| Parks & Places • Beverly / Morgan Park |
Overvew
Beverly Hills, best known simply as Beverly, is the stronghold of Chicago’s heralded “South Side Irish” community. An authentic medieval castle, baronial mansions, rolling hills, and plenty of pubs compose Chicago’s Emerald Isle.
Once populated by Illinois and Potawatomi Indian tribes, Beverly became home to clans of Irish-American families after the Great Chicago Fire. Famous residents include Andrew Greeley, Brian Piccolo, George Wendt, the Schwinn Bicycle family, and decades of loyal Chicago civil servants. Proud and protective of their turf, these close-knit South Siders call Beverly and its sister community, Morgan Park, “the Ridge.” The integrated neighborhood occupies the highest ground in Chicago, 30 to 60 feet above the rest of the city atop Blue Island Ridge. Although the Ridge is just 15 miles from the Loop, most North Siders only trek there for the South Side Irish Parade (www.southsideirishparade.org), which attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year around St. Patrick’s Day.
And there is more to Beverly than green beer and craic. The Ridge Historic District is one of the country’s largest urban areas on the National Register of Historic Places. Beverly and Morgan Park encompass four landmark districts including the Ridge Historic District, three Chicago Landmark Districts, and over 30 Prairie-style structures.
Architecture
Within approximately a nine-mile radius, from 87th Street to 115th Street and Prospect Avenue to Hoyne Avenue, one can view a vast collection of homes and public buildings representing American architectural styles developed between 1844 and World War II. The 109th block of Prospect Avenue, every inch of Longwood Drive, and the Victorian train stations at 91st Street, 95th Street, 99th Street, 107th Street, 111th Street, and 115th Street are all great Chicago landmarks. Walter Burley Griffin Place on W 104th Street has Chicago’s largest concentration of Prairie School houses built between 1909 and 1913 by Griffin, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and designer of the city of Canberra in Australia.
Beverly Area Planning Association (www.bapa.org) provides a good architectural map, plus events and shopping information for the district. History buffs and researchers should get in contact with the Ridge Historical Society (www.ridgehistoricalsociety.org), which hosts talks and events from time to time.
Culture & Events
The Beverly Arts Center is the epicenter of Ridge culture. The $8 million facility provides visual and performance art classes for all ages as well as events and festivals (2407 W 111th St, 773-445-3838; www.beverlyartcenter.org). Historic Ridge homes open their doors to the public in the fall for the annual Home Tour, Chicago’s oldest such tour. Sites are chosen for their diverse architectural styles and historical significance. The Home Tour is organized by the Beverly Area Planning Association (www.bapa.org), and guided trolley tours are also offered for an additional fee.
Where to Eat
• Rainbow Cone, 9233 S Western Ave
773-238-7075
Ice cream. People line up day and night in the summer.
• Top Notch Beefburger, 2116 W 95th St
773-445-7218
Burgers really are top notch at this ‘50s-style grill.
Where to Drink
• Lanigan’s Irish Pub, 3119 W 111th St
773-233-4004
Live celtic music from time-to-time.
• Mrs. O’Leary’s Dubliner, 10910 S Western Ave
773-238-0784
Affectionately known as the Dubliner, this is one of the many Irish pubs lining Western Avenue.
Where to Shop
• Bev Art Brewer and Winemaker Supply
10033 S Western Ave
773-233-7579
Everything you need to brew and bottle it yourself.
• Calabria Imports, 1905 W 103rd St
773-396-5800
Imported Italian gourmet foodstuffs.
• Optimo Hat Co, 10215 S Western Ave
773-238-2999
Custom made men’s hats.
| Parks & Places • Brookfield Zoo |
General Information
Address: 31st St & First Ave, Brookfield, IL 60513
Phone: 708-688-8000
Website: www.brookfieldzoo.org or @brookfield_zoo
Hours: Open daily from 10 am-5 pm (6 pm weekends)
Admission: $16.95 adults, $11.95 children 3-11, seniors over 65, free for children 2 and under.
Overview
While Lincoln Park Zoo is free, Brookfield offers a far more comprehensive wild animal experience with a strong emphasis on conservation education. 216 acres of creepy critters make for a memorable day trip. We’ll skip the analogy with the Joliet Riverboat Casino.
Hamill Family Play Zoo
This interactive play area is dedicated solely to kids (just what a zoo needs: more kids). Children get to interact in a variety of ways, including donning costumes to play “zoo keeper” or “ring-tailed lemur,” creating and frolicking in their own simulated habitats, planting seeds in the greenhouse, or spotting creepy insects in the outdoor bug path. Think a grownup would look silly dressed like a lemur? We want to play! Admission $2.50.
Regenstein Wolf Woods
The zoo’s impressive wolf exhibit allows visitors to follow the progress of a small pack of endangered male wolves as they do the wolfy things wolves do—when they’re not sleeping, of course. One-way glass allows spectators to get up close and personal with the wolves without freaking them out. So far, the mirrors have been 100% unsuccessful in detecting any wolf shoplifting.
Other Exhibits
Of course the zoo is full of exhibits, some more fascinating than others. Among them are the seasonal butterfly exhibit and the dragonfly marsh. Here are some other worthwhile sights:
• Habitat Africa: This is broken up into two sections: The Rainforest, with its zebras and African millipedes (heebie-jeebies), and The Savannah, with our favorite, the giraffes.
• Tropic World: Visit Kamba, the gorilla born in front of a captivated, slightly disgusted crowd of zoo visitors (mother Koola now knows how Marie Antoinette felt when she shared the delivery of her offspring with the French peasantry) and Bakari, who was born to mother Binto.
• Stingray Bay: 50 cownose rays swim in a 16,000-gallon saltwater tank, ready for slimy cuddles! Get up close and personal with the creatures as they glide underneath your fingertips. Admission is $4 for adults, $2.50 for seniors 65 and over and children 3 to 11.
• Feathers and Scales: Birds and Reptiles: We’re pretty sure there are bats in there, but we’ve blocked the traumatic memory from our unstable minds. Enter at your own risk.
• Big Cats: Visit lions, tigers, and snow leopards as they prance, purr, and prowl. Part of The Fragile Kingdom exhibit, the Big Cats are impressive and beautiful in their natural habitat.
• Great Bear Wilderness: The Great Bear Wildness features two iconic North American animals: Polar bears and Grizzly Bears.
How to Get There
By Car: From the Eisenhower or Stevens Expressway, exit at First Avenue. From there, signs will direct you the short distance to the zoo. Lot parking is $10.
By Train: From downtown Chicago, take the Burlington Northern Metra line to Zoo Stop/Hollywood Station.
By Bus: Pace buses 304 and 331 stop right at the zoo’s gates.
If you’re coming in from out of town, consider staying at one of the zoo’s hotel partners, which offer Brookfield Zoo packages including one admission to the zoo and three admissions to special shows and extras. Details and booking information can be found on Brookfield Zoo’s website.
| Parks & Places • Chicago Botanic Garden |
General Information
Address: 1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL 60022
Phone: 847-835-5440
Website: www.chicagobotanic.org or @chicagobotanic
Hours: Open 365 days, hours vary seasonally based on daylight
Admission: Free
Overview
Occupying 385 acres, the serene and lovely Chicago Botanic Garden has been the backdrop for many a chi-chi wedding since they opened the gates in 1972. The Botanic Garden is comprised of 26 gardens and four natural area. Among them are a specialized Japanese garden, a rose garden, a bulb garden, a greenhouse full of tropical vegetation, a waterfall garden, and several beds solely dedicated to indigenous plants and flowers. Constructed around nine islands with six miles of lake shoreline, the Botanic Garden is one of a select group of public gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums.
The Garden hosts changing exhibits and events, including its popular Model Railroad Garden, which features American landmarks made from plant material. Both the Ikebana Society and Macy’s sponsor flower shows throughout the year; check the events schedule online to see what’s going on before visiting. The Chicago Botanic Garden also offers lifestyle/wellness classes, including yoga and tai chi. Availability and times vary; check the website or call for more information.
The Botanic Garden serves food at the Garden View Café, which offers breakfast and café fare with a focus on local and sustainable, plus barista-helmed coffee. The Garden Grille serves up burgers and other grillables in season. Also in season, enjoy a beverage overlooking the roses at the Rose Terrace Café. Picnicking is allowed in the Picnic Glen, by Parking Lot 2.
How to Get There
By Car: Take I-90/94 W (The Kennedy) to I-94 (The Edens) and US 41. Exit on Lake Cook Road, then go a half-mile east to the garden. Parking costs $25 per car and $10 for seniors on Tuesdays.
By Train: Take the Union Pacific North Line to Braeside Metra station in Highland Park. Walk west about one mile along Lake Cook Road (aka County Line Road). If you ride the train to the Glencoe station, you can take a trolley directly to the garden. Round-trip tickets cost $2, free for children five and under.
By Bus: The Pace bus 213 connects at Davis Street in Evanston, and the Park Avenue Glencoe and Central Street Highland Park Metra stops. Buses don’t run on Sundays and holidays.
By Bicycle: The Chicago Bikeway System winds through the forest preserves all the way up to the garden. Join it near the Billy Caldwell Golf Club at 6200 N Caldwell. A bicycle map is available on the Botanic Garden website.
Ravinia Festival
Address: 200 Ravinia Park Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035
Phone: 847-266-5100
Website: www.ravinia.org or @RaviniaFestival
Overview
The Ravinia Festival, the nation’s oldest outdoor concert venue, has been hosting classical music concerts since 1904. The summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia’s crowded summer schedule also features pop, rock, and jazz, as well as top names from opera and world music.
The Pavilion—Those who are serious about the music experience pay a premium for one of the 3,200 seats in this covered, open-air pavilion, affording them a view of the stage and better acoustics.
The Lawn—Although you can’t see the stage, great outdoor acoustics bring the concert to you on the lawn, where blanket rights for CSO residency concerts come cheap—typically $10 a pop. Just add picnic.
The Martin Theatre—The only remaining building original to the Festival, the 1904 Martin Theatre now hosts Martinis at the Martin, a cabaret series celebrating the Great American Songbook.
Eating at Ravinia
Ravinia is well known for lawn picnickers who compete to outdo each other with elaborate spreads, including roll-up tables, table linens, candelabras, champagne, and caviar. For those less ambitious, Ravinia offers picnic fare via its Picnic Box option, ice cream and other sweet treats at Carousel Ice Cream Shop, or you can make reservations to eat in at their fine-dining restaurant, Mirabelle. Ravinia Market offers eclectic food, from grilled skewers to brick-oven pizzas. The Park View and Mirabelle restaurants offer full-service dining options before the show. Wine, beer, and soft drinks are also available at concession stands throughout the park.
