Take a Walk

The last two Mondays, Michele and I have walked the lakefront. Yesterday, we did nine miles, give or take. Catch us, if you can. Over the last ten months, we’ve been to NYC, London and Paris; each city has a unique claim to world status. Chicago? Maybe the architecture—don’t get me started on the visual sameness of Paris—if only they didn’t keep tearing down landmark buildings. Definitely the lakefront. On the one side, sand and water. On the other, a never-ending variety of apartment buildings (for contrast, see Paris, above, while contrasting “polychromatic” with “monochromatic,” variety with uniformity). When I bike the lakefront, everything tends to zoom by; walking it, I get a sense of nature. Grass; trees; sand; waves. These are the elements of reverie, or can be until some idiot zooms by on an e-bike or scooter. Did I mention food? There’s actually a nice variety to be had, and it’s no more expensive than what you get at the ballpark, cheaper, probably. Both Mondays, we’ve ended our walk at a place familiar to anyone who’s watched enough Cubs’ broadcasts. Directors love that shot of the lake with the clock tower off of Addison, sailboats gliding along in the distance. (Sure beats Jim Blushi singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”) Well, there’s a dive bar next to the clock tower. You can eat inside or out. There’s a great view of the public golf course that abuts. Don’t worry. Protective screening keeps out any errant golf shots. My recommendation—the Wisconsin brat; that, and good walking shoes. Both are well worth it.