Batavia, IL and Fabyan Forest Preserve, Windmill, Villa and Japanese Garden - MyShadowProductions #174

 Hello everyone, from a rainy Saturday in Aurora :)

Two Saturdays ago, it was Memorial Day weekend and it wasn’t raining, so I went north a little bit to Batavia, IL and the neighboring Fabyan Forest Preserve, both along the now famous (at least in my blogs :) Fox River.

Batavia, like it’s “Sister City” Geneva (Post #171), kind of has a unique, quiet personality and the Fox River runs through it :)

The sign in the photo below gave some interesting geological info on the area:

ROCKIN' THE RIVERBANK

Geology of the Fox River Basin

About 14,000 years ago, during the retreat of the last glaciers, the newly exposed drainage way that became the Fox River was formed.

Over thousands of years, water scoured the rock surface down, exposing the bedrock and creating a gradually sloped stream bank.

These limestone outcroppings along the Fox River date back to the Silurian Period, about

430 million years ago. By comparison, dinosaurs lived only 65 to 200 million years ago!

These rocks were formed by calcium-rich deposits in the shallow inland sea that settled to the bottom in thick layers. Over millions of years, the weight of all the layers compressed into rock. Plants and animals that once lived here were buried in the mud and became fossilized. As the layers hardened, magnesium from the salty sea seeped into tiny spaces in the rock, bonding with the calcium and creating the rock called dolomite.

I hope you are taking notes, this WILL be on the Final Exam.

I wasn’t aware until I visited but about 6 years ago Batavia had a “Bulldogs Unleashed” community art exhibit, similar to Chicago’s “Cows on Parade”. Most of the painted bulldogs were auctioned off but there are a few remaining, standing guard around the town.

Click here for a Video created from my photos walking around Batavia with the Fox River.

How many painted bulldogs did you see?

The Batavia Riverwalk kind of ends on the west side of the river and connects with the Fox River Regional Bike Trail that heads north along the West Bank of the river to the Fabyan Forest Preserve. The trail is for walking also but could definitely be a few feet wider for a more relaxed walk :)

The Trail offers views of the Fox River, houses in the forest, and eventually the Fabyan Villa (redesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1907), Fabyan Windmill, Fabyan Japanese Garden and the Forest Preserve.

CLICK HERE for a Video created from my photos walking from Batavia to the Fabyan Forest Preserve, Windmill and Villa.

After I was alerted “You have to go this way!” by the “boss on site”, I was able to visit the Japanese Garden and This Video takes you through the one acre garden (the right way:) and the walk back to Batavia, a few more sites and time to “catch the bus”.

Have a Great Week !!