Morton Arboretum and Bakersfield Wood-Fired Grill
What do you get when you combine Lewis and Clark with Dora and Boots? You get the two of us spending our Date Day hunting Trolls at the Morton Arboretum. If you haven’t done this yet, get out and do it! Just pick a day when it’s less than 90 degrees outside. Trolls like the heat more than we do.
In case you haven’t heard of them, the trolls are an art installation by the Arboretum’s artist in residence, Thomas Dambo. For this effort, he used wood salvaged from Arboretum construction projects to create six giant trolls that are spread all over the park. Each troll is named after a person that helped Thomas create it.
Legend has it that the trolls are there to care for the trees, but they are suspicious of humans. Your goal, as a hunter, is to find the trolls and learn about protecting the environment. If you manage to find all six trolls, you will have the clues needed to find the hideout where they live! It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon wandering around the Arboretum.
Hunting Trolls on Foot
We arrived at the Arboretum around 11am, procured a map showing the locations of the trolls (but not their hideout) and began our journey. Troll #1 was easy to find. Appropriately named Rocky Bardur, he was right by the visitor’s center and was in the process of smashing a car with a giant boulder as we caught up with him.
The next troll, Sneaky Socks Alexa, was about a quarter mile away. She was lying in the bushes, trying to trap unwary humans with a trip-wire basket. What was the bait in the basket? You’ll have to go to find out, but we found it poignant and humorous.
Our third troll was quite the hike. He’s about a mile from the visitor’s center and up a steep hill. His name is Joe the Guardian and he’s positioned high above the highway. If you’re travelling on I-88, you can see Joe keeping watch over the Arboretum between I-355 and Lincoln Ave.
After taking a quick selfie with him, we left our faithful guardian behind and set off for troll #4. Unfortunately, our map reading skills failed us and we ended up going in the wrong direction. Like Moses in the desert, we wandered in the oppressive heat looking for the promised land. After 40 minutes, we found it. Unfortunately, the “it” was the Visitor’s center and not the elusive fourth troll. At this point, we had been in the heat for what felt like forever but was only an hour and a half. Since we were back where we started, we decided to hunt the rest of the trolls on our trusty stallion (car).
Hunting Trolls by Car
It turns out hunting trolls in an air-conditioned vehicle is not a bad way to go. Fortified with the in-stallion navigation system, our map reading skills were greatly improved and we made our way to Furry Emma, Troll #4. Emma seemed to be a bit of a bitch, as she was busy trapping an innocent little girl when we arrived. Luckily for the little girl, Dora (Theresa) took the time to free her before we had to press on.
Trolls #5 and #6 are located on the opposite side of the Arboretum from Emma. That made us even happier to have our four wheeled friend as the temperature was up to 94degrees.
After a short drive, we parked and had to take another walk to find troll #5. It was only about a quarter mile before we came across Niels Bragger, so we weren’t quite melting yet. They say Niels never learned to speak softly, but he is a firm believer in carrying a big stick. His club must have been 10-feet long.
We ran away from Neils and soon found our final troll. Little Arturs, or Lazy Arturs as we called him, was spending the afternoon lounging in the grass. He was 50-feet long from head to toe, and so lazy that he didn’t even care when kids started climbing all over him. He must have a relative high up in the troll union.
At Last the Hideout
After patting ourselves on the back for finding all six trolls, we realized that we still had to find their hideout. Cleverly integrating the clues we stole from each troll, we zeroed in on the location. We finally found it, and what a hideout it was! Trolls are big, and so are troll houses, tools and cooking utensils. The hideout is a whimsical fortress in the woods that any kid, and many adults, would love to call home.
Our hunting finished, it was time for some well-earned nourishment. As we left the Arboretum, we talked about how impressed we were with the detail and intricacy of the trolls. We also talked about how we didn’t really see the rest of the Arboretum and how we need to go back soon.
Bakersfield Wood-Fired Grill
For lunch, we decided to try Bakersfield Wood-Fired Grill in Westmont. The restaurant is a little fancier than what we usually do for lunch, but we were hungry, and it was close. We dragged our sweaty selves inside, ordered the usual wine and beer and perused the menu.
Bakersfield is known for cooking on a hickory and oak wood-fired grill and we were looking forward to seeing how that influenced the flavor of our meal. We started with the Tuna Poke, which is not cooked on the grill but none the less is excellent. The high-quality tuna came with seaweed salad, avocado, cucumber, carrots, and pea shoots, tossed in a sesame ginger sauce.
For entrees, Theresa had the Four Farmers salad, while Tom opted for the Grilled Lulu Chicken. The salad, which featured mixed greens, goat cheese, avocado, candied hazelnuts, cornbread croutons, and dates with a creamy champagne dressing, was excellent. The chicken, on the other hand, was bland. Neither the teriyaki sauce nor the wood-fired grill added much flavor, and the quinoa, corn and edamame beneath the chicken was mushy as best. With so many restaurants in the area, we won’t likely be back.
July 2018
Morton Arboretum
4100 Lincoln Ave, Lisle, IL
$15 Per Adult
3 Hours
Free Parking
Bakersfield
330 E Ogden Ave, Westmont, IL 60559
1 Hour
$55 (Including drinks)
Free Parking
