Guest Post: Christmas Activities in Chicago

Filed Under Chicago, Chicago Events, Family Events, Lincoln Park, Parks, Shopping | Comments

After a long interlude, I now have another guest post to share from one of my Team members. This post comes from John Costa, our team’s Director of Marketing. While John spends his days spearheading the print and online marketing of our client’s properties, today, he’s offering up some advice on how to make the most of Christmas in Chicago.

Christmas in Chicago

Lights on palmetto trees. Playing a quick nine holes of golf. Wearing shorts in December. While this was Christmas as usual for me when I lived in Charleston, South Carolina, it didn’t feel truly like the holiday season to a New Jersey native such as me. So, when I moved to Chicago two years ago, I looked forward to enjoying “Northern” Christmases once again.

With so many holiday offerings in the city, I thought it would be helpful to provide a short list of some of the best ways to take in the season in Chicago. Here’s my picks:

6

Chicago Halloween Events for Kids (and Parents, too)

Filed Under Chicago, Chicago Events, Family Events, Gold Coast, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Old Town, Parks, Streeterville | Comments

Halloween may be a one day event in some parts of the country, but here in Chicago, there’s nearly a month’s worth of parades, haunted houses, pumpkin carvings, fun runs, spooky mazes, and other events dedicated to the holiday. Many of these events are cheap (or free), are geared towards children, and don’t involve the ingestion of mass amounts of candy. In others words, they make for good, wholesome family outings.

The Chicago Parks District has a list of all their Halloween offerings, and About.com has a good general summary of city-wide events.

For simplicity’s sake, however, I had a Google map made up of all the North Side Halloween events. Use it to find the upcoming events near where you live. Blue markers are Parks District events, red markers are parades, and yellow markers are all other events.

Please click through to the website for each marker to get the most up-to-date information for each event.

View Larger Map

Did I miss any great Chicago Halloween events? Let me know with a comment!

Oct

1

Chicago’s “Backyard” Garden

Filed Under Chicago, Family Events, Parks | Comments

In a recent posting, I offered some suggestions on how to cope with stress and the challenges of staying healthy and balanced despite the daily grind. Already, I would like to add to that list!

I cannot think of a nicer way to spend a fall day than to take a relaxing walk at one of my favorite pieces of “Chicago” real estate - a 385-acre plot of landscaped islands in Glencoe, Illinois. I’m talking, of course, about the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Encompassing everything from orchards, vegetable plots, and vineyards to bonsai trees, rose gardens, and tropical greenhouses, the Chicago Botanic Garden is one the metro area’s most scenic locations. Just 20-30 minutes from downtown, this “living museum” is superbly maintained, and it’s open free to the public every day. This is a beautiful place to visit any time of the year, but now that the fall foliage is arriving, it’s particularly stunning.

The garden has more ground than can be covered in one visit, so it makes for a great day event for the family. Kids will enjoy the wildlife (ducks, geese, swans, chipmunks, carp, etc.), seeing how their food grows (tomato plants, grape vines, banana trees, etc.), and playing on the many trails and green spaces. There are classes for kids as well. You can pack a picnic to eat on one of the garden’s lawns, or simply order from their lakeside café.

So, if you’re looking for a nice way to relax and enjoy a beautiful fall day before winter arrives, I can think of no better place to do it than at the Botanic Garden.

From Chicago’s North Side, the garden is a short drive up I-94. It’s also easily accessible by foot or by the garden’s own trolley service from the Metra Union Pacific North Line.

Visit the garden’s website for full details, and to see what upcoming events are happening there.

Jul

31

Movies in the Parks

Filed Under Chicago, Chicago Events, Family Events, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Parks | Comments

For the 7th year in a row, the Chicago Park District is hosting “Movies in the Parks” - screenings of current and classic movies in more than 170 neighborhood parks throughout the city. The schedule extends well past Labor Day to September 18^th.

The showings are all free, and the lineup includes some nice titles including classics like E.T., Willy Wonka and West Side Story, as well as newer films like The Great Debaters, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Hairspray.

This is really a great event. Everyone brings picnic baskets, blankets and/or lawn chairs and they settle down at dusk to watch the films on giant projection screens. It has all the charm of an old fashioned drive-in movie but without the cost of a ticket and the glare of a car windshield.

My husband, Paul, and I brought our own children to a recent showing of Enchanted in the playfield at Hawthorne School. We only intended to stay through dinner and the opening, pre-film cartoons, but the kids were enjoying themselves so much, we stayed well past their bedtimes until the feature film ended. By the time we left, my boys were covered in dust and dirt, but they had had the time of their lives.

This is a truly wonderful service provided by the parks, and I can’t recommend it enough for locals, especially families with kids. Get out while you can and enjoy the cool night air and this charming way to take in a movie.

Here’s a sampling of upcoming venues. You can preview the citywide schedule here or by calling 312-742-PLAY.

Wicker Park

August 7^th at 8:30 pm- Surf’s Up (PG)

South Lakeview Playground

August 12^th at 8:30 pm - Bee Movie (PG)

Indian Boundary Park

August 13^th at 8:30 pm - West Side Story (NR)

Seward Park

August 14^th at 8:30 pm - The Great Debaters (PG-13)

Trebes Park

August 21^st at 8:30 pm - Bee Movie (PG)

Independence Park