Bring a picnic, blanket, friends and family to one or all three of the Cabernet Cabaret Outdoor Concerts. Just beyond the southwest corner of Naperville and close to great restaurants with carry-out service and wine shops, Arranmore offers the most unique outdoor music venue in the Midwest.

Blackberry Farm is a living history museum where pioneer life is re-created through educational demonstrations and hands-on fun. Admission to Blackberry Farm includes unlimited rides on the train, hay wagon, pedal tractors, paddle boats, carousel and ponies.

The park features an adventure playground, discovery barn, pioneer cabin, wagner house, pottery shop, blacksmith shop, weaver's cabin, one-room schoolhouse, huntoon house, early streets museum, carriage house, picnic areas, and summer kitchen concessions.

The McCormick Foundation invites you to explore the natural beauty, rich history and exciting experiences of Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Once the home of Chicago Tribune publisher and editor Colonel Robert R. McCormick, this unique 500-acre park truly has something for everyone.

Stroll through Cantigny Gardens, a horticultural masterpiece showcasing trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that thrive in Midwest growing conditions. The variety, color and creative presentations will delight all of your senses.

Learn about the Cantigny estate and the remarkable legacy of its benefactor with a visit to the Robert R. McCormick Museum. Then tour the renowned First Division Museum, where the proud history of the Army's "Big Red One" comes to life.

Cantigny also is home to one of the finest public golf courses in Chicagoland. Facilities include 27 scenic holes, plus the Cantigny Golf Academy and Cantigny Youth Links, a 9-hole course just for kids. Special events, concerts, workshops and other opportunities for recreation and learning are offered at Cantigny throughout the year. Find out more at Cantigny.org.

Chicago Premium Outlets, an outdoor center located 10 minutes from Naperville, has over 140 stores such as Armani Outlet, Coach Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Under Armour, Michael Kors, and more. With amenities such as a skating pond, fireplaces, art installations, a play area, and water features, Chicago Premium Outlets is more than a shopping center, but truly a destination for shoppers and tourists visiting the Chicago area. Conveniently located off I-88 at the Farnsworth Avenue North exit, it is easily accessible for local shoppers and tourists coming from downtown or O'Hare and Midway International Airports.

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Cosley Zoo is a nationally accredited five-acre zoo in northwest Wheaton home to over 150 animals representing 60-plus native Illinois species, including bobcats, foxes, goats, sheep, and other backyard travelers and barnyard favorites. Known for being family friendly since its opening as the Cosley Children's Park and Museum in 1974, the zoo offers duck and chicken feedings (seasonal), Eco-Exploration Backpack Tours, Discovery Stations, Bobcats Backstage, camps, conservation education, Coyote Cafe Concession Stand (seasonal), Wild Side Gift Shop, and more.

The zoo also undertakes conservation efforts, like the Blanding's Turtle Head Start Program, which has so far released over 2,000 juveniles of this endangered species into DuPage County habitats. And the zoo's chapter of FrogWatch USA allows volunteers to learn about wetlands and help amphibians by reporting the calls of local frogs and toads during the breeding season.

All kids are admitted free, so visit Cosley Zoo: where a lifetime of inspiration begins.

The DuPage County Historical Museum is housed in what was formerly known as the Adams Memorial Library. The building was erected in 1891 by John Quincy Adams as a gift to the community of Wheaton in memory of his late wife, Marilla Phipps Adams. Designed by Charles Sumner Frost in the Richardsonion Romanesque style, the building was added to the National Register in 1981. In the 1960s the DuPage County Historical Society recognized the availability of the building as a new and more spacious library was being erected. In 1967 the building opened as the DuPage County Historical Museum. The DuPage County Historical Museum currently exists as a facility of Wheaton Park District.

The DuPage County Historical Museum is operated as a facility of Wheaton Park District and is owned by the County of DuPage. Its principal purposes are to educate the general public through the collection, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of materials which document the history of DuPage County and its relationship to Illinois and the nation, and to provide local history services for historical organizations and for scholarly endeavors. The collections represent artifacts collected by the DuPage County Historical Society since 1929 as well as artifacts collected by the Museum since its founding in 1965.

The Museum offers school and scout programs for all ages, tours of current exhibits, research services, architectural walking tours, private rental space, children's programming, family craft workshops, adult programming, and academic presentations. Three galleries host temporary, changing exhibits on varying schedules throughout the year. Two permanent exhibits discuss DuPage history and the importance of the railways in the county's development which includes a 50 year old HO gauge model railroad based on the county. The DuPage County Historical Museum Foundation offers memberships, fundraising events including annual golf outing and casino night, and sponsorship opportunities. Admission is free and open daily.

Frederick Graue was born in Germany, came to the United States and settled in Fullersburg, Illinois, in 1842. In 1849, he purchased the site of a sawmill that had burned down, constructing a gristmill there. Limestone for the basement walls was quarried near Lemont; bricks for the rest of the walls were made from clay from the Graue farm and fired in kilns near the mill site; flooring, beams, and posts were from white oak timbers cut along the I & M canal. The four one-ton buhrstones used for grinding were imported from France. After the gristmill opened in April 1852, it ground wheat, corn and other grains produced by local farmers.

The mill was a major center of economic life during the 19th century and was also used by Fred Graue to hide runaway slaves on their journey to freedom in Canada. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly visited Graue Mill during a trip from Chicago to Springfield. Frederick Graue and his third son, F.W. ("William") Graue, operated the mill for 70 years until modern milling methods rendered the old mill obsolete and the building was abandoned.

The building was eventually added to the properties of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. In 1934, it was decided to restore the mill to the period of 1852-1868, the time the waterwheel was in operation. The restoration was completed in 1943 but was not maintained. In 1950, the mill property was leased to the DuPage Graue Mill Corporation, an organization formed by local residents, who repaired the waterwheel and gear system and opened the museum.

Graue Mill was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in May 1975. And in 1981 was recognized as an Illinois Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers -- the only gristmill so designated on a national or local level, representative of an important technology and era in the history of America.

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The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized outdoor tree museum and tree research center located in Lisle, Illinois. As the champion of trees, the Arboretum is committed to scientifically-informed action, both locally and globally, and encouraging the planting and conservation of trees for a greener, healthier, more beautiful world. On 1,700 acres are 222,000 plant specimens representing 4,500 different kinds of plants, along with specialty gardens, educational exhibits, the award-winning Children's Garden, 16 miles of hiking trails and the Visitor Center, featuring The Arboretum Store and the Ginkgo Restaurant and Cafe.