What a day in Chicago!

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

RamenAddict,

I have taken many trails that I would recommend if you have not tried them, but you catch them from the north side:

1. North Branch: you can catch it as far as the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe, but I usually catch it around Dempster and Lincoln Avenues. It will go all the way to Gompers Park.

2. Skokie trail: Starts at Dempster next to the Yellow Line L station. It will go all the way to the end, just west of the North Park Village Center, which you should also check out, for it's nature and animals.

3. North Shore trail: you can catch it on McCormick and Green Bay Road in Evanston. It will go all the way into Lincoln Square.

ENJOY!!!!

Thanks for the advice. I have been meaning to do the North Branch Trail and the North Shore trail. I haven’t heard of the Skokie Trail but will definitely try to check it out.

[Master Jay]

Ramen Addict, good morning,

And MAYBE by now, they might have it paved where the end of the North Branch trail in Gompers CONNECTS with the end of the Skokie trail.... I know that was the plan. Last year it WAS connected, be it a rocky path. Maybe they have finally smooth paved it?!?

In any event, if you catch the trail next to the Dempster Yellow Line station, you will see it. It goes through Skokie, Lincolnwood, and then Forest Glen. It ends at Bryn Mawr Avenue, in a residential area. it literally just ENDS! LOL

But you can go east bound into there and check out the North Park Village Center. VERY RELAXING. In summer, if you go in the woods, with the trees grown, you'd never know you were in a CITY!.. And you might even see some deer get kind of close to you.

And guess what? There's also a trail, about 3 miles long, that you can catch in Lincolnwood, just to the east end of Lowe's Store, on Touhy Avenue. It goes past Lincoln Avenue and stops at Devon Avenue. My understanding is there was talk of continuing it southbound on the trail.

GOOD RIDING TO YOU!!

How the heck does this Milwaukee guy know so much about Chicago?!? LOL

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Ramen Addict, good morning,

And MAYBE by now, they might have it paved where the end of the North Branch trail in Gompers CONNECTS with the end of the Skokie trail.... I know that was the plan. Last year it WAS connected, be it a rocky path. Maybe they have finally smooth paved it?!?

In any event, if you catch the trail next to the Dempster Yellow Line station, you will see it. It goes through Skokie, Lincolnwood, and then Forest Glen. It ends at Bryn Mawr Avenue, in a residential area. it literally just ENDS! LOL

But you can go east bound into there and check out the North Park Village Center. VERY RELAXING. In summer, if you go in the woods, with the trees grown, you'd never know you were in a CITY!.. And you might even see some deer get kind of close to you.

And guess what? There's also a trail, about 3 miles long, that you can catch in Lincolnwood, just to the east end of Lowe's Store, on Touhy Avenue. It goes past Lincoln Avenue and stops at Devon Avenue. My understanding is there was talk of continuing it southbound on the trail.

GOOD RIDING TO YOU!!

How the heck does this Milwaukee guy know so much about Chicago?!? LOL

If you walk on that trail past its current southern end(at Bryn Mawr Ave), there's a cool former railroad bridge you can walk over, that has a lot of interesting graffiti on it. Also if you walk east of that bridge into the woods near the water, you can see more of the graffiti besides what you can see from walking over that bridge. Note you will walk over some gravel south of Bryn Mawr(I guess for about the equivalent distance of 2-3 blocks?) to get to that bridge, but it's worth checking out. The extension of the North Branch Trail between Foster and Devon that opened a few years ago, goes right by where this bridge is. You walk around the concrete barriers, and you can get a close up look at all that graffiti for yourself.

WARNING that if you ever try to do this during the handful of warm summer months(like from July to August, and sometimes early September too), PLEASE do spray on bug repellant before you walk into the woods during those very warm weeks. Since one time I walked into the woods, I had a handful of bug bites. They weren't too bad, but be prepared to use bug repellant if you try walking into the woods east of this bridge, to check out all the graffiti. There's also a tiny bit of graffiti on the west side of that bridge, but for whatever reason more of the graffiti is on the east side of that bridge.