How to Get There
By Car: I-94 and I-294 have marked exits for Ravinia. Skip traffic back-ups on Lake Cook Road by exiting at Deerfield, Central, or Clavey Roads, and following directions to Park and Ride lots, which offer free parking and shuttle buses to Ravinia. The West Lot, Ravinia’s closest parking spot, costs $10 for classical concerts and $20 for pop & jazz shows; parking fills up early for the most popular concerts.
By Train: During festival season, Metra offers the “Ravinia Special” along the Union Pacific North Line. For $7 round-trip, the train departs the Ogilvie Transportation Center at Madison and Canal and arrives at Ravinia’s west gate in 40 minutes including stops at Clybourn, Ravenswood, Rogers Park, and Evanston. Trains depart for the city 15 minutes after the concert’s end.
| Parks & Places • Chicago Cultural Center |
General Information
NFT Maps: 5, 6
Address: 78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602
Website: www.chicagoculturalcenter.org or @ChiCulturCenter
Hours: Mon–Thurs 9 am–7 pm, Fri 9 am–6 pm, Sat 9 am–6 pm, Sun 10 am–6 pm
Overview
The Chicago Cultural Center is the Loop’s public arts center. Free—that’s right, we said FREE—concerts, theatrical performances, films, lectures, and exhibits are offered daily. Admission to the Cultural Center and its art galleries are all free, too, as is its WiFi, in case you’re in a bind.
The building itself, constructed in 1897, is a neoclassical landmark featuring intricate glass and marble mosaics on its walls and grand stairways. Once the city’s central public library, the Cultural Center boasts the world’s largest Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall. Free (there’s that lovely word again) 45-minute architectural tours are held on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 1:15 pm. Tours meet at the Randolph Street lobby and are limited to the first 20 people. The building is also home to one of the city’s popular Visitor Information Centers, which provide custom itineraries for tourists, multilingual maps, and concierge services. You can also find “InstaGreeters” from the Chicago Greeter Program, who will give on-the-spot walking tours. The Greeters also offer free two- to four-hour walking tours with chatty and knowledgeable guides around one of any number of neighborhoods throughout the city; book in advance via www.chicagogreeter.com.
Performances
The Chicago Cultural Center offers a number of daytime concerts around the year for all ages in various genres in its Preston Bradley Hall.
Art Galleries
A permanent exhibit in the Landmark Gallery, “Stand Up for Landmarks! Protests, Posters & Pictures” is a stunning black-and-white photographic survey of Chicago architecture. Five additional galleries regularly rotate exhibits, showcasing work in many media by renowned and local artists. Tours of current exhibits are ongoing.
How to Get There
By Car: Travel down Michigan Avenue to Randolph Street. From Lake Shore Drive, exit at Randolph Street.
By Train: From the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, travel east to Michigan Avenue on CTA buses 20, 56, 60, and 157. From Union Station, take CTA buses 151 and 157. From the Randolph Street station below Millennium Park, walk west across Michigan Avenue.
By L: Take the Green, Brown, Orange, Purple, or Pink Line to the Randolph stop. Walk east one block.
By Bus: CTA buses 3, 145, 147, 151 stop on Michigan Avenue in front of the Cultural Center.
| Harold Washington Library Center |
General Information
NFT Map: 5
Address: 400 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: 312-747-4300
Website: www.chipublib.org or @chipublib
Hours: Mon–Thurs 9 am–9 pm, Fri–Sat 9 am–5 pm, Sun 1 pm–5 pm
Overview
The massive Harold Washington Library Center is named for Harold Washington (1925–1987), Chicago’s first African American mayor, who served from 1983 until he died in office (literally in office—he was in meeting about school issues at the time) in 1987. Said to be the world’s largest public library, the 756,640-square-foot neoclassical architectural monstrosity has over 70 miles of shelves storing more than 9 million books, microforms, serials, and government documents. Notable works of sculpture, painting, and mosaics liven up the building’s ample wall space and open areas.
Harold Washington’s popular library, containing current general titles and bestsellers, is easy to find on the ground floor. The library’s audio-visual collection (including an impressive collection of books on tape as well as videos, DVDs, and popular music CDs) is also housed here. The second floor is home to the children’s library, and the general reference library begins on the third floor where the circulation desks are located. Among the notable features of the library is the eighth floor Music Information Center housing sheet music and printed scores, 150,000 recordings, the Chicago Blues Archives, eight individual piano practice rooms, and a chamber music rehearsal room. The ninth floor Winter Garden, with its olive trees and soaring 100-foot high ceilings is a popular site for special events. If you have your sights set on getting hitched here, leave your priest or rabbi at home—the library’s status as a civic building precludes religious services on its premises.
Frequent free public programs are held in the lower level’s 385-seat auditorium, video theater, exhibit hall, and meeting rooms; check the online Events page for more details.
Research Services
To check the availability or location of an item, search the library’s Online Catalog on www.chipublib.org. The Chat With a Librarian feature is available Mon–Fri 9 am–12 noon, or try emailing (response within two days). For faster answers to common research questions, check out the website’s selection of free online resources.
Computer Services
The Chicago Public Library’s High Speed Wireless Internet System provides free access; all you need is a wireless enabled laptop computer, tablet PC, or PDA. The Library’s network is open to all visitors free of charge and without filters. No special encryption settings, user names, or passwords are required.
The library’s computers with Internet access and word processing, desktop publishing, graphic presentation, and spreadsheet applications are located on the third floor in the Computer Commons. Computer use is free and available on a first-come-first-served basis. You can reserve computers online and for up to two one-hour sessions per day. For downloads, bring your own flash drive or purchase one at the library for a fee. Laser printing is also provided for 15 cents a page.
Thomas Hughes Children’s Library
The 18,000-square-foot Thomas Hughes Children’s Library on the second floor serves children through eighth grade. A British citizen and member of Parliament, Thomas Hughes was so taken by news of the tragic Chicago Fire that he started a book collection for Chicago. His collection resulted in the 8,000 titles that composed the first Chicago Public Library. In addition to more than 120,000 children’s books representing 40 foreign languages, there is a reference collection on children’s literature for adults. Computers with Internet connections are also available. Children’s programs are hosted weekly.
Special Collections
The library’s Special Collections & Preservation Division’s highlights include: Harold Washington Collection, Civil War & American History Research Collection, Chicago Authors & Publishing Collection, Chicago Blues Archives, Chicago Theater Collection, World’s Columbian Exposition Collection, and Neighborhood History Research Collection. The collections’ reading room is closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.
How to Get There
By Car: The library is at the intersection of State Street and Congress Parkway in South Loop. Take I-290 E into the Loop.
By L: The Brown, Purple, Orange, and Pink Lines stop at the Library Station. Exit the Red Line and O’Hare Airport Blue Line at Van Buren Station; walk one block south. Change from the Harlem/Lake Street Green Line to the northbound Orange Line at Roosevelt Road station; get off at Library Station.
By Bus: CTA buses that stop on State Street in front of the library are the 2, 6, 10, 29, 36, 62, 151, 145, 146, and 147.
| Parks & Places • Evanston |
Overview
Bordering the city to the north and surrounded by beautiful lakeshore scenery and affluent suburbs, Evanston may seem a world away. Truth be told, this town is only 12 miles from Chicago’s bustling Loop. Spacious Victorian and Prairie Style homes with mini-vans and Mercedes parked on tree-lined streets overlook Lake Michigan and surround the quaint college town’s downtown. Unlike other development-minded and sub-divided suburbs, Evanston still maintains a Chicago-esque feel and remains one of its most attractive bordering municipalities. Of course, Evanston residents still walk with their noses in the air and even charge their city neighbors to visit their beaches. We wonder what their tax base would look like without the city. Once home to Potawatami Indians, Evanston was actually founded after the establishment of the town’s most well-known landmark, Northwestern University. Plans for the school began in 1851, and after the university opened for business four years later, its founder John Evans (along with a bunch of other Methodist dudes) proposed the establishment of the city, and so the town was incorporated as the village of Evanston in 1863. Today, residents are as devoted to cultural and intellectual pursuits as the morally minded patriarchs were to enforcing prohibition. The sophisticated, racially diverse suburb of roughly 75,000 packs a lot of business and entertainment into nearly eight square miles. Superb museums, many national historic landmarks, parks, artistic events, eclectic shops, and theaters make up for any subpar seasons by Northwestern University’s Wildcats in the competitive Big Ten conference.
Culture
Evanston has several museums and some interesting festivals that merit a visit. Besides Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art (www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu), the impressive Mitchell Museum of the American Indian (www.mitchellmuseum.org) showcases life of the Midwest’s Native Americans. The 1865 home of Frances E. Willard, founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and a women’s suffrage leader, is located at 1730 Chicago Avenue (www.franceswillardhouse.org). Tours of the historic home are offered on the afternoons of every first and third Sunday of each month. Admission costs $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
Festivals & Events
• April: Evanston goes Baroque during Bach Week, 847-293-6686, www.bachweek.org.
• June: Fountain Square Arts Festival and free Starlight Concerts hosted in many of the city’s parks through August
• July: Ethnic Arts Festival
Nature
Evanston is blessed with five public beaches open June through Labor Day. Non-residents should remember their wallets to pay for beach passes. For hours, fees, and boating information, contact the City of Evanston’s Recreation Division (www.cityofevanston.org). The town’s most popular parks encircle its beaches: Grosse Point Lighthouse Park, Centennial Park, Burnham Shores Park, Dawes Park, and South Boulevard Beach Park. All are connected by a bike path and fitness trail. On clear days, Chicago’s skyline is visible from Northwestern’s campus. West of downtown, McCormick, Twiggs, and Herbert Parks flank the North Shore Channel. Bicycle trails thread along the shore from Green Bay Road south to Main Street. North of Green Bay Road is Canal Shores Golf Course, a short 18-hole, par 60 public links at 1031 Central Street (www.canalshores.org) and the Evanston Ecology Center and Ladd Arboretum, located at 2024 McCormick Boulevard (www.evanstonenvironment.org).
How to Get There
By Car: Lake Shore Drive to Sheridan Road is the most direct and scenic route from Chicago to Evanston. Drive north on LSD, which ends at Hollywood; then drive west to Sheridan and continue north. Near downtown, Sheridan becomes Burnham Place briefly, then Forest Avenue. Go north on Forest, which turns into Sheridan again by lakefront Centennial Park.
