I visited Allerton Park with Bill on the 9th of November. It was a quick 30 minute drive from my home.
Normally, I get approx. 7-9 mpg in my car on daily drives, so longer drives on the freeway are fun. That's because the gas estimation says $X miles remaining, but often, driving on the freeway at ~20+ mpg gives me "free miles" when the range gets recalculated. So, I started the drive to Allerton with ~180 miles, and finished with ~194 miles. 🤪
Allerton Park was a fine nearby attraction. Bill and I walked some, hiked some. Took a few pictures.
We did a circular tour of the grounds, starting with the "Vine Walk" and the "House of the Golden Buddhas".
View of the Vine Walk, from the "House of the Golden Buddhas"
Fall has definitely setttled in. The House of the Golden Buddhas has a weary looking spiral staircase for an elevated view of both the Vine Walk and the gallery of Chinese "Fu Dog" statues.
Fu Dog Statues
Here is a picture of one of the statues presented. Bill told me a little bit about them. Some Googling tells me...
- The Fu Dog style is also known as Chinese Guardian Lions (referred to as "Shi" = lions).
- Stone lions are "shishi", bronze lions are "tongshi".
- History of the guardian lions dates back thousands of years to the Han Dynasty (221 BCE - 200 CE), later being co-opted by Buddhist iconography.
- They became introduced to the west on ships via merchants, mercernaries, etc. (~16th century).
One of many presented Fu Dogs
The scenery at Allerton was great. The walkable greens were relatively small/"succint". It was a nice walk.
Fall leaves
Bill had a small adventure.
Tarzan
On the way to Allerton, I took a very quick detour when passing Monticello to show Bill the train museum I showed Alex. Then, on the very next day, I attended an art show at the Savoy Recreation Center, where I spotted some art from Monticello and Allerton. With permission, I snapped some photos.
Monticello art
Since the art show featured mostly local artists, much of the visual art was from nearby areas. It was really fun seeing art from areas I had explored. I went around asking the artists if they could point out nearby spots in their art. I saw some photography from Starved Rock, Allerton Park, Homer Lake, and other nearby areas.
Fu Dog at Savoy art show
Overall, Allerton Park with Bill was fine. I don't think I'll go again.