TROPICAL PARADISE

THE ILLINOIS CONNECTION.

Allerton Gardens--sound familiar? Think Central Illinois--Champaign area.(Monticello, to be exact.)  Yep, that Allerton, the one who founded The Farms apparently understood that the Midwest was, well, let us say, a bit compromised when it came to weather. (I realize most people reading this may well be from places other than the State of Corruption, Graft, Corn, Tollways and Lincoln. So, you'll need to look it up. And for those of my friends, family and others who have a soft spot for Illinois, you can look it up too, because you probably graduated from the usual sub-standard, barely ever open, soon to be on strike modern school system. (He said, as old geezer who couldn't pass a third grade math exam.) In my day, the single requirement to graduate from the 8th grade was, you remember, that Illinois History exam. Sister Mary Gloria prepared us well at Holy Cross Grade School in Mendota.)
Anyway, the point was supposed to be that yesterday we discovered the Allerton Gardens here in Kauai. Well, actually the Allerton/McBryde gardens--National Tropical Botanical Garden. "Spectacularly beautiful" does not describe it well enough. So here are a few pictures. And after the pictures a bit of history they did NOT mention, but being more inclined to the National Enquirer than the Wall Street Journal these days I thought I might share.

So, here's the real deal. NOT in the guidebooks, but far more interesting.
Seems Robert Henry Allerton was a bit more 'modern' than the late 19th and early 20th century he inhabited. As our last stop on the worldwide odyssey will be the Canary Islands where cross-dressing transvestites claim ownership, you might appreciate that I am not judgmental, just factual--I want the facts, and only the facts. (I'm still waiting on Tom Cruise to admit it--- come on Tom, the world is waiting?)
Well, young Robert was off in Paris and Rome spending his fathers money in the late 1800's--his dad was the founder of First National Bank of Chicago, among other things--where he took an interest in art. Sculpture, actually, and like all good robber barons he bought/stole/borrowed many of the great art pieces he could find and returned them to your favorite art museum--The Art Institute of Chicago. (Generosity knows no bounds--he was the named the honorary president and if you have a chance to visit you'll notice that the building is the "Allerton Building"-- hint--they don't do that just because you're a really a neat guy.... just sayin.)
All that's kinda nerdy but the good stuff comes in the early twenties when our Mr. Bob Hank Allerton meets a Mr. John Gregg. Yeh, a young handsome architect (ok "aspiring" architect, to be exact). Depression hits in '29 and John needs a place to stay, and well you can guess the rest of the story. Jack and Bob go off to Hawaii, buy-up half of Kauai, create the most magnificent gardens.
But it does not end there. You see even in the home of our beloved 44th President, the Islanders were not yet enlightened enough to provide for same-sex marriage.  So, Bob Hank Allerton did the next best thing, he adopted Jack so that they might attend those galas back in Chicago as father and son. Yep, they really did.
Now, please, don't Duck Dynasty me here. I'm certain Bob and Jack were great people and always the life of the party. I only share these facts so that you have "The Rest of Story." Hmmm, I wonder if Paul Harvey had a place here?