Chicago Friends
Our friends Kristin and Dan were our neighbors in Tampa in the early 2000s, and our kids were in elementary school together. Now they live in Dan’s home town of Lake Forest, a historic suburb about an hour’s train ride north of Chicago.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Lake Forest was a refuge for wealthy Chicagoans wanting to escape the city and its growing population of European immigrants who (in their opinion) drank too much and had dangerous socialist ideas. They built estates with houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and other noted architects, and they socialized in country clubs, riding stables, and polo fields.
Kristin gave us a driving tour through gently winding lanes lined with large estates and pretty mansions. We took a walk at Forest Park Beach, a beautiful park on the shores of Lake Michigan. Then we spent some time at Kristin and Dan’s house, a sprawling Cape Cod farmhouse built in the 1930s, on a huge grassy lot with plenty of trees. It was charming, and SO much larger than the little bungalow houses we had in Tampa! Their youngest son Nick was there, working as an intern at Dan’s company. It was great catching up with Kristin and Dan, and hearing about Nick’s travels (he lived in Europe for his first year of college).
Back in downtown Lake Forest, we dined at the historic Deer Path Inn, dating back to 1929. The pub was cozy and served traditional English pub fare. The chicken pot pie and shepherd’s pie were delicious! After dinner, we said goodbye to our friends and walked around historic Market Square - the country’s first shopping center, built in 1916 - before catching the train home.
My Tampa friend Becky visited downtown Chicago for July 4th weekend. We had fun playing tourist: we visited the Chicago Architecture Center and the Driehaus Museum, and walked the Lake Front Trail, the Magnificent Mile, and the Riverwalk. Alas, it rained on the evening of the 4th, so we opted out of the Independence Day concert in Millennium Park and the fireworks at Navy Pier. But it was still a full and fun weekend. Becky grew up in central Illinois and is very friendly, so we chatted with people everywhere, including a young man from Clearwater who treats himself to a trip for his birthday every year. What a terrific idea!
Our friends Scott and Tina drove in from Milwaukee to see us. We had seen Scott only briefly at Princeton Reunions, and were happy for the chance to spend more time catching up. We had lunch together at one of our new favorite spots, a pizza place on Ogden Slip. It was a perfect day to relax by the water with good food and good friends!
