Before all of the running around on Christmas, I wanted to do something new and relaxing before the busy holiday. I thought that the perfect solution would be to go to the Wonderland Express at the Chicago Botanic Garden. From what I saw on their website, it was perfect!

Once I got there I realized that what I saw on the website was just a small part of all of the holiday activities that they had going on. My favorite part was the Wonderland Express train that ran on tracks for days. The display was huge! I couldn’t believe it! They had mountains and trees that the train ran through, and they looked so real! There were also cute little houses and villages that were in the display.

Since it gets dark out so early, we were there to see the Christmas lights that the garden put up. They were beautiful! All of the decorations were festive and really wonderful to look at.

When I was at the garden, Mrs. Claus was there and you could visit with her and have hot chocolate. Later that night, there was supper with Santa that people could go to. They even had a festive dinner and festival of lights that was put on for people who celebrated Hanukkah.

One thing that I did not do but I wish I did was the ice skating and snow shoeing that the garden had new for this year. They do not rent out the skates, but if you bring your own they have a big rink and it’s surrounded by all of the lit up trees. This is something that I definitely want to do the next time I go. The Chicago Botanic Garden Wonderland Express is running until January 3rd, so it is great for people with family in town looking for something to do.

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