Amenity Highlight: Chicago Botanic Gardens
I had a great conversation the other day with some friends about amenities. When I hear the word “amenity,” my mind tends to go straight to hotels or luxury apartment buildings. Like probably almost everyone, I love a good amenity. Also like probably almost everyone, I usually don’t (believe that I) have access to them because I generally lean budget-friendly with my accommodations.
The conversation with my friends stood out in my mind because they were discussing amenities in the context of places, not accommodation. I just bothered to look up the word “amenities” and found that they are “a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place.” And this got me thinking about how I like to enjoy spaces I visit when I travel, and how I’ve chosen to engage in my community in the places where I’ve lived.
Perhaps I’m behind, but it just clicked for me that I chose what state, city, or even country to live in (or dream of someday living in) with a heavy consideration on amenities. How many of us have considered at one time or another quitting everything and moving to the Oregon Coast because it’s pretty? Or Southern California because it’s sunny? Or New Zealand because it has every form of scenery you can imagine PLUS there are literal penguins walking around? How many of us stopped considering those options when a favorite time of year in our current location rolled around (here’s looking at you, everyone in the Midwest who threatens to move all winter and can’t pull yourself away all summer).
While feature amenities are usually the luck of the nature draw, facility amenities can be created anywhere. They can be as simple as the local movie theater and as complex as the Louvre. They can be as private and exclusive as a city’s athletic club and as public and inclusive as your local park.
Of course, there is a larger conversation to be had around who gets amenities and why. The darker side of amenities is the impact they have on property value and how quickly they can cause low-income populations to be priced out. Additionally, private amenities tend to come with membership fees and driving requirements that limit their availability. There are some efforts to correct this, like passes being available at the local library (another amenity!), free days, and cheaper pricing for residents of the area. While in this post I’m talking about an amenity that has some availability barriers, the larger point is that it blew my mind to think about what I do where I live in terms of amenities, especially now that I live in Detroit, a city that has lost a fair amount of its amenities due to bankruptcy, disinvestment, and white flight. But even in a city that struggles with amenities, there is still so much to enjoy.
But that’s for another post- back to Chicago!
When I moved back to the Midwest after five-ish years abroad, I really struggled with missing life abroad. To help me fall back in love with the Midwest, I set out to see my region the way a tourist would, so I began to use my local amenities frequently. At the time, I was living in Chicago. The amenity that changed the game for me was the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
The Chicago Botanic Gardens are not technically in Chicago. They’re north of the city and tricky to reach by public transit (but the bike ride out there is amazing!). Because I had a car, however, I was able to get out there frequently enough to make the yearly membership fee worth my while.*
If in your budget, the Gardens are 100% worth the membership fee. First, they’re massive. Like really large. I’d tell you how many acres, but none of us know what that means, stop pretending that you understand acres. In terms of time, you can easily spent 3 hours meandering the gardens. Many of the paths are handicap accessible and there is ample seating scattered throughout. There’s a restaurant and a few bars around the gardens and YES, you can grab a drink and take it with you while you stroll.
When I visit, I usually come alone with a book. Even on the busiest days (and the weekends can get really busy) there are undisturbed corners of the garden to sit and enjoy. Aside from the planned outdoor gardens, there are also several greenhouses and a large native prairie to wander. The garden hosts events year-round, but the two most anticipated are Lightscape, in which a pathway is lined with light displays, and Night of 1,000 Jack-o-Lanterns, in which- you guessed it- 1,000 jack-o-lanterns line the walkways. Both of these events take place after dark and are hella delightful.
I could regale you with tales of evenings pleasantly flitted away on the glowey butts of a million fireflies, but instead I’ll just show you some pictures:
The Chicago Botanic Gardens membership was the first membership that I purchased. I used to be opposed to spending money on something like that because my fun money budget is pretty dedicated to dive bars and occasional sushi, but the gardens changed me. This site is the perfect place to wind down on a summer evening with a book and beer. A perfect location to bring a guest to show them around. A great spot for firefly watching. An ideal way to spend an early Saturday morning to start my weekend out on the right foot.
One way membership amenities often sweeten the deal is by including the ability to enter other amenities with your membership. The botanic gardens have a reciprocal community, and you can enter many other gardens in the US for free with your Chicago membership. My favorite bonus site is the Morten Arboretum. Also located in a Chicago suburb, this site has miles of curated trails through the woods, as well as fantastic gardens and cool art installations. Plus, it’s close to the Bolingbrook Ikea, which you needed to go to anyway! Here are some photos of how cute it is there. I mean, peep that silly troll.
I cannot believe that it took me so many years to jump on the amenity train. I hope you beat me to it. Now that I’ve got the bug, I can’t stop- the Chicago Botanic membership led me to become a member at the Chicago History Museum, the Maltese Society of Detroit, the Ford House in Grosse Pointe, and the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. I am officially team take-advantage-of-your-amenities and hope that you are or will be too.
*Not to make this a sales pitch, but in case you’re a Chicago person, here’s the deal. Costs of membership and admittance to the Botanic Gardens has changed in the last year. Admission is no longer free (adults are now $16.95), but parking costs have been reduced (from around $30 to $8). Members park for free and get in for free with a guest. Some events at the Chicago Botanic Garden require ticket purchase. Yearly memberships start at $129!