Here's one 360 street view, of the bridge I mean: https://goo.gl/maps/6wX2LZ3VayBP7qU4A

Overhead map view: https://goo.gl/maps/yh8Qed6rUGxrGMzA8

[Master Jay]

SonySegaTendo617, thank you for the tips.

I don't want the bugs, but COME ON warm weather! Where are you??

We need more days like Saturday. I'm ready to bike some more!!

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

SonySegaTendo617, thank you for the tips.

I don't want the bugs, but COME ON warm weather! Where are you??

We need more days like Saturday. I'm ready to bike some more!!

I haven’t even gone on my bike yet. I was considering it yesterday but when I went outside, I decided on a walk because it was just too cold.

[Master Jay]

RamenAddict, good morning,

It sounds like you get a lot of walking in. Good for you! It's so important for us to stay active, and healthy! Keep up the good work.

And not only that, as much as I like to explore Chicago, you just can't get the same experiences in a car, since HOPEFULLY your eyes are more on the ROAD!!!

And on top of that, you know how often you get stuck in those long lines at the lights, and the bicycle allows you to just coast through it!

I will probably be back the 2nd weekend of May. Anyone up for getting in some biking, shoot me a message!

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

SonySegaTendo617, thank you for the tips.

I don't want the bugs, but COME ON warm weather! Where are you??

We need more days like Saturday. I'm ready to bike some more!!

Me too, to both you and Ramen. I badly want to put my winter jacket and gloves and hat away, but hadn't yet. I had finally put away my scarf, though.

[Master Jay]

SonySegaTendo617, it's times like THIS that I'm glad my office in the jail does NOT have a window!

Well, as of this moment, Chicago's 10-day forecast shows the BEST day as;

Monday, May 2nd, as SUNNY, and a high of 68 degrees!!

So get out there everybody on Monday. Your laundry, or whatever, can wait another day! We need that Vitamin D for our mental health boost!

The other days appear like they may be cloudy, and colder.

I have to work in the jail, and then teach that night so I will not be down in Chicago. But if I do need my Illinois fix, there's a chance I might do a quick Lake County trip, provided it's still warm out, when my class ends at 7:00 p.m.

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST, EVERYONE!... DON'T LET A GOOD OPPORTUNITY PASS YOU BY... CARPE DIEM... ETC.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

RamenAddict, good morning,

It sounds like you get a lot of walking in. Good for you! It's so important for us to stay active, and healthy! Keep up the good work.

And not only that, as much as I like to explore Chicago, you just can't get the same experiences in a car, since HOPEFULLY your eyes are more on the ROAD!!!

And on top of that, you know how often you get stuck in those long lines at the lights, and the bicycle allows you to just coast through it!

I will probably be back the 2nd weekend of May. Anyone up for getting in some biking, shoot me a message!

I used to do the Architecture Center walking tours- they would give a nice layout of certain areas of town and after that you could go explore the area more. Unfortunately after the pandemic, they have changed the payment structure and the vast majority of walking tours are now $10 even for members. They don’t offer the one-time bus tours anymore, so I am not seeing that a membership there has much value anymore.

I am considering joining the History Museum since they still have the $100 free parking membership. The tours are more expensive, but they seem to be taking over a lot of the tours that the Architecture Center used to do. Plus with the free parking, that would give me a nice starting point if I want to bike the north part of the city.

[Master Jay]

RamenAddict, good day!

It's nice to hear you have some options! THAT is always good!!

I do not recall if you had mentioned, but have you done the 606? You can get off just east of Damen, and go north a couple of blocks to Lottie's, which is used in the Chicago Fire program as "Molly's".

Unfortunately, I can not go back there, because if the same woman is bartending that I saw last summer, I will RE-fall in love!