In celebration of my anniversary of being a Chicago resident, I've been thinking of some of my favorite places here—old standbys and newer discoveries:
GREEN ESCAPES
*the river path that starts at Lawrence Ave. and winds unassumingly northward. Took me almost a year to discover this trail, though it's practically in my backyard.
*the North Park Village Nature Center, also close by.
*the community gardens at Waters School and the tree-lined streets of Ravenswood Manor.
*the Garfield Park Conservatory, reviving even the hardest wintry heart with her sights and smells and, in particular, ferns.
*Giddings St. in high summer...
...and Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square.
SOUNDS OF MUSIC
*ol' faithful Empty Bottle.
*smaller-scale shows at the Hideout.
*Pitchfork Music Festival, humid annual tradition.
VISUAL CURIOSITIES
*Sunday matinees at the Music Box.
*the Joseph Cornell boxes at the Art Institute (sadly, no longer there).
*the exceptionally weird Museum of Holography.
*Chicago streets and skyline, as drawn by Wesley Willis.
STORE STORIED STORES
*HarvesTime Foods (where I spend all my $).
*Quimby's table o' new releases.
*Merz Apothecary. Shelves of soap.
*the friend-owned boutique, Eskell.
*Golden Age in Pilsen (just wrote about this space for ANP Quarterly)
(photo by David Robert Elliott)
ENDLESS EATING
*brunch at Victory's Banner.
*brunch, dessert, &c from Lula.
*tofu and sweet potato hash at Flying Saucer.
*tofu tidbits at Soul Veg.
*fries and vegetarian hot dogs at Hot Doug's.
*banh mi from Nhu Lan and Ba Le.
*boba drinks from Joy Yee.
THINGS NOT PICTURED
*people; a hundred other eating spaces/experiences; running routes; parks; Loyola Beach; other good music venues, museums, art spaces; other secret green retreats; bookstores; beer gardens; ice cream carts; karaoke at Sidekicks; the garden behind my old apartment; the Tamales Man; the feeling of driving down Lakeshore on a sunny day, or a rainy day—like when Jeff Tweedy drives around in the Wilco documentary. That was the part of the movie I liked.
