Ponds, trees and hills span across the 385 acres of the Chicago Botanic Garden. This paradise, unbeknownst to many Wildcats, is just a 20-minute Metra ride from the Evanston Davis stop. Within its walls, you can many a collection of gardens including a three-island Japanese garden, a vegetable farm and an aquatic nursery in addition to waterfalls and a café.

The NBN staff took a newsroom field trip to the Botanic Garden after Dillo Day. We marveled at the Model Railroad Garden filled with mini American landmarks and adored the bonsai tree collection.

To get there, head to the Metra stop on Davis Street and ride it until you reach Braeside. Be sure to download the Metra app so you can buy a ticket when they come to check!

Once you get off, you can either take a 6-minute car ride or 30-minute walk to the Botanic Garden. Tickets at the door are $19.95 for Cook County residents, but if you know someone with a membership, they can let in up to six people for free!

To share the beauty of the garden, the staff took photos, wrote a found poem together and made a video.

A day in the botanic garden

A perfectly tedious journey,

Winding through a wooded-path:

Awaken from Winter’s slumber

And five false Springs.

Walk among trees

Of living history, shifting

the shades;

Ephemeral blooms, brief moments

Of floral bliss

And bonsai trees from the Italian Renaissance

Or perhaps the Middle Ages,

Sitting there in the sun

Three feet away.

Short-lived glory

And endless life.

Such a journey,

Through the tar of heat,

Was fitting;

Serene and breezy time

Revealed by the sunny day

Into a refuge of incandescent foliage.