Parking: Watch how and where you park. The rules and regulations are strict and fiercely enforced. Remember…Evanston police do not have much to do.
By Train: Metra’s Union Pacific North Line departing from the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center in West Loop stops at the downtown Davis Street CTA Center station, 25 minutes from the Loop. This station is the town transportation hub, where Metra and L trains and buses interconnect.
By L: The CTA Purple Line Express L train travels direct to and from the Loop during rush hours. Other hours, ride the Howard-Dan Ryan Red Line to Howard Street, and transfer to the Purple Line for free.
By Bus: From Chicago’s Howard Street Station, CTA and Pace Suburban buses serve Evanston.
Landmarks
• Evanston Historical Society • 225 Greenwood St
• Light Opera Works • 516 4th Street; Wilmette
• Northwestern University •
516 4th Street; Wilmette
Nightlife
• Prairie Moon • 1502 Sherman Ave
• The Stained Glass Wine Bar • 1735 Benson Ave
• Tommy Nevin’s Pub • 1450 Sherman Ave
Restaurants
• Blind Faith Café • 525 Dempster St
• Buffalo Joe’s • 812 Clark St
• Clarke’s • 720 Clark St
• Dave’s Italian Kitchen • 1635 Chicago Ave
• Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop • 825 Church St
• Dozika • 601 Dempster St
• Hecky’s Barbeque • 1902 Green Bay Rd
• Joy Yee’s Noodles • 521 Davis St
• Kafein Café • 1621 Chicago Ave
• Kansaku • 1514 Sherman Ave
• Mt. Everest • 630 Church St
• Noodles & Company • 930 Church St
• Olive Mountain • 610 Davis St
• Pete Miller’s Original Steakhouse •
1557 Sherman Ave
• Tapas Barcelona • 1615 Chicago Ave
• Trattoria Demi • 1571 Sherman Ave
• Unicorn Café • 1723 Sherman Ave
Shopping
• Art + Science Salon • 811 Church St
• Asinamali • 1722 Sherman Ave
• Campus Gear • 1717 Sherman Ave
• Coucou • 1716 Sherman Ave
• Jan’s Antiques • 2002 W Dempster St
• Uncle Dan’s Great Outdoor Store •
901 W Church St
• Williams Shoes • 710 Church St
| Parks & Places • Garfield Park |
Overview
Since 1908 the historic West Side has been home to an equally historic botanical gem—Garfield Park Conservatory. The mid 1990s saw major restoration efforts, along with the creation of The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, an organization that has raised money for various programs involving the Conservatory. The rest of the vast 185-acre park boasts fishing lagoons, a swimming pool, an ice rink, baseball diamonds, and basketball and tennis courts. Garfield Park’s landmark Gold Dome Building houses a gymnasium, fitness center, boxing center, grand ballroom, and various meeting rooms.
Garfield and its sister parks—Humboldt Park (1400 N Sacramento Ave, 312-742-7549) and Douglas Park (1401 S Sacramento Dr, 773-762-2842)—constitute a grand system of sprawling green spaces linked by broad boulevards designed in 1869 by William Le Baron Jenney (better known as the “father of the skyscraper”). However, Jenney’s plan didn’t bear fruit until almost 40 years later (after the uprooting of corrupt park officials), when Danish immigrant and former park laborer Jens Jensen became chief landscape architect. In 1908, Jensen completed the parks and consolidated their three small conservatories under the 1.8-acre Garfield Park Conservatory’s curvaceous glass dome meant to evoke a “great Midwestern haystack.”
Garfield Park Conservatory
Address: 300 N Central Park Ave, Chicago, IL 60624
Phone: 312-746-5100
Website: www.garfield-conservatory.org or @gpconservatory
Hours: 9 am–5 pm daily, Wed until 8 pm
Admission: FREE
One of the nation’s largest conservatories, Garfield Park has six thematic plant houses with 1,000 species and more than 10,000 individual plants from around the world. Plants Alive!, a 5,000-square-foot children’s garden, has touchable plants, a soil pool for digging, a Jurassic Park-sized bumble bee, and a two-story, twisting flower stem that doubles as a slide. School groups often book the garden for field trips, so check first to determine public access hours. Annual Conservatory events include the Spring Flower Show, Azalea/Camellia Show, Chocolate Festival, Summer Tropical Show, Chrysanthemum (Chicago’s city flower) Show, and Holiday Garden Show. Visit online for program scheduling. There is a farmers market at the park on Sundays 11 am–4 pm from June through October.
Fishing
Garfield Park’s two lagoons at Washington Boulevard and Central Park Avenue and those at Douglas and Humboldt Parks are favorite West Side fishing holes. Seasonally, they are stocked with bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, and largemouth bass. Eating the fish is another matter. Kids can participate in free fishing sessions at the park lagoons during the summer through the Chicago Park District.
Nature
The Chicago Park District leads free nature walks and has created marked trails with information plaques at the city’s bigger parks, Garfield, Douglas, and Humboldt Parks included. Seasonally, visitors can view as many as 100 species of colorful butterflies at the formal gardens of the three parks. The parks’ lagoons are officially designated Chicago birding parks, so take binoculars (see also the Chicago Ornithological Society for more information: www.chicagobirder.org). Picnics for 50 people or more, or tent set-up, require party-throwers to obtain permits issued by the Chicago Park District.
How to Get There
By Car: Garfield Park is ten minutes from the Loop. Take I-290 W; exit on Independence Boulevard and drive north. Turn east on Washington Boulevard to Central Park Avenue. Go north on Central Park Avenue two blocks past the Golden Dome field house and Lake Street to the Conservatory. A free parking lot is on the building’s south side, just after Lake Street. Street parking is available on Central Park Avenue, Madison Street, and Washington Boulevard.
By L: From the Loop, take the Green Line west to the Conservatory-Central Park Drive stop, a charming renovated Victorian train station at Lake Street and Central Park Avenue.
By Bus: From the Loop, board CTA 20 Madison Street bus westbound. Get off at Madison Street and Central Park Avenue. Walk four blocks north to the Conservatory.
| Parks & Places • Grant Park |
Overview
Grant Park, where grass meets glass, is Chicago’s venerable “front lawn.” Spanning the Lake Michigan shoreline from N Randolph Street to S Roosevelt Road and west to Michigan Avenue, it’s safe to say there’s not a more trafficked park this side of New York City’s Central Park. Grant Park is a study in contrasts: on the one side featuring massive summer festivals (such as the annual homage to obesity known as Taste of Chicago) that turn the park into Chicago’s dirty doormat; but during the rest of the year, a quiet place to relax, play, and count the number of panhandlers who ask if you can “help them out with a dollar.”
The park’s history can be traced back to 1835 when concerned citizens lobbied to prevent development along their pristine waterfront. Little did they know that when the State of Illinois ruled to preserve the land as “public ground forever to remain vacant of buildings” this meant for everyone, including the wealthy elite who were literally perched on the lofty balconies of the tawny palaces that lined the downtown shores of Lake Michigan. Be careful what you wish for, yes? Architect and city planner Daniel Burnham laid the groundwork for the park and made plans to erect museums, civic buildings, and general park attractions along the waterfront. This plan got somewhat sidetracked by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Interestingly enough, remaining debris from the fire was pushed into the lake and now forms part of the foundation for much of Grant Park and Chicago’s famous shoreline. Chicagoans can thank local land-lover and legendary mail-order magnate Aaron Montgomery Ward for pressuring the State of Illinois in 1911 to preserve the land as an undeveloped open space.
Nature
Grant Park’s lawns, gardens, lakefront, and bench-lined paths attract a mixed crowd of lunching office workers, exercise fanatics, readers, gawking tourists, homeless and not-so-homeless vagabonds, and just your run-of-the-mill idiots. South and north of famous Buckingham Fountain are the formal Spirit of Music Garden and Rose Garden, respectively. There are also a multitude of sculptures, ranging in form and style, strewn with abandon throughout the park, so expect to see art appreciators and imitators alike milling about as well.
Sports
Much of the sports areas in Grant Park are on the south end of the park. Baseball diamonds and tennis courts are available on a first-come basis unless they are reserved for league play. There is also a skate park, volleyball courts and a field house.
Maggie Daley Park
Covering 20 acres in Grant Park’s northeast corner, the evolution of what had been Daley Bicentennial Plaza into Maggie Daley Park—named in honor and memory of Chicago’s beloved former first lady—came about after the garage underneath needed substantial renovations that necessitated removing the existing plaza. A growing Lakeshore East population and proximity to Millennium Park to the north informed the new park’s design, which seamlessly links some of Chicago’s top attractions while providing recreation and open space opportunities for Lakeshore residents. Among other things, the plan contains a rock climbing area, a curvy ice skating “ribbon,” skate park, and a boffo-brilliant “play garden” (“ground” just seems so…beneath us!) that blows minds with its multi-themes, oversize equipment, slide crater, and water area.
Buckingham Fountain
Buckingham Fountain is Grant Park’s spouting centerpiece at the intersection of Congress Parkway and Columbus Drive, and was the original starting point of Route 66. Designed by Edward Bennett, the fountain is an homage to Lake Michigan and houses four statues that represent the Lake’s four surrounding states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, ya big idiot). It has been showering onlookers with wind-blown spray since 1927 and, unfortunately, is notable for its role in the opening sequence of the sitcom Married…with Children. In warm weather months, the center basin blasts water 150 feet into the air every 20 minutes all day long. Lights and music accompany the skyrocketing water display during evening hours. Food concessions and restrooms can be found nearby.
Festivals & Events
Chicagoans used to gather at the Petrillo Music Shell for free Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus concerts during the summer months. Now they go to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, located between Michigan and Columbus Avenues that, in and of itself, is worth a visit. Concerts take place June through August (www.grantparkmusicfestival.com or @gpmf). You can’t always pass up a free headliner concert at Grant Park’s monstrous summer festivals. If at all possible, avoid the gut-to-gut feeding frenzy that is the Taste of Chicago. If you must go, hit it on a weekday afternoon; go on the weekend and you’ll understand why. In June, get your groove on at the Chicago Blues Fest. If you’re really a diehard fan, spend a full paycheck for a three-day pass to Lollapalooza in August. Extra deodorant required. For a complete event schedule, contact the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events at www.cityofchicago.org/dcase.
How to Get There
By Car: Exits off Lake Shore Drive west to Grant Park are Randolph Street, Monroe Drive, Jackson Drive, Balbo Drive, and Roosevelt Road. Also, enter the park from Michigan Avenue heading east on the same streets. The underground East Monroe Garage is off Monroe Drive. Columbus Drive runs through Grant Park’s center and has metered parking.
