Howdy RGO, I will be heading to Chicago April 21 and 22 for business, and
just wanted to know if there were any "must see" places nearby, other than
Oak Hill Gardens.... I look forward to your responses.

David Russell Holmes wrote:

Howdy RGO, I will be heading to Chicago April 21 and 22 for business, and
just wanted to know if there were any "must see" places nearby, other than
Oak Hill Gardens.... I look forward to your responses.


Well, if you think Oak Hill is 'nearby', you might be a little
disappointed... It is about 45 minutes outside of town, on a good day.
Not nearly as far from O'Hare. Well worth the effort. When I lived in
Chicago (longer and longer ago), I liked to frequent EFG and
Hausermanns. They are right next to each other in Villa Park (or
Addison, depending on who draws the map). Actually there was a wall
between them, and you had to drive around the block... EFG is not what
it used to be (at least in the Villa Park location) but Hausermanns is
still something to see. Might as well go to both.


My usual tour (when I get time, which isn't often) is to start at
Klehms (Hampshire, IL - the farthest out), and hit Windsong (a few miles
away), then drive to Oak Hill (Dundee). From Oak Hill, I go to
EFG/Hausermanns. If I were feeling particularly adventurous, I would
hit Natts Orchids (Naperville) too. That is a whole lot of orchids in
one day, and it is best to make a weekend of it, but it can be done.


I'd advise calling any and/or all of the places you want to visit.
Klehms is largely wholesale now, I think, and may not be open to the
walk in trade anymore. I'm not even sure Windsong is still open, I
haven't heard or seen Buzz in a long time. Oak Hill and Hausermanns
keep reasonable hours, but if you are going to drive that far, best to
be sure. It wouldn't hurt to get directions, too. I used to know the
area pretty well, but even I get a little lost now days with all the new
suburban sprawl.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

David Russell Holmes wrote:

Howdy RGO, I will be heading to Chicago April 21 and 22 for business, and
just wanted to know if there were any "must see" places nearby, other than
Oak Hill Gardens.... I look forward to your responses.


Oak Hill is certainly worth the trip, though as Rob says it's out there!

Personally, I'd just hit there, Hausermann's (skip EFG, nothing there
anymore), and definitely Natt's. That's a bit of driving as Natt's is
pretty far south, but well worth the drive. And I thkn they're all open
regular business hours - not in the evenings. It always pays to call
first (you never know - Natt could be on vacation or something!).

You can download a map of area growers from Oak Hill's website:

http://www.oakhillgardens.com/htm/events.htm

It takes from 8AM to 6PM for me to hit them all every Sept with a 15-min
stop for a fast-food lunch. But if you just hit the three, it shouldn't
take you more than half a day.

Although......the first time I did Hausermann's I spent 3 hours in the
paphs and wasn't quite done with them when I had to be on my way........

Thanks so much for the help, I appreciate both of your suggestions, sounds
like this will be a very fun business trip... and hopefully Ill come back
with more than a few souveneirs.

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:35:05 -0600, "David Russell Holmes"
wrote:

Thanks so much for the help, I appreciate both of your suggestions, sounds
like this will be a very fun business trip... and hopefully Ill come back
with more than a few souveneirs.

If your going to do the circle start out at the farthest from
your base and work your way back. Leave Hausermanns for last and
take the back road from Oak Hill to Natts. Take Route 47 to
Route 30 to 111th St. and the traffic is 1/3 what it is over on
the main drag. Not to mention some of the drive is still
country. Come back up Route 59 to Hwy 64 (North Ave.) and you
are in and out of Hausermanns. I hate to say it. But if you
have to cut one EFG or Klehm's is the one to skip.
Klehm's is a midwest supplier for HD and the last time I shopped
it looked it. But I don't do Phals. So I was not one of his
regular customers anyway.
We do it in a day and still have time for Geno's Pizza. But we
are not looking at every plant or every nook and carnie.
Pre-shop the selections of each gh on the web. Even if it only
gives you the idea of what you want to look for at each stop.

Best of all - Have fun. It is a great collection of gh.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:35:05 -0600, "David Russell Holmes"
wrote:

Thanks so much for the help, I appreciate both of your suggestions, sounds
like this will be a very fun business trip... and hopefully Ill come back
with more than a few souveneirs.

If your going to do the circle start out at the farthest from
your base and work your way back. Leave Hausermanns for last and
take the back road from Oak Hill to Natts. Take Route 47 to
Route 30 to 111th St. and the traffic is 1/3 what it is over on
the main drag. Not to mention some of the drive is still
country. Come back up Route 59 to Hwy 64 (North Ave.) and you
are in and out of Hausermanns. I hate to say it. But if you
have to cut one EFG or Klehm's is the one to skip.
Klehm's is a midwest supplier for HD and the last time I shopped
it looked it. But I don't do Phals. So I was not one of his
regular customers anyway.
We do it in a day and still have time for Geno's Pizza. But we
are not looking at every plant or every nook and carnie.
Pre-shop the selections of each gh on the web. Even if it only
gives you the idea of what you want to look for at each stop.

Best of all - Have fun. It is a great collection of gh.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:35:05 -0600, "David Russell Holmes"
wrote:

Thanks so much for the help, I appreciate both of your suggestions, sounds
like this will be a very fun business trip... and hopefully Ill come back
with more than a few souveneirs.

If your going to do the circle start out at the farthest from
your base and work your way back. Leave Hausermanns for last and
take the back road from Oak Hill to Natts. Take Route 47 to
Route 30 to 111th St. and the traffic is 1/3 what it is over on
the main drag. Not to mention some of the drive is still
country. Come back up Route 59 to Hwy 64 (North Ave.) and you
are in and out of Hausermanns. I hate to say it. But if you
have to cut one EFG or Klehm's is the one to skip.
Klehm's is a midwest supplier for HD and the last time I shopped
it looked it. But I don't do Phals. So I was not one of his
regular customers anyway.
We do it in a day and still have time for Geno's Pizza. But we
are not looking at every plant or every nook and carnie.
Pre-shop the selections of each gh on the web. Even if it only
gives you the idea of what you want to look for at each stop.

Best of all - Have fun. It is a great collection of gh.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php