We spent a few hours in Rockford this morning. I had forgotten just how boring that city is. Either that, or I’m visiting the wrong places. Our first stop was Klehm Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Just as we remembered it from last year’s visit, it was cheap ($2 admission) and deserted. We had the entire place to ourselves, which is nothing like the Chicago Botanic Gardens, but that’s probably because Klehm is one fourth the size and they don’t have any paths for biking. We probably spent no more than an hour walking around before we got bored and left.
Our next stop was Severson Dells Nature Center. Unfortunately, the nature center building itself was closed. Apparently they don’t open until 1 pm on Saturdays, although I didn’t see that helpful information anywhere on their site. When we first were walking around the building, a female deer darted across an open area. It was so quick at first I didn’t even register what I had seen. Joe wasn’t looking in the same direction, and by the time we got to the spot where she had run, she was long gone. So that was rather uneventful.
By that time we were ready to head back home, but decided to stop at a restaurant native to the Rockford area, Beef-A-Roo. Let me just say for the record that their beef is awful (stick to Arby’s), but the black bean salad and french fries are quite yummy.
We were home before 1 pm, so at least that didn’t take up the entire day.