Pictures from a Garden

The rain held off yesterday, so Eugene and I decided to spend our "date day" at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The last time we went there was in June, and that was with Alex, so naturally we spent more time in the Railroad Garden exhibit than anywhere else. It was nice to be able to tour the rest of the garden. Here are a few pictures we took (we both used my camera):

Midweek Vacation

I'm using one of my many remaining vacation days today for a Date Day with my husband. (He only works a half day on Wednesdays, so it's easier for him to take that day off.) Our original plans to tour a vineyard fell through, and there's a chance of storms this afternoon, so we will probably go bowling. The important thing is to spend some time together.

Here's a blast from the past to inspire you to take your own holiday:

Ten-Word Tuesday: Peter Gabriel and the New Blood Orchestra

Wonderful, powerful music, but why am I up so early?

Date Day: Adler Planetarium

On Wednesday, my husband and I took some time off work, dropped our son off at daycare, and visited the Adler Planetarium. Neither of us have been there in ages, so I thought that would be better than some of the other museums we've seen umpteen zillion times. We saw one of the shows (featuring what could be seen in the Chicago sky this time of year), lots of old telescopes and astrolabes, and items related to the Apollo missions. Afterwards, we went outside to take some photos:

(Sorry, I'm not sure how to fix the text wrap, so I can't put captions right by the photos.) The first photo is of the projector used for the show we saw. Believe it or not, it's not computerized. The next photo is of a sculpture outside the planetarium. That's Eugene, my husband, in the red shirt taking a picture.

The Shedd Aquarium.

Above is a statue of Copernicus. These flowers are next to a walkway outside the planetarium.

Date Day: Cantigny

My online time was a bit limited last week, so I have several days' worth of posts to do. Guess I'd better make them short and sweet.

I'll start with last Wednesday, which was a Date Day for Eugene and me. Earlier this year, we decided that since we're not going anywhere on vacation this year, we should take some day off each month, drop Alex off at daycare, and spend the day together. Well, work has been so busy for me I didn't take a vacation day since late April, even though I needed some time off. I finally took Wednesday off so I could recharge.

The last time we had a Date Day, we knew in advance what we wanted to do. This time, however, we knew we wanted to do a wine tasting at Lynfred Winery, but we couldn't figure out what else to do. After looking at some of the local forest preserves, we decided instead to visit Cantigny, the home of Robert McCormick, late editor of the Chicago Tribune. The estate includes several gardens, a military museum, and the house (which is also a museum).

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the gardens. I really wanted to just sit by a body of water and stare at it for a while until I absorbed some tranquility. Although they did have a reflecting pool and some nice ponds, they were all surrounded by tall grass and other plants so you couldn't contemplate the water. How disappointing! Still, they had a gazebo and some other shaded areas that did make nice places to sit. Of course, the gardens were smaller than those at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the plants weren't identified. I guess I'm too used to the Chicago Botanic Garden.

They had an array of tanks from various wars on the ground, but we skipped the military museum. (Eugene will probably return there on his own sometime.) We did take a tour of the house, which was pretty interesting. The decor was mostly from the 30s and 40s, with Asian and European influences brought in by McCormicks' two wives. They actually had a dishwasher and a specialized ice cube maker (not a regular freezer) in the kitchen, items I didn't think existed in that era. Among other interesting items were a 70-fo0t rice paper mural in the dining room (it had been custom-cut to act as wallpaper), a concealed bar in the library (which had 22' high walls) for entertaining, and a bookcase filled with signed first editions of books by, among others, Winston Churchill and Charles Lindbergh.

After lunch at the restaurant, we drove to Lynfred for our wine tasting. Eugene had won a free tasting for two in a weekly contest. We tasted about seven wines, ranging from white to red. There was also a pear wine; Lynfred has a great selection of fruit wines, and we're joining their fruit wine club when it starts next month. By the time we made our way home, we only had about an hour to relax before it was time to get Alex.

Here are a few photos from Cantigny:



















































I hope I won't have to wait another three and a half months for the next Date Day!