By Train: From the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, travel east to Michigan Avenue and Grant Park on CTA buses 20, 56, 60, and 157. From Union Station, board CTA buses 7 and 126.
Metra trains coming from the south stop at the Roosevelt Road station on the south end of Grant Park before terminating at the underground Millennium Station at Randolph Street.
By L: Get off at any L stop in the Loop between Randolph Street and Van Buren Street. Walk two blocks east to Grant Park.
By Bus: CTA buses 3, 4, 6, 7, 126, 147, and 151 stop along Michigan Avenue in front of Grant Park.
| Parks & Places • Historic Pullman |
General Information
Historic Pullman Foundation: www.pullmanil.org
Historic Pullman Visitor Center: 11141 S Cottage Grove Ave, 773-785-8901
Hours: Tues–Sun, 11 am–3 pm
Admission: $5 adults, $4 students under 18, $4 seniors
Overview
Although railroad magnate George Pullman’s Utopian community went belly-up, the Town of Pullman he founded 14 miles south of the Loop survives as a National Landmark Historic District. Built between 1880 and 1885, Pullman is one of America’s first planned model industrial communities.
The “workers’ paradise” earned Pullman humanitarian hoorahs, as well as a 6% return on his investment. Pullman believed that if laborers and their families lived in comfortable housing with gas, plumbing, and ventilation—in other words, livable conditions—their productivity would increase, as would his profits. Pullman was voted “the world’s most perfect town” at the Prague International Hygienic and Pharmaceutical Exposition of 1896.
All was perfect in Pullman until a depression incited workers to strike in 1894, and the idealistic industrialist refused to negotiate with his ungrateful workers. While George Pullman’s dream of a model community of indentured servitude died with him in 1897, hatred for him lived on. Pullman’s tomb at Graceland Cemetery is more like a bomb shelter. To protect his corpse from irate labor leaders, Pullman was buried under a forest of railroad ties and concrete.
The grounds and buildings that make up Pullman went through most of the twentieth century stayed intact until 1998, when a man who heard voices in his head torched several of the site’s primary buildings. Fortunately, die-hard Pullmanites have banded together to maintain the remaining structures, and for anyone interested in labor history or town planning, the city is worth a train or bus ride down from the Loop.
Architecture & Events
Architect Solon Beman and landscape architect Nathan Barrett based Pullman’s design on French urban plans. Way back when, Pullman was made up of mostly brick row houses (95% still in use), several parks, shops, schools, churches, and a library, as well as various health, recreational, and cultural facilities.
Today, the compact community’s borders are 111th Street (Florence Drive), 115th Street, Cottage Grove Avenue (Pullman Drive), and S Langley Avenue (Fulton Avenue). If you’re interested in sightseeing within the historic district, we suggest you start at the Pullman Visitor Center, housed in the historic Arcade Building. There you can pick up free, self-guided walking tour brochures and watch an informative 15-minute film on the town’s history. Check online for additional specialty tour information and lecture details.
Along with self-guided tours, the Visitor Center offers 90-minute guided tours on the first Sunday of the month from May to October; key tour sites include Hotel Florence, Greenstone Church (interior), Market Square, the stables, and the fire station. Tours start at 1:30 and cost $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $7 for students. Reservations not required. The annual House Tour in mid-October is a popular Pullman event where several private residences open their doors to the public from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Where to Eat
7 Seas Submarine (11216 S Michigan Ave, 773-785-0550): Dine in or take out at this tiny sandwich shop.
Cal Harbor Restaurant (546 E 115th St, 773-264-5435): Omelettes, burgers, etc. at this family grill.
How to Get There
By Car: Take I-94 S to the 111th Street exit. Go west to Cottage Grove Avenue and turn south, driving one block to 112th Street to the Visitor Center surrounded by a large, free parking lot.
By Train: Metra’s Electric Main Line departs from Millennium Station (underground) at Michigan Avenue between S Water Street and Randolph Street. Ride 30 minutes to Pullman Station at 111th Street. Walk east to Cottage Grove Avenue, and head south one block to 112th and the Visitor Center.
By L: From the Loop, take the Red Line to the 95th Street station. Board CTA 111 Pullman bus going south.
By Bus: CTA 4 bus from the Randolph Street Station travels south to the 95th Street and Cottage Grove stop. Transfer to 111 Pullman bus heading south, which stops at the visitors center.
| Parks & Places • Jackson Park |
Overview
Historic Jackson Park, named for Mary Jackson, original owner of the land and cousin to president Andrew Jackson, borders Lake Michigan, Hyde Park, and Woodlawn, and was, for a long time, an unused tract of fallow land. The 543-acre parcel was eventually transformed into a real city park in the 1870s thanks to Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux of Central Park fame. The Midway Plaisance connects Jackson Park to Washington Park.
Jackson Park experienced its 15 minutes of worldwide fame in 1893 when it played host to the World’s Fair Columbian Exposition. Today, the Museum of Science and Industry and La Rabida Children’s Hospital and Research Center occupy two of the former fair structures. Situated along the lake, the park features three harbors and beaches. The park is also home to the first golf course west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Museum of Science and Industry
Address: 57th St & Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-684-1414
Website: www.msichicago.org or @msichicago
Hours: 9:30 am–4 pm daily, with extended hours until 5:30 during high-traffic times
Admission: $18 for adults, ($15 for Chicagoans); $11 for children 3-11, ($10 for Chicagoans); $17 for seniors, ($14 for Chicagoans) (Note: The Museum offers free admission to Illinois residents on what seem to be arbitrary days, and hours vary month to month, so check the website regularly.)
The 1893 World’s Fair Arts Palace is home to the Museum of Science and Industry. The mammoth 350,000-square-foot bastion is one of the largest science museums in the world. Generations of Chicagoans and visitors have been wowed by a vast array of exhibits, including hatching baby chicks, U-505 (the only World War II German submarine captured), and the Walk-Through Heart. The model railroad, another favorite exhibit, has been expanded to the now 3,500-square-foot Great Train Journey, which depicts the route from Chicago to Seattle. Other popular attractions include the coal mine, the Fairy Castle, and the Omnimax Theater’s five-story, domed, wrap-around theater.
Nature
Two lagoons surround Wooded Island, a.k.a. Paul H. Douglas Nature Sanctuary. Osaka Garden, a serene Japanese garden with an authentic tea house and entrance gate, sits at the island’s northern tip. The ceremonial garden, like the golden replica of Statue of the Republic on Hayes Avenue, recalls the park’s 1893 Exposition origins. The Chicago Audubon Society (www.chicagoaudubon.org) conducts bird walks in the park. These sites and the Perennial Garden at 59th Street and Cornell Drive are also havens for butterflies.
Sports
Back in the very beginning of the 20th century, the Jackson Park Golf Course (312-245-0909 or jacksonpark.cpdgolf.com) was the only public course in the Midwest. Today, the historic 18-hole course is certified by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and has beautiful wilderness habitats. (Or are those scruffy fairways?) Greens fees are $28 during the week and $31 on weekends (all rates are discounted for residents). A driving range is adjacent to the course.
The city’s park fitness facilities are a great deal, the facility at the Jackson Park field house included. The fitness center is open Mon–Fri 9 am–9:30 pm, Sat 9 am–4:30 pm, and Sun 11 am–4:30 pm. Adult membership passes cost $17 a month or $150 for the year. From Hayes Drive north along Cornell Avenue are outdoor tennis courts, baseball diamonds, and a running track. Tennis courts are on the west side of Lakeshore Drive at 63rd Street. Jackson Park’s beaches are at 57th Street and 63rd Street (water playground, too). Inner and Outer Harbors allow shore fishing.
Neighboring Parks
North of Jackson Park at 55th Street and Lake Shore Drive is Promontory Point, a scenic lakeside picnic spot. Harold Washington Park, 51st Street and Lake Shore Drive, has a model yacht basin and eight tennis courts on 53rd Street.
To the west, 460-acre Washington Park (5531 S Martin Luther King Dr, 773-256-1248) has an outdoor swimming pool, playing fields, and nature areas. It’s also worth stopping by to see Lorado Taft’s 1922 Fountain of Time sculpture and the DuSable Museum of African American History (740 E 56th Pl, 773-947-0600; www.dusablemuseum.org).
At 71st Street and South Shore Drive are South Shore Beach, with a harbor, bird sanctuary, and South Shore Cultural Center (7059 South Shore Dr, 773-256-0149). South Shore Golf Course is a nine-hole public course. Greens fees are $17 weekdays and $19 on weekends (southshore.cpdgolf.com).
How to Get There
By Car: From the Loop, drive south on Lake Shore Drive, exit west on 57th Street. From the south, take I-94 W. Exit on Stony Island Avenue heading north to 57th Drive. The museum’s parking garage entrance is on 57th Drive. The Music Court lot is behind the museum. A free parking lot is on Hayes Drive.
By Bus: From the Loop, CTA buses 6 and 10 (weekends and daily in summer) stop by the museum.
By L: (the quickest way to get to Jackson Park): Take the Green Line to the Garfield Boulevard (55th Street) stop; transfer to the eastbound 55 bus.
By Train: Sporadic service. From the Loop’s Millennium Station at Randolph Street and Van Buren Street stations, take Metra Electric service. Trains stop at the 55th, 56th, and 57th Street Station platform. Walk two blocks east.
| Parks & Places • Lincoln Park |
Overview
The largest of Chicago’s 500-plus parks, Lincoln Park stretches 1,208 acres along the lakefront from the breeder cruising scene at the North Avenue Beach to the gay cruising scene at Hollywood Beach. The park boasts one of the world’s longest bike trails, but thanks to an ever-increasing abundance of stroller pushers, leashless dogs, and earbud-wearing wheely-doodlers, the path proves treacherous for cyclists and pedestrians alike. Nonetheless, sporty types and summertime dawdlers still find satisfaction indoors and out at Lincoln Park. Take a break from winter inside the Lincoln Park Conservatory, a tropical paradise full o’ lush green plants no matter what the thermometer reads. Public buildings, including animal houses at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Café Brauer, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and vintage beach bath houses, make the park as architecturally attractive as it is naturally beautiful.
Much of southern Lincoln Park is open green space populated by football, soccer, dog play, and barbecue grills. Paths shaded by mature trees lead to stoic statues. Until the 1860s, Lincoln Park was nothing more than a municipal cemetery filled with the shallow graves of cholera and smallpox victims, and it was concern about a public health threat that instigated the creation of the park. Although the city attempted to relocate all the bodies in the cemetery-to-park conversion of 1869, digging doggies may unearth more than picnickers’ chicken bones.
