If you’re ever going through a stressful time, a walk around the Chicago Botanic Garden might be in order. I was overwhelmed and emotional recently, and I finally asked for help. My mother-in-law drove to Chicago to spend a week with us helping in any way she could. And boy did she help. She worked on our yard. She took the girls to the park so I could get work done or shower. She helped feed and take care of both of them. She helped Graham empty and clean our old apartment so he could turn over the keys. And most importantly she was there for us as emotional support. On one of her last days here we decided to thank her with a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. She is a garden and nature lover (It runs in the Flora family!), so we knew she would be in heaven.
It happened to be the most perfect summer day for a family walk. I had only ever visited the garden during the fall and I enjoyed seeing it in a different yet just as colorful season. Lately I have been gathering ideas from all sorts of sources on how to update my front and back yards as well as my home. The Chicago Botanic Garden is the perfect place to get that inspiration.
I felt right at home in the cactus greenhouse, one of several greenhouses at the garden. V, who is herself an Arizona girl like me, was right at home, too.
I fit right in walking around another greenhouse with my palm print shorts.
We had lunch at the cafe in between exploring Chicago Botanic Garden. I gobbled up a garden burger in 10 seconds flat. It was delicious!
We let the garden paths led us around to our next discovery. V wanted to carry around our map, which we didn’t really use. After walking around for what seemed like miles, we made a pit stop in the gift shop, where my sweet mother-in-law bought us a pineapple plant to add to our collection. She really is an angel.
I think after this visit the garden became my favorite place in the Chicago area. Honestly, I could share about a hundred more photos of this place, but you should really just experience it for yourself. And lucky for me we liver closer to it now that we bought our home.
Chicago Botanic Garden has free admission but parking is $20 or more. It’s definitely worth it!
Have you been to the Chicago Botanic Garden?
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