All Aboard the Botanic Garden's Wonderland Express
If you have kids who like trains, one of the coolest things you can do in Chicago this Christmas season is go to the Botanic Garden. The Wonderland Express, located at the site's Regenstein Center, is full of holiday fun and fantasy.
You'll travel through rooms and halls decorated with gingerbread houses and wreaths of candy, along with Christmas trees (of course). Then you'll come to the trains--traveling through and around evergreen displays, waterfalls and 750,000 lights over 10,000 square feet of space. The ladybug train is a perennial favorite of kids everywhere. Trains even travel high overhead, along bridges and passageways. Best of all, it snows inside, thanks to a machine that delivers softly falling bubble clusters.
Over the summer the Railroad Garden features mini versions of national landmarks, built out of natural materials like acorns and pinecones and plants and placed within the natural settings and trains. The Wonderland Express, however, is all about Chicago. You'll find an entire skyline's worth of Chi-Town places, like Buckingham Fountain, the Sears Tower and the John Hancock building. The Bean (otherwise known as the Cloud Gate sculpture) is here, along with Soldier Field, some of the stores along the Mag Mile, and even the Garden's own Shoin House.
Adjacent to the exhibit is a room where kids can participate in crafts, such as making cranberry and popcorn wreaths for birds to chew on. Naturally, there's a little snack and gift shop here too, full of trains and Christmas treats. If your child is a Thomas the Tank Engine fan, they've taken Thomas, Annie and Clarabel and set them on a track high above the Garden Cafe, so you can eat while watching Thomas circle the room.
The Wonderland Express is but a small part of the Garden; you can get through it in an hour. The cost is $10 for adults, $8 for kids between 3-12 and seniors. Tuesdays, however, are free until Dec. 18. The cost is in addition to the cost of getting into the park, which is technically free but there's a $15 per car parking fee. The Wonderland Express is open every day through January 6 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Chicago Botanic Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, about 20 miles north of the city. From Chicago, take I-94W (the Edens Expressway) and U.S. 41 to Lake Cook Road and turn east (right). Drive 1/2 mile to the entrance. On weekends the trolley is available from the Glencoe Metra stop; the trolley also runs daily during Dec. 26-Jan. 6. For additional information or to buy advance tickets, go to www.chicago-botanic.org.