Nature
In spring, bird watchers flock to Lincoln Park’s ponds and nature trails. Addison Bird Sanctuary Viewing Platform north of Belmont Harbor overlooks five fenced-in acres of wetlands and woods. Birding programs around North Pond are run by the Lincoln Park Conservancy (www.lincolnparkconservancy.org) and the Chicago Ornithological Society (www.chicagobirder.org). More than 100 species of birds have been identified at the 10-acre pond. Free guided walks are held on most Wednesdays during the year starting at 7 am. Bring binoculars and a canteen of coffee. The Fort Dearborn Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society hosts park and zoo bird walks (www.fortdearbornaudubon.org). Migratory birds gather around the revamped 1889 Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool at Fullerton Parkway and North Cannon Drive. Next to the Conservatory, Grandmother’s Garden and the more formal French-style garden across the street are favorites for both wedding party photos and the homeless during the warmer months.
Sports
Baseball diamonds on the park’s south end are bordered by La Salle Drive and Lake Shore Drive, next to the field house and NorthStar Eatery. Bicyclists and runners race along Lincoln Park Lagoon to the footbridge over Lake Shore Drive to North Avenue Beach, Chicago’s volleyball mecca. To reserve courts and rent equipment, go to the south end of the landmark, boat-shaped bath house. Just north of the bath house is a seasonal rollerblade rink and fitness club. North of Montrose Harbor on the North Wilson Drive lakefront is a free skateboard park.
The 9-hole Sydney R. Marovitz Public Golf Course (3600 Recreation Dr) hosts hackers year-round. Snail-slow play allows plenty of time to enjoy skyline views from this lakefront cow pasture, which is always crowded. Greens fees are $26 weekdays, $29 on weekends, and you can rent clubs. Reserve tee times online at sydneymarovitz.cpdgolf.com or show up at sunrise. The starter sits in the northeast corner of the clock tower field house. For those who want to take it even more leisurely, check out the Diversey Miniature Golf Course (diversey.cpdgolf.com), which offers an 18-hole course complete with waterfalls and footbridges. Diversey mini-golf rates are $10 adults, $8 juniors/seniors. Also nearby is the Diversey Golf Range (141 W Diversey Ave), open year-round (large bucket $16, small bucket $10).
Four clay tennis courts, the last ones left in Chicago, are open 7 am–8 pm and cost $18 per hour; tennis shoes are required. For reservations and further information, call 312-742-7821. There courts on Recreation Drive at Waveland are free, and first come, first, uh, served.
An archery range on the north end of Belmont Harbor is where the Lincoln Park Archery Club (www.lincolnparkarcheryclub.org) meets. They offer a number of clinics throughout the summer for newcomers to the sport.
Members of the Lincoln Park Boat Club row in Lincoln Park Lagoon. Rowing classes for the public are offered May through September (www.lpbc.net).
The Nature Boardwalk surrounds the South Pond at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Take a walk or jog through the urban oasis which acts as a natural haven for native birds, frogs, fish, and turtles. The Patio at Café Brauer (2021 North Stockton) is sunny spot to take in the view and sip on a specially brewed Boardwalk Blue blueberry-infused golden ale from Goose Island.
Green City Market
Address: 1750 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 773-880-1266
Website: www.chicagogreencitymarket.org or @greencitymarket
Hours: May–October, Wed & Sat 7 am–1 pm (off-season every other Saturday at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum)
No Lincoln Park experience would be complete without visiting a quintessential yuppie hotspot—the farmers market. What began in an alley next to the Chicago Theatre in 1998 has since become Chicago’s only year round sustainable market, showcasing local farmers selling everything from organic produce and cheese to elk meat and microgreens. Free chef demonstrations take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30 am, a different fruit or vegetable is featured every month according to what’s in season.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Address: 2200 N Cannon Dr Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 312-742-2000
Website: www.lpzoo.org or @lincolnparkzoo
Hours: April-May 10 am-5 pm; Memorial Day-Labor Day 10 am-5 pm on weekdays, 10 am-6:30 pm on weekends; September-October 10 am-5 pm; November-March 10 am-4:30 pm
Admission: FREE
Lions and tigers and bears and kids, oh my! We’re not sure which scares us most. Established in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is the country’s oldest free zoo, and still a leader in wildlife conservation. National TV shows Zoo Parade and Ray Rayner’s Ark in the Park were filmed here. Look for some family (or, at least, in-law) resemblance at the 29,000-square-foot Regenstein Center for African Apes. Come early and hear the white-cheek gibbons, the smallest of the ape family, mimic car alarms in their morning song to mark their territory. You may even catch one peeing off his tree before a captivated audience. Flanking the zoo’s northwest side is the free Lincoln Park Conservatory, a fantastic source of oxygen renewal recommended for hangover sufferers. The Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo simulates a North American woods.
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Address: 2430 N Cannon Dr, Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 773-755-5100
Website: www.naturemuseum.org or @NatureMuseum
Hours: Mon–Fri 9 am–5 pm, Sat–Sun 10 am–5 pm
Admission: $9 adults, $7 seniors & students, $6 children ages 3–12; Thursdays suggested donation for Illinois residents
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum succeeds in making Illinois’ level landscape interesting. The contemporary version of the 1857 Chicago Academy of Sciences, this hands-on museum depicts the close connection between urban and natural environments and represents global environmental issues through a local lens. A flowing water lab and flitting butterfly haven invite return visits. A must-see for anyone with a passion for taxidermy and/or Silence of the Lambs. You can also discover how pollutive you are in your everyday life—and how to change it—in their Extreme Green House exhibit. Get back to nature with a full class and summer camp schedule.
Chicago History Museum
Address: 1601 N. Clark St & North Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 312-642-4600
Website: www.chicagohistory.org or @ChicagoMuseum
Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30 am–4:30 pm, Sun 12 noon–5 pm
Admission: $14 adults, $12 seniors & students, children under 12 free; Free days for Illinois residents vary, visit website for full schedule
The Chicago History Museum holds over 20 million primary documents relating to the history of the Chicago area. Exhibits about the city’s pioneer roots, architecture, music, fashion, neighborhoods, windy politics, and oral histories breathe life into an otherwise dry history. Locals can access the excellent research center (open Tuesday through Friday, $10/day; students through grade 12 are free) for genealogical information and housing history. North & Clark Café explores Chicago’s love of food.
Performances
Lincoln Park Cultural Center (2045 N Lincoln Park W, 312-742-7726) stages plays, theater workshops, and family-friendly performances year-round. While Theater on the Lake (Fullerton Ave & Lake Shore Dr, 312-742-7994) is best known for its summer schedule of alternative drama, it hosts events throughout the calendar year. Lincoln Park Zoo hosts outdoor summer concerts and events as well. See their events calendar online.
How to Get There
By Car: Lake Shore Drive exits to Lincoln Park are Bryn Mawr Avenue, Foster Avenue, Lawrence Avenue, Wilson Drive, Montrose Drive, Irving Park Parkway, Belmont Avenue, Fullerton Avenue, and North Avenue.
Free parking lots are at Recreational Drive near Belmont Harbor and Simonds Drive near Montrose Harbor. Paid lots are located at North Avenue Beach, Chicago Historical Society, Lincoln Park Zoo, and Grant Hospital Garage. Stockton Drive and Cannon Drive have free street parking. A metered lot is on Diversey Parkway, next to the golf range.
By Bus: CTA buses 151, 156, and 146 travel through Lincoln Park.
By L: Get off the Red Line at any stop between Fullerton and Bryn Mawr Avenues, then head one mile east. On the Brown Line, all stops between Sedgwick and Belmont are about a mile east of the park as well.
| Parks & Places • McCormick Place |
General Information
NFT Map: 11
Mailing Address: 2301 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: 312-791-7000
Website: www.mccormickplace.com or @McCormick_Place
South Building: Exhibit Hall A
North Building: Exhibit Halls B and C; Metra Train Station
Lakeside Center (East Building): Exhibit Halls D and E; 4,267-seat Arie Crown Theater (Level 2)
West Building: Exhibit Hall F; Transportation Center; Parking Lot A
Overview
When it comes to the convention business, size matters. With 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space spread over four buildings, McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the country and one of the largest in the world. The center hosts more than three million visitors every year for trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show, and public exhibitions in the South Building, North Building, Lakeside Center (East Building) and West Building. McCormick Place also includes the Arie Crown Theatre, one of the largest theaters in Chicago according to seating capacity, which hosts a variety of plays, concerts, and seminars. McCormick Place’s growth continues to bolster the rapid development of South Loop, and with each expansion the complex’s overall aesthetic appeal steadily improves. But despite major renovations, Chicagoans still refer to the complex as “the mistake on the lake.” Mayor Daley called the black boxy behemoth the “Berlin Wall” that separates Chicagoans from their beloved lakefront.
Finding Your Way Around
Getting to McCormick Place is the easy part. Then you have to navigate the inside. The main entrance is off Martin Luther King Drive, next to the Hyatt Hotel. Here’s how to crack the code names for meeting rooms and exhibit halls:
All meeting room locations start with E (Lakeside Center/East Building), N (North Building), S (South Building), or W (West Building). The first numeral represents the floor level, and the last two digits specify which room. Room numbers are never duplicated among the complex’s three buildings.
Exhibit halls are named by consecutive letters starting with the South Building where Hall A (Level 3) is located. North Building houses Halls B (Level 3) and C (Level 1). Exhibit Halls D (Level 3) and E (Level 2) are in Lakeside Center. Exhibit Hall F (Level 3) is in the West Building.
Restaurants & Services
Connie’s Pizza and McDonald’s Express are in the North Building (Level 2). The Fine Print Restaurant has a full-service dining option. The West Building has a large food court on the second floor. Level 2.5 of the South Building has many options, including La Brea Bakery and Jamba Juice. The Grand Concourse in the South Hall (Level 2.5 and 3) also has shops, shoe shine, and massage services. ATMs are available in each building: Level 2.5 in the South Building in the Convenience Center; Level 2 in the North Building near McDonalds; Level 1 in the West Building near the Transportation Center; and Level 2 in the Lakeside/East Building, near the Arie Crown Theater box office. There are Starbucks located in the concourse of the West Building, on Level 2.5 of the South Building, and Level 3 of the North Building. If you’re totally lost, there are Visitor Information Centers in each building. Good luck finding them.
