Florida 500: Ryan Howington and Sir Francis Drake Head to Cantigny Park!

Hello all! Sir Francis Drake here, with an exciting story to tell! Ryan and I first met in Mrs. Stearns class, and I must say, he is a very nice young man! He was kind enough to take me on a road trip back to his hometown. It was a very long and tiring car ride, but he kept the windows cracked for me. On Sunday, we took a trip to Cantigny Park, in Winfield Illinois to visit the Robert McCormick Museum. It was a little rainy outside, but that didn't stop our adventure!

When first arriving to the park, I was astounded to see that there were several tanks from WWI and WWII displayed around the park. It was scary at first, but Ryan assured me everything was alright. We stopped by many of the tanks to read a little about them and Ryan even let me climb on some. Ryan and I also stumbled upon this one tank that had a picture on it that kind of looked like me!

After visiting the tanks, Ryan and I decided to go into the museum. We learned about a gentlemen named Robert R. McCormick. Robert McCormick was a journalist and World War I Soldier. Mr. McCormick also was an editor and publisher for the Chicago Tribune Company, which is still around today! During his time served in the war, Mr. McCormick felt the effects of poisonous gas and influenza which forced him into hospitalization. Mr. McCormick was later promoted and worked with his military division for the rest of his life. Prior to Mr. McCormick's death, he created the Robert R. McCormick foundation which designated Cantigny as a public park. The Museum also had some other things that were very interesting to Ryan and I, such as a 9/11 memorial which actually contained beams recovered from ground zero.

I had a lot of fun with Ryan on this trip, and learned a lot of fascinating things throughout our journey. I can't wait to tell my friends when I get back to Mrs. Stearns class!

Distance Traveled: 349 Miles

Latitude 41.51

Longitude 88.09