Slice of Life: Spring Goes “Sproing!” in The Loop
One of our frequent e-mailers sent in this slice of life from Millennium Park, where the flowers are competing for attention with Chicago’s...
Slice of Life: The Cancer Survivors Garden
The first big bloom of the season at the Cancer Survivors Memorial (399 East Randolph Street).
Slice of Life: Vegetable Alley
This is one of my favorite signs of Spring: Amidei Mercatino getting set up for the season. Amidei Mercatino is an outdoor fruit and vegetable stand tucked into an alley in downtown Lake Forest. This is a fantastic use for an alley. It’s remarkable that this business is able to survive in this location that is relatively low-traffic compared with much of the rest of Chicagoland. If it can work in Lake Forest, imagine vegetable...
Chicago’s Rooftop Pools Are Now Open
At what temperature does a pool party turn into a polar bear plunge? That was the question answered Saturday morning when 22 residents of Alta at K Station (550 West Kinzie Street) braved wind chill and water to open the Chicago rooftop pool season. Though the air temperature was a deceiving 48°, a blowing wind and occasional drizzle made the eighth-floor outdoor pool area atop Alta’s parking garage feel quite a bit nippier,...
Mother Nature: Spring is Here
I’ve been keeping my eye out for the past few weeks — watching the tulips and crocuses push through the bark mulch of Chicago’s medians and parkways. I made a phone call to Mother Nature, and these two on South Clinton Street are officially the first two tulips to bloom in Chicago this season. It happened at 6:42am this past Saturday (April 9), so let the annual riot of Chicago floral color begin! (And let’s...