How to Get There
By Car: From the Loop, take Lake Shore Drive south; from the southeast, travel north on Lake Shore Drive. Signage to McCormick Place on Lake Shore Drive is frequent and clear. There are three main lots: Parking Lot A is for events in the North, South and West Buildings; Lot B serves the South Building and offers a pre-paid express pass option; Lot C is for events at Lakeside Center and Arie Crown Theater. There is also parking at the Hyatt and an additional lot north of McCormick Place at Soldier Field.
By Bus: From the Loop and within walking distance of many hotels, CTA bus 3 stops at McCormick Place. From Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, take buses 20, 56, 60, or 157 to Michigan Avenue; transfer to a southbound 3. From Union Station, board eastbound bus 7 to Michigan Avenue; transfer to a southbound 3.
During major shows, countless charter buses circle downtown hotels, transporting conventioneers to McCormick Place for free. Charter buses travel on an express busway from Randolph Street to the South Building in less than ten minutes. For schedules, check with the hotels and at McCormick Place information desks.
By Train: A Metra train ride from the Loop’s Millennium Station at Randolph Street and Van Buren Street stations to the McCormick Place Station takes nine minutes. Escalators to the train platform are on the west side of the Grand Concourse (Level 2.5).
| Parks & Places • Millennium Park |
Overview
Only four years behind schedule (who’s counting?) and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget (okay, this we counted), Millennium Park finally launched itself in July 2004 as the cultural epicenter Mayor Daley promised us it would be back in 1997. Even if it did take myriad stopgap funding measures resembling yesteryear Al Capone strong-arm tactics to eternally endow us with the AT &T Plaza, McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink, and the Chase Promenade, locals and tourists alike agree it was well worth it. Even staunch, longtime local naysayers have come to acknowledge that, when all is said and done, the end result really is an amazing addition to Grant Park’s north point and is, without a doubt, one of downtown Chicago’s crowning jewels.
The park is built on land that was controlled by the Illinois Central Railroad from the 19th century until 1997. In some ways, the wait was worth it: the park’s design is entirely modern and completely unmoored from “classic” park design. The starchitects and artists involved have contributed some of their most high-profile, impressive work. The overall experience is fun and vital, and it’s not for nothing that Millennium Park immediately became one of the city’s most visited attractions. And if you’re visiting for the first time, a good starting point is the park’s Welcome Center, which is open daily and located at 201 E Randolph Street.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
The centerpiece of Millennium Park is the Pritzker Pavilion. It seems the whole park may have very well been conceived to give Frank Gehry’s architectural masterpiece an appropriate setting. The pavilion’s innovative trellis structure of stainless steel ribbons doubles as the sound system, which replicates the acoustics of an indoor space. The pavilion’s stage area is as big as Orchestra Hall across the street and can accommodate a 120-person orchestra and a 150-person choir. Seating for the free concert events includes a 4,000-seat terrace and an additional 95,000-square-foot lawn area that can accommodate 7,000 picnickers. The pavilion is the home of the summer-long Grant Park Music Festival, which features a full-slate of classical concerts.
Harris Theater for Music & Dance
Several dance and theatrical troupes share the 1,500-seat underground space behind Gehry’s behemoth bandshell, including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (not to be missed, but good luck getting tickets!), the Chicago Children’s Choir, and the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Two underground parking garages flank the theater, and as with all parking in this area, it’s first come/first served and a bit of a mess on the weekends. Tickets and schedule available at www.harristheaterchicago.org
Nature & Sculpture
The park has several different defined spaces: Wrigley Square, with its neoclassical epistyle; the Chase Promenade, gearing up to house art fairs and ethnic festivals; and the AT &T Plaza (between the skating rink and promenade), which is home to Anish Kapoor’s 100-ton stainless steel jelly-bean sculpture, Cloud Gate (be sure to take a picture of yourself staring into it—not exactly original, but so hard to resist). Flanking the skating rink to the south is the modernist Crown Fountain, which features two glass brick towers, 50 feet in height, with projected video images of the faces of actual Chicago residents. The Lurie Garden, a ridiculously conceptual assemblage of seasonal foliage, offers a beautiful public gathering space as well as more contemplative environments. The BP Bridge, a 925-foot-long winding bridge—Frank Gehry’s first—connects Millennium Park to Maggie Daley Park just east of the park. Clad in brushed stainless steel panels, the BP Bridge complements the Pritzker Pavilion in function as well as design by creating an acoustic barrier for traffic noise. It’s well worth the walk.
Sports
The 15,910-square-foot McCormick Tribune Ice Rink opens annually in November. On Saturdays in the summer, take part in free fitness classes on the Great Lawn. The options range from tai chi to yoga, with some more danceable aerobics as well. The park also houses a state-of-the-art, heated bicycle garage, which provides parking for 300 bikes, showers, a repair facility, and a café.
Dining
The 300-seat Park Grill (consistently one of the top burgers in the city) overlooking the skating rink offers burgers, steaks, and salads year round. In the summer, carry-away grub is available from a variety of kiosks throughout the park.
How to Get There
No matter your mode of travel, approach the area around Millennium Park with patience and allow extra time.
By Car: Exits off Lake Shore Drive west to Millennium Park are at Randolph Street and Monroe Drive. Also, enter the park from Michigan Avenue heading east on the same streets. If you choose to drive, underground parking is available in several areas. Access the Grant Park North Garage from Michigan Avenue. Enter Millennium Park Garage from the lower levels of Randolph Street and mid-level of Columbus Drive. Parking is also available at the Grant Park South and East Monroe Garages.
By Train: Metra trains coming from the south terminate at the underground Millennium Park Station at Randolph Street. From the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, travel east to Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park on CTA buses 20, 56, 60, and 157. From Union Station, board CTA buses 60 or 151.
By L: Get off at any L stop in the Loop between Randolph Street and Monroe Street. Walk two (or three) blocks east to Millennium Park.
By Bus: CTA buses 3, 4, 6, 14, 20, 56, 60, 124, 151, 157, and 173 serve the park.
| Parks & Places • Museum Campus |
Overview
Museum Campus is the ultimate destination for educational field trips. South of Grant Park at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Museum Campus’s 57 acres of uninterrupted lakefront parkland connect three world-renowned Chicago institutions: The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. You’ve got Mayor Daley to thank for all of this beautiful space; it was the bossman himself who championed the rerouting of Lake Shore Drive to the west to consolidate the land around Museum Campus, which opened in 1998. Chicagoans, take note: although none of the museums that make up the museum campus are shouting from rooftops about it, all three offer reduced admission rates to locals. Be sure to ask for it.
The Field Museum
Address: 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: 312-922-9410
Website: www.fieldmuseum.org or @FieldMuseum
Hours: Open daily 9 am–5 pm, except Christmas
Admission: Basic admission is $18 Adults, $15 students & seniors, $13 children ages 3–11. Additional admission fees apply for full museum experience. Free days for Illinois residents vary, visit website for full schedule.
The massive, Greek Revival-style museum constructed in 1921 houses over 20 million artifacts. From dinosaurs, diamonds, and earthworms to man-eating lions, totem poles, and mummies, there is just too much to savor in a single visit. The permanent Evolving Planet exhibit features an interactive stroll through 4 billion years of evolution, from single-celled organisms through dinosaurs, hominids, and finally to human beings. Another noteworthy permanent exhibit is Sue, the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex discovered to date. Complete with a half-smoked pack of Marlboros, since we now know that’s what killed the dinosaurs. As with most museums, some temporary exhibits cost additional bucks on top of normal museum fees. Free museum tours are available; check website for times.
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Address: 1200 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: 312-939-2438
Website: www.sheddaquarium.org or @shedd_aquarium
Hours: Memorial Day–Labor Day: Daily, 9 am–6 pm; Labor Day–Memorial Day: Mon–Fri, 9 am–5 pm; Sat–Sun: 9 am–6 pm. Closed Christmas.
Admission: Basic admission is $8 adults, $6 children ages 3–11. Additional admission fees apply for full museum experience. Free days for Illinois residents vary, visit website for full schedule.
Opened in 1929, the Beaux Arts-style aquarium’s six wings radiate from a giant, circular coral reef tank. The museum features revolving exhibits with a special focus on marine ecology and preservation. Popular favorites include Wild Reef, where you can get up close and personal with the sharks. During the summer the Shedd hosts weekly “Jazzin at the Shedd” events featuring live jazz, cocktails overlooking the downtown skyline, fireworks, and full access to the aquarium until 10 pm.
Burnham Park
Burnham Park, the site of the 1933 Century of Progress exhibition, encompasses McCormick Place, Burnham Harbor, the former Merrill C. Meigs Airport (closed in a political coup by Mayor Daley in 2003), and Soldier Field. A free skateboard park is located at Lake Shore Drive and 31st Street. The 12th Street Beach, especially popular with swimmers and divers because of the deep water east of the beach, is on Northerly Island. Other beaches are at 31st Street and 49th Street. Outdoor basketball courts are east of Lake Shore Drive around 35th Street and 47th Street. Fishing is welcome along Solidarity Drive and Burnham Harbor shore. The wilderness Nature Area at 47th Street attracts butterflies and birds.
Adler Planetarium
Address: 1300 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: 312-922-7827
Website: www.adlerplanetarium.org or @adlerskywatch
Hours: Mon–Fri 9:30 am–4 pm, Sat–Sun 9:30 am–4:30pm; Third Thursdays (21+ Adler After Dark) 6:30 pm–10:30 pm; check website for special extended summer hours
Admission: Basic admission is $12 adults, $8 children 3–11. Additional admission fees apply for full museum experience. Free days for Illinois residents vary, visit website for full schedule.
The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum offers interactive exhibits explaining space phenomena and intergalactic events; its 2,000 historic astronomical and navigational instruments form the western hemisphere’s largest collection. On the first Friday of every month, weather permitting, amateur astronomers young and old are invited to bring their own telescopes to the Planetarium lawns. Roving scientists offer tips and instructions on telescope usage and observational features. Come summer, the 21+ Alder After Dark events are great, nerdy date nights featuring both kinds of cosmos. Chicago skyline views from the planetarium grounds are out of this world any day of the week, and are always worth the trip.
How to Get There
By Car: From the Loop, take Columbus Drive south; turn east on McFetridge Drive. From the south, take Lake Shore Drive to McFetridge Drive. Area parking lots are near Soldier Field, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and McCormick Place. Standard $19 rate for parking in the lot adjacent to the Adler and $19 in the Soldier Field lot. Fees are higher on days when there’s Park District-sponsored special events. Metered parking is available on Solidarity Drive.
