MY BROTHERS BEFORE ME A Military Reunion & Retrospective


Day One M ORNING /A FTERNOON Start your day with a tour of Cantigny Park, the magnificent estate of the late Col. Robert R. McCormick, former publisher and editor of the Chicago Tribune. Be transported back in time to war-torn France, the Omaha beach, a German bunker and a Vietnam jungle with amazingly realistic, life-sized dioramas in the First Division Museum honoring Big Red One soldiers.


Enjoy lunch at Le Jardin in Cantigny’s Visitor Center, then head to Naper Settlement–Outdoor History Museum, where history comes to life at this 12-acre museum village with 30 historic structures, including a Victorian mansion, fort, chapel, one-room schoolhouse and working blacksmith and print shops.


Depending on the time of year, you can catch a Civil War re-enactment at one or both of these locations.


E VENING Enjoy a sumptuous banquet at your host hotel while enjoying the smooth song stylings of DuPage County’s own Ray Lozano.


Day Two M ORNING Reveille is at dawn for a motor coach ride to visit the dynamic Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where actual training goes on 24/7. Depending on the season, you may get to witness a graduation ceremony for cadets.


A FTERNOON Travel to Skokie where The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center tells the story of the Holocaust through richly designed, interactive exhibitions that will both move and inspire you.


Head into Chicago to view the Memorial Water Wall, a veterans’ memorial at Soldier Field, before stopping at The Museum of Science and Industry where you can step inside the U-505—the only German submarine in the United States and a national memorial to the 55,000 American sailors who gave their lives on the high seas in WWI and WWII.


E VENING Enjoy a stroll down Chicago’s Navy Pier, a former Navy training center that is now a hub of entertainment, activity and fun, before boarding your Entertainment Cruises dinner cruise to enjoy the sunset and the shimmering lights of Chicago’s famed skyline from the deck of one of their luxury ships.


Day Three M ORNING Tour the Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook and view the carefully restored T-2C Buckeye jet trainer aircraft and historic Nieuport 11 replica. See the ongoing restoration of a T-33 in the 6,000 square foot Hanger One. Chat with WWI Aero Builders Club members about the 3/4 scale Fokker E-III they built to fly in special museum events.


A FTERNOON You have several options this afternoon, so let us help you choose a lunch spot near one of the following activities:


• View the Civil War exhibits at either the DuPage County Historical Museum or Elmhurst Historical Museum.


• Witness Civil War encampments/re-enactments at Graue Mill or Naper Settlement.


• Enjoy a tour and wine tasting at DuPage’s own Lynfred Winery.


• Hop on the Acorn Express for a tour of The Morton Arboretum, a breath-taking 1,700 acres of gardens and forests.


E VENING Enjoy one last evening reminiscing with your former comrades-at-arms at one of the many fine dining establishments in DuPage or over a banquet dinner at your host hotel.


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