Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the conservatory's south side is one of the best places in town for an informal
picnic (especially nice if you're visiting the zoo and want to avoid the congestion
at its food concession venues). Allow a half-hour.
Fullerton Ave. (at Stockton Dr.).
&
312/742-7736.
Free admission. Daily 9am-5pm. Bus: 73, 151, or 156.
9 Nature Centers
Morton Arboretum
Ages 5 & up.
Should your visit to Chicago coincide
with Arbor Day, here's the place to celebrate: More than 3,000 kinds of trees,
shrubs, and vines grow on the 1,700-acre site in west suburban Lisle. The place
has been spruced up lately (sorry for the pun), with improvements to many of
the facilities' buildings. Special areas include the Illinois Tree Trails' woodlands,
meadows, and marshes; an area with sugar maples (colorful in the fall); a crabap-
ple orchard (splendid when the trees are in full bloom); and a prairie with tall
grasses and flowers that blossom in summer and fall. The arboretum also fea-
tures trees from other countries. Most of the 13 miles of trails are covered with
wood chips, so they are not stroller-friendly. If your kids are young, it's best to
see the landscape by car along 11 miles of one-way roads or take a bus tour. One-
hour tram tours depart at noon and 1:15pm Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday
from May to October. Cost for the tram is $4 per seat, and $3 for children ages
3 to 12. Stop by the visitor center for additional information. Light meals are
available in the Ginkgo Restaurant, sandwiches and soups are served in the cof-
fee shop, and there's a picnic area near a small lake.
4100 Illinois Hwy. 53 (at Interstate 88, the East-West Tollway), Lisle.
&
630/719-2400.
www.mortonarb.org.
Admission: $5 adults, $4 seniors, $2 children 3-12, children 2 and under are free. Reduced admission fees on
Wed. Nov-Mar daily 7am-5pm; Apr-Oct daily 7am-7pm. Visitor center daily 9am-5pm; Gingko Tree restau-
rant daily 11am-3pm; coffee shop daily 9am-5pm. Free parking. Subway/El: Metra train stops at Lisle, 1
1
⁄
2
miles away; cabs available.
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
All ages.
Built on an ancient sand
dune—once the shoreline of Lake Michigan—Chicago's newest museum bills
itself as “an environmental museum for the 21st century.” Most of the exhibits
here are hands-on, making this a good stop for kids. Shaded by huge cottonwoods
and maples, the sand-colored exterior with its horizontal lines composed of inter-
locking trapezoids itself resembles a sand dune. Rooftop-level walkways give
strollers a view of birds and other urban wildlife below. Paths wind through gar-
dens planted with native Midwestern wildflowers and grasses, and trace the shore
of the newly restored North Pond. Inside, large windows throughout create a dia-
logue between the outdoor environment and the indoor exhibits designed to illu-
minate it. The 73,000-square-foot facility features plenty of exhibits on nature and
the interaction between human activities and the environment.
Throughout, the focus is on interactivity, done with imagination and intelli-
gence. Don't miss the
Butterfly Haven
, a greenhouse habitat where about 25
Midwestern species of butterflies and moths carry on their complex life cycles.
Wander through as a riot of color flutters all around you. Another top exhibit is
City Science,
a 3,000-square-foot, two-story “house” with functional rooms
where visitors can view the pipes and ducts that connect our homes with power
sources miles away.
Water Lab
is a model river system demonstrating the uses
and abuses that a waterway undergoes as it meanders from rural to urban envi-
ronments. It's probably safe to say that the
Children's Gallery
is the only place
in town where kids can clamber in and out of a model ground-squirrel town or
explore a beaver lodge from the inside.