By Bus: CTA buses 2, 6, 10, 12, 14, 127, 130, and 146 serve the area.
By L: Ride the Orange, Red, or Green Lines to the Roosevelt Road stop. Walk east through the pedestrian underpass at Roosevelt Road.
By Train: From Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, travel east on CTA bus 20 to State Street; transfer to the 146. From Union Station take CTA bus 1, 126, or 151; transfer at State Street to the 10 or 146. From La Salle Street station, take the 146. South Shore and Metra trains stop at the Roosevelt Road station.
On Foot: Walk south through Grant Park past bobbing boats and the gushing Buckingham Fountain to the Museum Campus.
Water Taxis: Seasonally, water taxis operate between Navy Pier and Museum Campus (312-222-9328; www.shorelinesightseeing.com).
| Parks & Places • Navy Pier |
General Information
NFT Map: 3
Address: 600 E Grand Ave Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-595-7437
Website: www.navypier.com or @NavyPier
Pier Hours: Summer, 10 am–10 pm Sun–Thur, 10 am–10 pm Fri–Sat; Off-season 10 am–8 pm Sun–Thur, 10 am–10 pm Fri–Sat (winter closes 7 pm Sun). Closing times of restaurants, shops, and attractions vary by season, holiday, and public exhibitions/events.
Skyline Stage: 1,500-seat outdoor performance pavilion in Pier Park, performances are May through September
IMAX Theatre: 312-595-5629 or @NavyPierIMAX
Free Fireworks: Memorial Day to Labor Day, Wednesdays (9:30 pm) & Saturdays (10:15 pm)
WBEZ Radio: NPR local affiliate, 312-948-4600; www.wbez.org or @WBEZ
Exhibit Space: Festival Hall, Lakeview Terrace, Ballroom Lobby, Grand Ballroom; 36 meeting rooms
Overview
With nine million visitors a year, Navy Pier is the quintessential Chicago tourist attraction. Yet save for an occasional Skyline Stage concert, speed-boat ride, or high-end nosh at Riva, most Chicagoans reserve Pier visits for those times when you have either very elderly or very young relatives in town. Knocked for years as a glorified mall on the lake, Navy Pier is undergoing a multi-multi-million-dollar “reimagining” that intends to refocus the visitor experience toward something more diverse, local-friendly, sustainable and in touch with the waterfront. With a boutique hotel. Phase I is scheduled for completion in 2015, with funding to follow for subsequent work.
Opened to the public in 1916 as a municipal wharf, the pier has also done time as a) the University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus, b) a hospital, c) a military training facility, d) a concert venue, and e) a white elephant. In 1989, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority invested $150 million to transform the crumbling pier into an uninspired entertainment-exhibition complex that still somehow attracts three times as many visitors than the Art Institute of Chicago and Willis Tower combined. In addition to convention space (home to the annual Chicago Flower and Garden Show), Navy Pier also houses two museums, the Shakespeare Theater, the Crystal Gardens, an outdoor concert pavilion, a vintage grand ballroom, a 15-story Ferris wheel, an IMAX Theatre, and, just for the hell of it, a radio station.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater has a 510-seat, courtyard-style theater and a 180-seat studio theater that are Chicago’s sole venues dedicated to performing wordsmith Willy’s works. In addition to the season’s plays, the theater produces Shakespeare “shorts” for younger patrons. A bookstore and teacher resource center are also located on-site (312-595-5600; www.chicagoshakes.com or @chicagoshakes).
Chicago Children’s Museum
The Chicago Children’s Museum features daily activities, a creative crafts studio, and 15 interactive exhibits ranging from dinosaur digs and waterworks to a toddler tree house, safety town, and construction zone. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, and Thursday until 8 pm. Admission is $14 for adults and children, $13 for seniors and children under one. Children 15 and under get in free on the first Sunday of every month under the Free First Sundays program, and Thursdays 5 pm to 8 pm is free admission for all. (312-527-1000; www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org or @childrensmuseum).
Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows
Smith Museum is the first stained-glass-only museum in the country. The 150 windows installed in the lower level of Festival Hall are mainly from Chicago-area buildings and the city’s renowned stained glass studios. Windows representing over a century of artistic styles include works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and John LaFarge. The free museum is open during Pier hours.
Getting There
By Car: From the north, exit Lake Shore Drive at Grand Avenue; proceed east. From the southeast, exit Lake Shore Drive at Illinois Street; go east. Parking garages are located on the Pier’s north side, and plenty of parking lots are just west of Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville.
By Bus: CTA buses 29, 65, 66, and 124 serve Navy Pier.
By L: Take the Green or Red Line to Grand Avenue. Board eastbound CTA Bus 29, or take the free trolley.
By Train: From Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center or Union Station, take CTA bus 124.
By Trolley: Free, daily trolleys that typically run every 20 minutes travel between Navy Pier and State Street along Grand Avenue and Illinois Street from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Pick-up points are indicated by “Navy Pier Trolley Stop” signs along the route.
By Boat: Seasonal water shuttles travel between Navy Pier and the Museum Campus and along the Chicago River to the Sears Tower (312-222-9328; www.shorelinesightseeing.com or @ShorelineSights).
Coffee
• Starbucks • 600 E Grand Ave
Movie Theaters
• Navy Pier IMAX • 600 E Grand Ave
Pizza
• Connie’s Pizza • 600 E Grand Ave
Restaurants
• Riva • 700 E Grand Ave
| Parks & Places • Oak Park |
General Information
Visit Oak Park: 888-625-7275;
www.visitoakpark.com or @VisitOakPark
Overview
You can thank Oak Park for Prairie Style architecture, A Moveable Feast, McDonald’s, and, yes, Tarzan. The creators of each called this charming suburb their home: Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest Hemingway, Ray Kroc, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, respectively. Best known for its architectural gems and strong public schools, Oak Park is a happy hunting ground for home buyers seeking upscale, integrated living ten miles from the Loop. Less impressed than most with his picture-perfect hometown, Hemingway famously described Oak Park as “a village of wide lawns and narrow minds.”
Architecture
Oak Park harbors the nation’s largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, 25 in the village and another six in neighboring River Forest. The village’s must-see sites are located in a compact area bordered by Division Street, Lake Street, Forest Avenue, and Ridgeland Avenue. Designs by Wright, William Drummond, George W. Maher, John Van Bergen, and E. E. Roberts are represented throughout.
You can ground yourself in Prairie Style architectural principles at the brilliant Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Maintained by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, guided tours of the designer’s personal space are offered daily 10 am–4 pm (951 Chicago Ave, 312-994-4000; flwright.org or @FLWTrust). Tickets can be purchased on the foundation’s website or on-site (early arrival recommended) at a cost of $17 for adults, $15 for students, seniors and military, and free for children 3 and under (photography allowed with extra $5 pass). Excellent walking tours of the surrounding streets are also offered: $15 for adults, $12 students, seniors and military, and free for children 3 and under. Worth every penny.
Completed in 1908, Unity Temple (875 Lake St, 708-383-8873; www.utrf.org) was Wright’s first commissioned public building; today it houses Oak Park’s Unitarian-Universalist congregation. Guided tours and self-guided audio tours of Unity Temple are offered Monday through Saturday through the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (flwright.org): $15 for adults, $12 students, seniors and military, and free for children 3 and under. Designed by George W. Maher, Historic Pleasant Home (217 S Home Ave, 708-383-2654; www.pleasanthome.org or @PleasantHomeOP) aptly illustrates the architectural evolution from Victorian design to early Prairie Style with tours held Thursday through Sunday at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm ($10 adults, $8 for students and seniors, $5 children; free self-guided Walk In Wednesdays tours for Illinois residents Wed 10 am–12 pm).
The Oak Park Visitors Center (1010 Lake St, 708-848-1500) offers maps, books and souvenirs and tickets to the Hemingway’s Birthplace Home and Museum, and Pleasant Home.
Culture & Events
Once a year in May, the public gets to snoop inside Wright-designed private residences during the popular Wright Plus Housewalk organized by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (flwright.org).
Get your fill of he-man author Hemingway at the Hemingway Birthplace Home & Museum (www.ehfop.org or @EHFOP). The museum, housed in the Arts Center of Oak Park, is open Sunday through Friday 1 pm–5 pm, and Saturday 10 am–5 pm (200 N Oak Park Ave, 708-848-2222; $10 adults, $8 students and seniors). His birthplace, also included with the price of admission, is located just up the street at 339 N Oak Park Avenue. For a one-stop confab with both of Oak Park’s favorite sons, stroll three blocks north and two west to the 600 block of N. Kenilworth Ave, where Wright’s Balch House (611) stands across the street from the Prairie Style home (600) to which Hemingway’s family moved when he was 5 years old.
Summer evenings, catch Shakespeare’s works performed outdoors in Austin Gardens by the Oak Park Festival Theatre company (708-445-4440; oakparkfestival.com or @OakParkFestival). The lush Oak Park Conservatory, originally built in 1929 to provide a place for all of the exotic plants Oak Park residents collected on their travels abroad, is located at 615 Garfield Street (708-725-2400; www.pdop.org or fopcon.org; suggested $2 donation) and definitely worth a visit.
Landmarks
• Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio • 951 Chicago Ave
Nightlife
• Avenue Ale House • 825 S Oak Park Ave
Restaurants
• Buzz Café • 905 S Lombard Ave
• Cucina Paradiso • 814 North Blvd
• Jerusalem Café • 1030 Lake St
• Khyber Pass • 1031 Lake St
• Mama Thai • 1112 W Madison St
• Marion Street Market • 100 S Marion St
• New Rebozo • 1116 Madison St
• Pete’s Red Hots • 6346 W Roosevelt Rd
• Petersen’s Ice Cream • 1100 Chicago Ave
• Poor Phil’s • 139 S Marion St
Shopping
• Barnard’s Schwinn • 6109 W North Ave
• Magic Tree Bookstore • 141 N Oak Park Ave
• Marion Street Market • 100 S Marion St
• Pumpkin Moon • 1028 North Blvd
| Parks & Places • Six Flags Great America |
General Information
Address: 1 Great America Pkwy, Gurnee, IL 60031
Phone: 847-249-4636
Website: www.sixflags.com/greatamerica or @SFGreat_America
Hours: Open May through October, 10:30 am until the evening (as late as 10 pm in middle of summer), but check calendar on website for specific hours and dates.
Entry: Full price tickets are $66.99 for adults and $46.99 for kids under 54”; online discounts available.
