Cantigny Park
How is it that we’ve never been to Cantigny (rhymes with beanie)? We’re aware of the park since our kids have been there on field trips, but we had no idea how much we were going to enjoy our Date Day there. If you haven’t been to Cantigny, you are missing out.
Cantigny is a 500-acre park / golf course, in Wheaton IL, that was the estate of Robert McCormick, the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. It gets its name from a small village in France where McCormick, then a Colonel in the U.S. Army’s First Division, commanded an artillery battalion. The 1918 Battel of Cantigny was
When McCormick died in 1955, his will designated Cantigny as a public space for education and recreation. If you visit Cantigny today, you can tour McCormick’s house, stroll through its immaculate gardens and experience one of the best military museums in the country. In addition, there tons of special events at the park all year long.
McCormick House
We got an early start for a change and arrived at Cantigny around 9:30am. Our first stop was the McCormick house, built in 1896, where we took the 30-minute free tour. The tour starts in the Gold Room. This was McCormick’s screening room, where he hosted parties with the rich and famous and previewed new Hollywood movies. The room was named for the real gold leaf on the ceiling. While the gold leaf has long been replaced by gold paint, the room still has the art deco feel of the 20’s and 30’s. Today, the room has several displays that chronicle the life and philanthropy of Robert McCormick. Most interesting to us was an original copy of the Dewey Beats Truman paper from 1948. While everyone knows of the famous headline gaff, not many people are aware of a second mistake on the front page. In the far-right column, there are 4 or 5 lines of typeface that are upside down.
The basic tour of the house includes its original foyer, McCormick’s formal dining room and his opulent drawing room. Longer tours also include the upstairs. No pictures are allowed, but we did see one lady (not Theresa) trying to sneak a couple of shots. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided us an almost reverent history of the McCormick family. Upon leaving the house, we stopped by the Exedra to pay our respects at the Grave of Robert McCormick and his first wife, Amy.
Cantigny Gardens
After touring the house, we set off on an exploration of the various gardens located on the property. Since it was early in the season, many of the gardens were not in full bloom. The formal gardens were still being planted, the rose garden looked a little wilted and the pond garden was closed. The idea garden, however, was growing like crazy with its variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs, all designed to inspire amateur gardeners. Likewise, Reflection Point, a reconstructed prairie, was in full bloom with the native grasses and plants that once covered much of Illinois. We spent a pleasant hour or so walking around, but would probably take much longer when everything is in bloom.
First Division Museum
We’re not big military history buffs but decided to visit Cantigny’s First Division Museum since we were there and still had an hour or so before lunch. Wow! The museum turned out to be the highlight of our day.
The museum, redesigned in 2017, is dedicated to the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One”. This is the division in which Robert McCormick served during the Battle of Cantigny. The museum is separated into two main galleries. The “First in War” gallery traces the heroics of the division from its inception in 1917 through its battles in Vietnam. Most striking are the thousands of poppies bearing the names of soldiers fallen in battle and the recreation of the division’s landing onto Omaha beach – where museum goers get an almost realistic recreation of events that day. The gallery is stunning in detail and contains thousands of pictures, artifacts and memories.
The second gallery, “Duty First”, focuses on the types of missions performed by the division today. From Kuwait to Iraq and beyond. The highly interactive gallery shows how the division combines cutting edge technology and communications with advanced uniforms and equipment to protect people around the world. If you didn’t know of, and appreciate, the First Division before visiting the museum, you definitely will after.
Outside the museum is the Tank Park, where adults can appreciate (and kids can climb on) tanks and other military equipment from many different eras. The tanks even sit on rubber matting for the inevitable falls.
Thoroughly impressed with our entire experience, we left Cantigny and headed for lunch. Craving a little French after learning how to pronounce Cantigny, we opted for Mon Ami Gabi in Oakbrook. There we had a wonderful lunch of salad, mussels and escargot, all washed down with the usual wine (Theresa) and beer (Tom).
We will definitely be back to both places.
May 2018
Cantigny
1 S 151 Winnfield Road, Wheaton, IL 60819
Free Admission
3 – 4 Hours
$5 Parking
Mon Ami Gabi
Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, IL
1 Hour
$60 (Including drinks)
