Sweet Saturdays at Garfield Park Conservatory
Sweetness really does grow on trees and you’ll learn exactly how during the annual Sweet Saturdays event at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory. Visitors get to sample facts, flavors and fun as they discover the origins of sweet treats like vanilla, ginger and chocolate. Get ready to sniff and snack for hours as you move around the conservatory’s maze of plants and flowers.
For a suggested donation of $3, Sweet Saturdays supplies visitors with a map of all the tropical treat stations, a small bag to collect them with and if you get your map stamped at all of the stations, there’s another treat waiting for you. The program runs on February 12 from 11-4PM. Activities include maple syrup and honey tasting, creating scratch n sniff necklaces with cinnamon and sand paper and chocolate sachets with cocoa bean shells. Live tropical music from Trinidad, Mexico and Brazil accompanies your adventures and a tropical cafe serves up comfort food as well. After whetting your appetite with a variety of sweet tastes, head to Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles II, at 543 Madison Street in Oak Park, for a meal with sweet undertones. The spot is extremely popular and always packed so prepare for a wait but it’s well worth it. Try The Saint, a 1/4 of dark fried chicken with 2 waffles or my favorite, The Rosemary, which is a flavorful, cheesy omelet stuffed with fried chicken with a waffle or home fries on the side.
Photo courtesy of Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
