Fabyan Forest Preserve’s giant windmill puts the farm back in wind farm, its massive, hand hewn 150-year old maple gears still capable of grinding grain for bread or feeding pet bears. It was built in present day Lombard mid-19th century; Colonel George Fabyan bought and moved the windmill to his Riverbank estate in 1914. The windmill has been open for tours since a major renovation in 2005. Wow, we love Wikipedia!

Our favorite part: the entire dome turns like R2D2’s head to face the sails into the wind. Shut up, Obi Wan—this is definitely the windmill you’re looking for!

The windmill looms across the Fox River from the rest of the fabulous Fabyan estate that includes the historic Fabyan house remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright, open for public tours, and a beautifully landscaped Japanese garden. Just south of Geneva, the Fabyan estate is only a few miles from Saturday night’s campsite in St. Charles, so you can relax and soak it in and still make dinner on time. Giant windmill!

Tomorrow we’ll share our #1 awesome reason to ride GITy Up!. Check in tomorrow to get the final darn compelling reason to click that big red button below.