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Sometimes journeys develop from gatherings. In this case, I took this photo during a “scavenger hunt” afternoon 04/27/2008 with 2 other friends:

We were scouting places for a planned gathering. We opted for this place, the Fabyan Windmill Park Forest Preserve nestled on either side of the Fox River between IL RTs 25 & 31, Batavia IL. The Fabyan Windmill sits on the east side of the park. The 68’ 5-story structure was built 1850-1860 by Louis Blackhaus, a German craftsman, & originally stood on a site in what is now Lombard IL. The windmill was purchased by George Fabyan for ~$8,000 in 1914 & moved to this location. After it fell into disrepair, the Forest Preserve District contracted Dutch Windmill Maker Lucas Verbij to restore the windmill; at the time, he was quoted as saying that this windmill “is the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States. Actually, it’s a treasure, & would be the most popular windmill in the Netherlands [of ~1,000 windmills]”. The newly-restored windmill made its public debut June 2005, almost 3 years prior to when I took this picture. You may’ve seen this windmill before; it was featured on a 15-cent stamp in 1980 & is on the National Register Of Historic Places. The windmill houses a time capsule, a bakery (though no longer in use) & Roman numeral markings made during the original construction.