An Easter Adventure

Hoppy Easter, Somebunny loves you!

It was another beautiful Spring day and because we didn’t have any real plans we decided to go for an impromptu adventure.  We’ve been to Allerton Park before, but it had been awhile and I was hoping to see some flowers in the gardens.  If you’re interested in history, this page has some background on the park.

We struck out on flowers, but there was quite a bit to gaze upon in the formal gardens.

It appears that they grow many of their own flowers on site in a greenhouse.

The coniferous hedge maze provides some greenery year round.

This life sized nude statue is a prime spot to people watch (and listen).

The sunken garden at the end is an extremely popular wedding venue.  Maybe it was a good thing that we visited before wedding season starts.

In addition to the formal gardens there is something like 14 miles of trails.  You should always take a trail map with you when you go hiking so you don’t get lost!  If there aren’t any paper maps available, I take a picture with my phone so I at least have something to refer to out in the ‘wilderness’.

There wasn’t much wildlife visible on the trail and the numbers of people dropped off drastically.  The river was slow flowing and the trail was quite smooth.

Anyone who hikes with little ones knows that the most important part of any hike is SNACK time!

and with really little ones, snack time is usually immediately followed by potty time.

We were at about the half way mark of our hike, so it was a good time to switch over to a different mode of travel.

We were coming up to another mini garden / statue but there seemed to be a problem.  The map didn’t mention any stairs!

Well, it isn’t called an adventure for just any old reason.

With the stairs conquered, we were rewarded with the statue “The Death of the Last Centaur”.

The walk back to the parking area was easy going.  It was nice to find some shade and a nice breeze outside of the mansion.  Allerton Park is considered one of the seven wonders of Illinois and is well worth a detour to see.

 

Frugal Boy properly woke up once he was back in the car for the ride home.  He slept through almost the entire outing.  I guess that just means we’ll have to come back another day!