Suburban gem Cantigny Park is a museum like no other

Maybe it's the gardens or the golf course.

Maybe it's the museum, the programs or even the playground.

Maybe it's just the quiet.

Whatever it is, Wheaton's Cantigny Park offers visitors a chance to enjoy summer at a 500-acre facility at 1S151 Winfield Road unlike any other in the suburbs.

You can tour the mansion that once belonged to Col. Robert McCormick, former publisher of the Chicago Tribune. You can check out the history of the Big Red One in the First Division Museum. You can stroll the sprawling gardens, visit art fairs and re-enactments or attend outdoor concerts and indoor historical programs.

You can watch the gradual transformation of the grounds into an even more visitor-friendly atmosphere thanks to Project New Leaf, a re-imagining of the site that began in late 2016 and will continue into 2021.

Here is a quick peek at just some of the programs on Cantigny's slate for this weekend alone:

• Celebrate the importance of bats at 11 a.m. Friday as part of the museum's National Pollinators Week observance. Free with paid parking.

• Kids can get a close look at vehicles used by police officers, firefighters, construction workers and members of the military from 5-7 p.m. Friday on the museum's parade grounds.

• Serendipity performs pop and rock music at 6 p.m. Friday at the band shell. The concert is free with paid parking.

• Several bands will perform as part of the Riverside Folk Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the band shell. Concert tickets are $5 with a $10 parking fee. Proceeds benefit a scholarship fund for children hoping to attend Riverside's Imaginative Learning programs.

• The DuPage Symphony performs “Celebrate the Solstice” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the band shell. Free with paid parking.

• The Air National Guard Band of the Midwest performs patriotic, jazz and pop favorites at 3 p.m. Sunday at the band shell. The concert is free with paid parking.

For details on the museum and its program schedule, visit cantigny.org.