Our trip to visit family in Illinois resulted in the most adventures we had all summer! In addition to our stop in South Bend, IN on our way out and our visit to Lake Katherine in Palos Heights, IL, we also visited Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL. I had read a post in one of my Facebook groups about a special exhibit at Cantigny Park called Alebrijes: Creatures of a Dream World that was running from June to October 2022. The word “alebrije,” pronounced ah-leh-bree-heh, refers to imaginary creatures that possess elements from different animals. There were over 40 sculptures installed at Cantigny Park that were created by six artists from Mexico City. These sculptures are wire shapes covered in papier-mâché, and then lacquer-coated to protect them. In addition to this exhibit, the park also had gorgeous gardens to explore, picnic areas, a playground, a tank exhibit, gift shop, and a museum called the First Division Museum. The grounds are extensive so definitely wear comfortable shoes to explore!
We decided to visit the park on a Thursday morning for several reasons. First, that was the only day of the week that my husband’s cousin and her three kids could join us. Second, the only fee required is a parking fee, and that fee is $5 for cars on weekdays. On weekends, the fee is $10 per car. Lastly, we hoped on a weekday morning that the park wouldn’t be as busy. Cantigny Park is located 1S 151 Winfield Road, Wheaton, IL 60189. There are many signs that lead you from the highway to the main entrance. Once we paid the parking fee at the admission booth, we went left toward the northern parking lot. There is another lot to the right, the southern lot, but we chose the one we did to put us closer to the picnic grounds and playground for when we finished the garden area.
Immediately after parking in front of the Visitor Center, the girls spotted two of the alebrijes, and ran to check them out. Then Rainbow spotted a third one above our heads in the trees. These were a few of the smaller sculptures, but very impressive! The colors were so bright, and all three girls kept chiming in with what animals they thought made up the sculptures. After our cousin and her family arrived, we all moved into the Visitor Center. There are bathrooms, gift shop, and restaurant here, as well as information on the exhibit and on the park itself. The kids were all fascinated with the diorama in the main gallery. It is basically a giant floor map built at 1/25 scale to reflect the entire Cantigny estate. The map is covered by thick glass that one can walk over to take in a birds-eye view of Cantigny. Initially, Pebble was afraid to walk on the glass, but her sisters and cousins had no problem walking across it and even crawling across it trying to take in every detail!
At the information desk in the main gallery, I obtained several maps of the grounds that showed where the different alebrijes were located. There was a scavenger hunt that one could do via QR codes and a cell phone, but none of the kids seemed interested in that. They were just happy to run amuck and see which ones they could find. We started in the formal gardens and wound our way over to the Tank Park, which was awesome because the majority of the tanks could be climbed on! Pebble loved climbing up as high as she could, and Stormy inched her way out along the long gun arm at the front of the tank. Rainbow, like Pebble, needed a boost to get up on the tank, but she had a blast scrambling like a monkey over the top of the machines. The kids climbed on tanks from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf, etc.!
When the adults tired of helping the kids climb up and down the tanks, we gently moved the kids back to hunting for the alebrijes. We discovered a giant one called Octavio, which rose 15 feet from its grassy nest complete with eight long tentacles that erupted from under the ground as if they’d dug under the pathways. At this point, I realized I should have brought a pen or pencil with me to mark off which sculptures we are seen, especially when one of my husband’s cousin’s kids decided he wanted to see every single alebrijes! When we got home later that day, I checked the map against pictures I had taken, and discovered we only missed 7 sculptures, not bad!
At the back of the park, past Octavio the Octopus, we found a neat garden called the Idea Garden. There were a few small alebrijes sprinkled in this area, but what captured the interest of the kids was a small stream that they were allowed to play in! Shoes came off, and all six kids proceeded to get fairly wet, which felt wonderful on this humid day. It was also a good spot to take a water break, grab a snack, and lather on the sunscreen.
After the kids played a while, we returned to our scavenger hunt, and spent the rest of the morning exploring. By lunchtime, the kids were beyond hot and hungry, so we used the bathrooms in the Visitor Center one last time, checked out the gift shop and diorama, then loaded the kids into the cars for the short drive to the other end of the lot where the picnic area was. The Red Oaks Farm Playground was also here, and the kids were happy to play on the equipment while the adults got lunch together.
The playground was a bit busy with kids from the park’s day camp, but it was still fun to explore. Pebble loved the rope bridge, and she and Rainbow shared one of the swings. Stormy discovered where the monkey bars were hidden, and had fun swinging from rung to rung. All in all, despite the humidity, it was a wonderful morning out, and, as a special bonus, our girls got to play with their cousins who they don’t see that often. I was amazed at everything the park had to offer, and how little it cost to enter. Just the Tank Park and the other playground would have been enough, but adding in the sculpture hunt, the gardens, the Visitor Center, and the museum, which we didn’t have time to visit, makes Cantigny Park a special place to visit. If any of my readers are ever in the area, please check out this wonderful park! Happy trails!
