Exploration

Museum of Science & Industry

You hear those stories all the time about native Chicagoans who have never been up in the Sears Willis Tower. Non-natives like me are less likely to take things for granted and more likely to get out and see things. Still, I've got a few blinds spots.

I took care of a couple of them this weekend, on a long, 25-mile bike ride. I'd been to the Museum of Science & Industry, and in spite of the fact that I like science and have no real problem with industry, I found it kind of dated, overly-commercialized -- "The good folks at John Deere demonstrate the wonders of modern ('60s-era) agriculture" -- and really hot and stuffy. But I'd never explored Jackson Park, the site of the 1893 World's Fair.

I got interested in it after having been the last Chicagoan to read Devil in the White City, which was mostly worth the slog through the first 100 pages. So I explored Olmstead's lagoon and the original "Wooded Island," both much bigger than I had anticipated. The fair itself must have been quite a sight. The island even had a restored Japanese garden, after the original one was destroyed by fire during WWII (and probably not so mysteriously, at that).

Other highlights of the adventure included this Lawn Bowling court. Lawn Bowling!

And I finally got down to Northerly Island. I still say a small air strip is a better use for the land than one more lakefront park, but they did do a nice job of it. Once you get past the snack bar, the beach and the music pavilion, a major chunk of it is nicely underdeveloped compared to other local parks. It has a long bike path that runs through acres of wildflowers, with sanctuaries for native plants and birds and beautiful views of the harbor and the city. And some amusing sculpture -- a tribute, I assume to the island's former function.

Still a few things left to see on the list. Beverly (Southside! And highest point in Chicago!), Pullman District, the Botanic Gardens, Brookfield Zoo. Hot Doug's. And, of course, back to the Willis Tower to get out on the new glass balconies!