Summer Love: Chicago Style
I decided to do a bit of domestic traveling before leaving for Guadeloupe. I headed back to Chicago - truly one of my favorite places on earth. As you’ve likely heard, Chicago winters are RIDICULOUSLY cold. The upside is that the city and individual neighborhoods provide loads of outdoor activities that allow residents and visitors to truly appreciate the summer weather.
Below I included a run down of some of the places and activities I attended while visiting the Second City:
House of Sushi and Noodles - Would you like more rolls? This is my favorite place to get all you can eat sushi. At $13.95, it’s a great deal. It gets really crowded in the evening, so it is best to go a bit early if you can. Otherwise just make sure your whole party is there, ’cause you can’t be seated with out it. Link
Market Daze - Am I allowed to have a shirt on? This festival in Boys Town is your standard fare of food booths and over-priced beer. But, if you like eye-candy of the male persuasion, it is the place to be on a hot summer day. House music pumps on some corners and some pretty decent dance sessions break out. I’d go again…with my own beer.
Movies in The Park - Picnic anyone? One of the things I love best about summer is warm nights. We grabbed blankets, a bottle of wine, and some Mediterranean food and took in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at sundown. The main “Movie in the Park” takes place in Grant Park every Tuesday at sundown. However, the Chicago Park District (CPD) offers movies various days a week in various parks around the city.
Piece - Hmm, pizza and award-winning beer. Piece i my favorite pizza place in Chicago. It is a little expensive, but mighty tasty and served on huge cookie sheets. They brew their own beer and I haven’t had one I didn’t like. Try the classic Golden Arm and the Top Heavy Hefeweizen if you like hops. Link
RhymeFest - How you gonna rip it like this son? I attended Rhyme Fest for the first time this year. . You basically get a chance to watch a variety of freestyle battles (tournament style). About 4 circles of MC’s and onlookers gather under the trees in Wicker Park. It was pretty interesting and entertaining.
Summer Dance - 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8. This is my favorite summer activity! Thursdays through Sundays the CPD provides an hour-long free dance lesson followed by two hours of live music. The event showcases all types of dance (and corresponding music), from Salsa and Zydeco to African Expression and Swing. The event takes place in the Spirit of Music Garden, part of Grant Park. Bring a blanket or picnic if you like. Try to leave the purses at home so you can dance worry free.
WestFest - Dogs welcome! This is the Bucktown/Wicker Park Neighborhood festival. It was pretty standard fare and actually kind of small (around 3-4 blocks). The cool things were the booths and schwag dedicated specfically to dogs. There was even a dog park featured as part of the event.
Whirly Ball - What do you get when you combine lacrosse, basketball, and bumper cars?? Whirly Ball!! It’s an incredibly great game, and get this, they let you drink. I don’t know how it’s legal but it is freakin’ fun. Check it out. Link
Of course, there is way more to do during a Chicago summer than I have listed here. If you are ever in town (summer or otherwise) Metromix and their Festival Guide are great resources for finding out what’s going down.
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptYou basically get a chance to watch a variety of freestyle battles (tournament style). About 4 circles of MC’s and onlookers gather under the trees in Wicker Park. It was pretty interesting and entertaining. Summer Dance - 1-2-3-4, … […]
Candace
I thought this was in Mexico also, This is the first I heard of this. SInce it is not in Mex, IWas gonna tell you dont drink the waterm but Now I am going to say watch out for the next big hurricane. You are right in the way.