderland Express is open annually from the Friday after Thanksgiving through the New Year's weekend.

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

All photos were taken by me. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

BOTANICAL CHRISTMAS WREATHS

We recently made a return visit to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. It seems we never fail to pleasantly discover something else in addition to the main reason for our visit. We were at the Botanic Gardens to experience the holiday tradition of the Wonderland Express, the annual display of holiday model trains traveling throughout Chicago, including famous skyscrapers and historic landmarks. All buildings are constructed of natural materials: gourds, pine cones, bark, acorns, pods, seeds, grains, grasses, and other creatively-used bits of nature. Like the summertime Model Railroad Garden, surrounding the buildings are beautiful seasonal plants and flowers.

Being the holiday season, another treat we discovered were the twenty or so handmade wreaths hanging on the gallery walls. All made by horticulturists and staff of the gardens. I thought I would share some of the most beautiful and interesting wreaths:

Just a last bit of holiday cheer...

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

All photos were taken by me. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

THE DAHLIA SHOW AT BOTANIC GARDENS

Husband and I discovered two wonderful things during the recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for my birthday: 1) since my husband is a veteran, we get in for free; and 2) the Model Railroad Garden. Husband is a model railroad fanatic so we made two subsequent visits to the gardens, most recently yesterday. I recently wrote a blog post about the Model Railroad Garden which really is amazing even if you are not a model train enthusiast. The late-summer weather was sunny and pleasantly warm so we decided to make another drive to the gardens because husband had a few questions for the garden volunteers about model trains who are always eager to answer his questions. Besides I can always stroll through the gardens.

What a pleasant surprise to discover the Central States Dahlia Society was hosting their 81st Dahlia Show with exhibitors from throughout the Midwest. Set up on long several tables, just one bloom per pot is judged. Here are just a few of the dahlias on display, from the classic ball and pompon dahlias to spiky cactus dahlias to the large dinner-plate dahlias:

I would not, nor could not, judge this flower show. The photos above show just a few of the spectacular blooms, but they were not even the winners. The photo below shows some of the winners. How could you even pick one flower over another. Every single flower was perfectly gorgeous!

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

All photos were taken by me. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 
 

FLOWERS! FLOWERS! FLOWERS!

Although model train-geek husband discovered the can't-get-enough-of Model Railroad Garden (which is pretty cool!), my main goal for our recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens was to delight in the summer flowers in bloom and take some close-up photos. I'm an avid photographer and flowers are some of my favorites subjects. I was not disappointed:

Devotion Blue Throatwort

Purple Coneflower

Flamethrower Dahlia

Prairie Sun Black-eyed Susan

Freckle Face Blackberry Lily

Agapantha

Hibiscus

Mystic Haze Dahlia

The Chicago Botanic Gardens are FREE to enter.
Visitors must pay to park, but military veterans enter FREE.
Many visitors bicycle to the gardens.
Learn more about the beautiful gardens here.

Thank you for visiting,

 A Great Europe Trip Planner 

All photos were taken by me during my visits to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in August, 2015.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.
 

THE MODEL RAILROAD GARDEN

We recently visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was my birthday, but my husband got the gift because we discovered one of the 37 speciality gardens is the Model Railroad Garden. Being the train fanatic he was like a kid in a candy store.

Set up over a 7,500 square foot area, the Model Railroad Garden showcases 18 different-sized model trains, ranging from toy-size to sophisticated G-scale (garden-scale) model trains. The trains run on 17 different railroad tracks (totally over 1,600 feet of track), over bridges and through tunnels. The train tracks are grouped in several different settings titled Landmarks of America, complete with replicas of dozens of famous buildings or landmarks. Miniature trees, shrubs and people, all intricately made from natural materials, add to the composition and sound effects to complete storybook-like settings.

The famous curves of Lombard Street (complete with a car driving down the hill), a miniature cable car and the iconic San Francisco houses showcase the Santa Fe train speeding by.

Pikes Place Market is Seattle's original farmers market established in 1907. In the photo below miniature town citizens watch as the Santa Fe passes by the market stores. Despite its name, the Santa Fe railway never actually made it to Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

The SS Natchez, the New Orleans paddle wheeler with its pine cone paddle wheel, floats on the Mississippi River as the Amtrak train flies by.

Three houses depict the French Quarter in New Orleans as the Amtrak and Rock Island trains speed behind them. The Rock Island train line was important because it initially connected Chicago with the Mississippi River.

 
An impressive Baltimore and Ohio train travels in front of the White House where Marine One is stationed. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the most important railroads in the history of the mid-Atlantic region rivaling the Pennsylvania Railroad.

A replica Lincoln Memorial has both the Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago and Northwestern trains rumbling by it. At its height, the Chicago and Northwestern railroad operated over 12,000 miles of track in seven states.

George Washington's home of Mount Vernon shows the Baltimore and Ohio train passing behind it.

Independence Hall has a miniature Liberty Bell in front of it with the Illinois Gulf Central train in the background. The Illinois Gulf Central train was called the Main Line of Mid-America with its primary route connecting Chicago to New Orleans.

The Statue of Liberty has the same Illinois Gulf Central train in the background.

 











































Mesa Verde National Park complete with the Sun Temple shows a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train steaming by. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the 20th century, acquiring over 800 other rail lines and companies.

Napa Valley has the  Napa Valley Wine Train traveling past the miniature vineyards. If you plan to visit the Napa Valley area soon, think about booking a multi-course lunch and train ride through the wine country on the vintage-restored Napa Valley Wine Train.

The famous Hollywood sign sits behind the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, Mayan-revival-architecture Charles Ennis house as the Illinois Gulf Central train speeds by. 

There are several other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed replica houses in the garden such as...

Taliesan West in Scottsdale, Arizona

Fallingwater in Bear Run, Pennsylvania

And his home and studio located in nearby Oak Park, Illinois.

Also in the Hollywood theme is Graumann's Chinese Theatre with the same Illinois Gulf Central train.

With Mount Rushmore in the background, the Pennsylvania Railroad freight train steams by the Mitchell Corn Palace.

A working Cape Cod lighthouse has a miniature iconic VW bus sitting in front of it with the Rock Island train about to cross over another twig bridge.

  











































The Baltimore and Ohio train speeds past Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home in Springfield, Illinois. This photo shows some of the meticulous planning that it took to put this garden together with the railroad tracks crossing each other and two other "twig" bridges.

Another of the "twig" bridges...

U.S. Cellular baseball field...(husband's team)

And of course, the north side baseball team's park complete with the famous rooftop apartment buildings (Go Cubbies!).

The Chicago Botanic Gardens are FREE to enter.
Visitors must pay to park, but military veterans enter FREE.
Many visitors bicycle to the gardens.
Learn more about the beautiful gardens here.

Thank you for visiting,

 A Great Europe Trip Planner 

All photos were taken by me during my visits to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in August, 2015.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.