Allerton Park - Gardens

From the mansion (now a retreat center), we walked a path to some of the gardens.

We were not there in the peak season, so the pansy gardens were not in bloom.  But it was a huge area and I can't image the beauty when they are flowering.

There were a couple of labyrinth gardens.

The path down into a sunken garden, lined with statues.

The bulb garden and annual garden had a little bit more in bloom.

Grape vines were starting to produce.

I imagine we will head back another day - maybe with cooler weather or when the blooming calendar says it's a good time of year.

Allerton Park - Statues & Estate

Allerton Park is in Monticello, IL just outside of Champaign.  Kevin grew up going to this park and wanted to show us.  It was a perfect way to have a road trip and social distance.  It was brutally hot so Camden had a hard time enjoying it, but we walked to some great statues and enjoyed beautiful gardens.

From their website: "Built as a private residence by artist and philanthropist Robert Allerton in 1900, Allerton Park and Retreat Center is a historical treasure that was donated to the University of Illinois in 1946. The property contains 1,500 acres of woodland and prairie areas, a mansion and reflecting pond, a 10-acre meadow, formal sculpture gardens, hiking trails, a cafe, and several lodging facilities."

I have been taking photos on Kevin's phone since it takes better ones, but when the setting gets put on "live" when I upload them to the blog, they are blurry.  Lesson learned.  Hopefully future pictures will be more clear.  I borrowed some photos from the park website so I can capture how beautiful it truly was.

The Fu Dogs lined a wide path near the House of the Golden Buddhas at the end of the Vine Garden.

The Evergreen Lodge was the former residence of the estate owner.  The pond was filled with turtles and fish and we enjoyed searching for creatures.

The Sun Singer statue is the first and last thing in the park that the sun touches.

The Death of the Last Centaur was also fascinating.

We couldn't find the correct trail to take us to the Gorilla and Bear statues which Kevin said always scared him as a kid.  Would love to see!

Letterboxing

The Waveland Library has done their annual summer reading program, but provided it virtually.  We've never been able to participate before, but this allowed us to do it.  They provide a bag of activities on Monday.  There are tons of activities, cool hands-on things to do, snacks, plus an encouragement to read.  Well, Camden sure enjoys getting her bag, but has done little of the activities.  We will have to get busy and get some of them going.  However, we did do one of this week's activities, called Letterboxing.

It is an old "game" but similar to modern geo-caching.  She was given instructions and a confidential clue.  There was also a stamp and ink pad which she needed, along with her journal from a previous week.

She decoded the clue and found a birdhouse at the Waveland Library with a stamp and notepad to put her stamp on.

She put the library stamp into her journal, as well as both stamps on a sheet to turn into the library for a prize (ice cream cone from local store).  We expected a clue to another spot, but none was included.  We quickly googled letterboxing and found a site that gave us some hidden locations nearby.  We headed out to find more.

Several were hidden at covered bridges that we had never visited...although many were missing.  We also located some at country cemeteries.

Kevin had to crawl into a bush and I climbed up a small, but steep, hillside to a stump and had to slide back down on my rump.  I had a good time, but Camden didn't get into it as much as I thought she would.  Perhaps it was because several were missing, perhaps it was the hot weather.

We were the first to find this Monon Bell location/stamp.

First Fruits

Getting this daily...plus lots of onions.  By the look of things, this is going to be a bumper crop.

Day Bakery Cookies

It was such a treat (no pun intended) to have Rachel and Destin at the Waveland Farmer's Market on Friday night.  We tried several of the cookies, even bought a few for GaGa and Grandpa, as well as a cookie kit.  My favorite was the Dirty Chai cookie, but I love the sugar cookies in the kit (with the best.frosting.ever).  

Rachel threw in a cookie for Kevin.  Camden counted it as her Father's Day gift.

Camden made a cookie (sometimes 2) every day since the market.  I was able to simply take a bit of one of Camden's decorated cookies and not eat a whole one, but I found myself getting a finger-full of the frosting frequently when I passed through the kitchen.  Serious...some of the best I've ever had!

Waveland Conservation Club

We went for a nice drive around a familiar loop - Waveland, covered bridge, Waveland Conservation Club, Tannenbaum Lake, and Raccoon Lake.  It was nice getting out together.  Camden especially loved getting down close to the water at the WCC and watching the fish.

Free Milk

Prairie Farms Dairy has been giving away milk to non-profits, daycares, shelters, etc. during COVID.  I found out about it and made arrangements for Waveland Strong to get some and hand out at the town shelter.  We've done it for the past 3 weeks and have added cheese (from Pace Dairy) and produce (from a produce vendor) that were also made available at the same pick-up location.

Camden has come down and "helped" each week.  Well...for a little bit, it's gotten so hot so she has made her way to the Library or GaGa's for most of the time.