The Domes

Though it’s officially the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory (524 S. Layton Blvd., 414/649-9800, www.countyparks.com [1], 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, $6.50 adults), everybody knows this complex as “the Domes.” You’ll know why once you take a gander at the conical seven-story, 148-foot-tall glass-encased buildings.

The capacious interiors, totaling about 15,000 square feet, are isolated into arid desert, traditional floral, and tropical rainforest biospheres. One is re-landscaped up to half a dozen times annually. Outside, the conservatory, ringed with more sunken gardens, is the only structure of its type in the world.