Overview
Metropolitan Chicago’s Six Flags Great America is the seventh facility in the Six Flags amusement park empire, which began in Texas in 1961. Great America opened in 1976 (thus the “Great America”) as a Marriott property, and was sold to Six Flags in 1984. Known for its thrill rides, the park is home to the Whizzer, an original park feature that has received recognition from the American Coaster Enthusiasts group.
Tickets
Reduced rates are available for advanced purchase through the website and via promo codes and other promotions throughout the season. “The Flash” passes are available for impatient riders, offering cuts in line (and, for a price, even deeper cuts) for an extra fee. For die-hard thrill seekers, or if you plan to go more than once a year, season passes offer the best deal.
For the Kiddies
The kiddo sections of Great America are divided into KIDZOPOLIS and Camp Cartoon. Both offer easy-going rides and games for tykes, while various Looney Tunes figures amble around for photo-ops. The water park has its own kid-friendly attractions as well. The double-decker classic Columbia Carousel, another original park feature, is located just past the park’s main entrance; it actually may be too tame for young ‘uns hopped up on funnel cake and Tweety-pops. If your kids are a little older and more badass (but still too weak-kneed to experience the real deal), take them on the Whizzer, mini-coaster and quintessential training wheels for every ‘tween. Other rides the height-challenged set can get on include the Orbit and the Whirligig—spinning fun guaranteed to make hearts soar and tummies flip, and also provoke the occasional mid-ride retch. Then there’s also the good old-fashioned flume-tastic Logger’s Run.
Thrill Rides
Every few years, Six Flags tries to outdo itself with an even more death-defying and harrowing ride. Case in point: the Superman-Ultimate Flight ride in which passengers soar through the air head-first as though they were flying, nearly brushing the ground below them on the giant loop-de-loop. Other thrills include the Raging Bull “hyper-twister,” where you drop at incredible degrees and speeds into subterranean depths. Batman The Ride allows your feet to dangle free, while riders remain standing, supported by a bicycle seat between the legs (men who desire children, be wary). Also try the equally frightening Vertical Velocity, V2 for short, which propels riders backward and forward up a corkscrew at 70 mph in less than four seconds, suspended by the same paltry harness that barely staves off fatality. Meanwhile, the classic wooden American Eagle coaster offers vintage, but no-less-worrisome, rickety thrills. The Viper, newer and sexier cousin to the geriatric American Eagle, provides a similar timber ride and is modeled after Coney Island’s Cyclone. Try The Demon if you’re interested in forgetting your name and address. Buccaneer Battle is a pirate-themed raft ride that allows you to soak other people with super-powered soak guns. Cool.
Hurricane Harbor Water Park
Opened in 2005, Great America’s adjoining Hurricane Harbor water park features pools and various thrill slides in case you want to bring your trunks to the park. Open until around 6 p.m. through most of the summer, Hurricane Harbor costs an extra $5 (free for season pass holders) and includes access to shower facilities. Lockers are available for rent. Attractions include Skull Island, a supersoaker interactive water play structure highlighted by a 1,000-gallon-plus water drop that dumps itself upon unsuspecting children every so often. The park has miles of water rides, including the twisty tunnels of Hurricane Mountain and the high-speed tube and bowl slides of Vortex and Typhoon. The Tornado, a combination tube and bowl slide, allows four riders to experience spinning in the 60-foot-wide funnel together. An adventure river, Castaway Creek, offers both exciting adventures complete with geysers, as well as leisurely relaxation under waterfalls and mists.
Fright Fest
Avoid the heat and long lines of the summer season and creep into the park during the month of October (mostly on weekends) among the Halloween-themed décor, haunted houses, and scary music playing over the P.A. This is, by far, our favorite time to go and worth the price of a season pass for the convenience of just dropping by for a few thrills whenever the heck you feel like it (the park is open until midnight on most Saturday nights during Fright Fest). Water rides (dyed blood red—bwahahaha!) in the park are usually less crowded, so take advantage of those to get the pasty white complexion and blue-tinged lip effect that will help you fit in, especially since costumes aren’t allowed.
Make a Night of It
Six Flags partners with many area hotels, including several either within walking distance or accessible via a shuttle bus—saving on parking and avoiding having to drive under the influence of pure joy. See, for example, Grand Hotel & Suites (5520 Grand Ave, 847-249-7777), Hampton Inn (5550 Grand Ave, 847-662-1100), Holiday Inn Gurnee (6161 West Grand Ave, 847-336-6300), KeyLime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort (1700 Nations Dr, 877-713-4951), or Econo Lodge (3740 Grand Avenue, 224-441-3270). Various other nearby accommodations in neighboring towns also provide shuttle bus service, and some also offer discount tickets. Check the Six Flags website for more details.
How to Get There
By Car: Take I-94 or I-294 west, exit at Grand Avenue. Typical driving time is about 45 minutes from Chicago. Be aware that traffic is very congested in July and August! Arrive extra early or extra late to beat the crowds.
By Train & Bus: Take the Metra Union Pacific North Line to Waukegan, where you can catch the Pace bus 565 to Great America. Pace also offers express bus service fromSchaumburg and Rosemont on Fridays and weekends during the summer. Note: Public transportation to Great America from the Ogilvie Transportation Center and Madison and Canal takes just over two hours each way.
| Parks & Places • Skokie |
General Information
Overview
When Skokie was first incorporated under the moniker Niles Centre in 1888, it was considered to be the rowdy neighbor of temperate Evanston due to the large number of taverns within its borders. By 1940, residents were clamoring for a name change and a PR facelift. In November of that year, the village was renamed Skokie after the nearby Skokie River and canals, which themselves were named after an old Native American word for “swampland.” Personally, we’d be more attracted to a party town, but nonetheless, the facelift was a success. With the completion of the Edens Expressway in the 1950s, residential development in Skokie was booming.
A chunk of the growth comprised Eastern European refugees from World War II, many of whom were Jewish. It is estimated that between 1945 and 1955, 3,000 Jewish families resettled in Skokie. Synagogues and Jewish services followed, and the village soon developed a self-perpetuating reputation as a thriving Jewish enclave. Skokie made international headlines in 1977–78 when it contested plans by the National Socialist Party of America, a branch of the American Nazi Party, to march on the village square. The NSPA was defended by the ACLU in a divisive case that brought the contest between free expression and freedom against hate speech into the international fore. As far as the NSPA was concerned, the decision to march in Skokie was an act of political manipulation. Chicago had denied the Nazis’ right to march in SW Chicago’s Marquette Park, which was the NSPA’s home turf. The group then threatened to relocate their planned assembly to Skokie. When the Village of Skokie lost their bid to ban the march, Chicago finally conceded, allowing the Nazis to gather at Marquette Park in June 1978. A handful of Nazis showed up, countered by thousands of anti-Nazi protesters.
As if being the head of a neo-Nazi movement and threatening to march on the front lawns of concentration camp survivors doesn’t already make you the world’s biggest jackass/creep, NSPA leader Frank Collin secured the title in 1979 when he was arrested and incarcerated on child molestation charges.
Culture & Events
In 1988, an urban renewal project to restore the North Shore’s decrepit Chicago River waterfront resulted in the two-mile Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park (sculpturepark.org), an outdoor recreation area with walking paths, picnic areas, and featuring more than 60 sculptures by artists of local, national, and international renown. The park, sandwiched between McCormick Blvd and the north branch of the Chicago River, runs the two miles from Touhy to Dempster.
Time travel through history at the Skokie Heritage Museum (8031 Floral Ave, 847-674-1500), an assemblage of historical photos, papers, and artifacts painstakingly gathered by the Skokie Historical Society. The museum, housed in a restored 1887 firehouse, also features the history of Skokie’s firefighters. Behind the museum, an authentic 1840s log cabin relocated to this location allows kids a glimpse into the town’s pioneer past.
Skokie is the home of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (9603 Woods Dr, 847-967-4800; www.ilholocaustmuseum.org or @ihmec). Opened in 2009, the facility is not only on a mission to educate future generations about the horrors of the Holocaust but also an attempt to close an upsetting chapter in Skokie’s history. The two wings and their respective architecture are meant to evoke the hard edges of the historical record and the soft arches of a hopeful future. It’s open to the public weekdays 10 am–5 pm and Thursday evening until 8 pm. Saturday and Sunday from 11 am-4pm. Museum closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and major Jewish holidays. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students aged 12-22, $6 for children 5-12.
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
Home to the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Centre East Theater, and, most notably, the highly acclaimed Northlight Theater, the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (9510 Skokie Blvd, 847-673-6300; www.northshorecenter.org or @NSCPAS) is a state-of-the-art performance venue. Touring artists perform here, world class theater (sometimes featuring ensemble members from Steppenwolf) is mounted here, and it’s also a North Shore venue for exhibits and trade shows. Designed by architect Graham Gund in 1996, The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts has given Northeast Illinois culture seekers a reason to come to Skokie besides bagels and lox.
Where to Drink
Despite its alcohol-fueled history, Skokie is not really known as a place to imbibe socially. Young residents head to youthful watering holes in the vicinity of the Northwestern campus in formerly tee-totaling Evanston (will the ironies never end?). Meanwhile, local drunks hang out at anonymous corner taverns just like anywhere else. Retail workers, middle managers, and the secretarial set mingle and mate at the food and booze joints adjacent to Old Orchard.
Where to Eat
Old Orchard Shopping Center is filled with family-friendly chain options. Happily, Skokie still houses enough locally owned, independent restaurants to add interest and diversity to their dining scene. Folks travel from all over Chicagoland for local delis and kosher fare ever debating the superiority of Kaufman’s v. New York Bagel and Bialy as THE place for a bagel and shmear.
How to Get There
By Car: Take the Edens Expressway (I-94), and exit at Dempster.
By L: The Skokie Swift Yellow Line runs non-stop between the Howard Street Red Line terminus and the Dempster-Skokie station at 5001 Dempster St. Trains run approximately every 10-15 minutes between 5 am and 11 pm.
Movie Theaters
• Regal Gradens Stadium 1–6 •
4999 Old Orchard Shopping Center
Nightlife
• Principal’s Pub • 4249 Main St
Restaurants
• El Tipico • 3341 Dempster St
• Grecian Kitchen Delight • 3938 Dempster St
• Hub’s • 3727 Dempster St
• Hy Life Bistro • 4120 Dempster St
• Kaufman’s Delicatessen & Bakery • 4905 Dempster St
• Pita Inn • 3910 Dempster St
• Ruby of Siam • 9420 Skokie Blvd
• Shallots Bistro • 7016 Carpenter Rd
Shopping
• U-Spy Store • 5421 W Touhy Ave