Blogs from Illinois, United States, North America - page 3

This was our first casino camping. The Oasis RV Park Hollywood Casino had a small campground not far from the main hotel. Lois doesn’t like casino’s but agreed to walk through with me. One older woman evidently hit a slot machine jackpot of a few thousand dollars. She did the happy dance in her chair. The first morning we drove into Chicago and picked up Amanda for breakfast at Yoke. Then we picked up Aiden and visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry that included a special Lego art exhibit. Lunch included playing Bocce Ball at Pinstripes.... read more

Today we decided it was time to slow it down. We woke early, I worked remotely again this morning, and then we took a leisurely walk through the Old Stone Fort Campground. One cool thing that Nate was interested in was the old trestle bridge that was once the main entrance to the campground but is now a walking path between the campground and main park. The view from the bridge was pretty. The river was full of algae, many turtles and bass were swimming round, and a few bumble bees were flying around. I particularly enjoyed birding. We found an eastern bluebird, Carolina wren, tufted titmouse, and red shouldered hawk. I was on the lookout for a summer tanager, but only could hear the bird from a high distance. We were so lucky yesterday to ... read more

About this tour https://www.heygo.com/tourswithmike Chicago has at least 77 neighborhoods (it depends on who you ask), each with its own histories, evolutions, landmarks, and unique characteristics. The "Chicago's Neighborhoods" series reveals these stories and highlights the diversity of this wonderful city. The Printers Row area has had many lives: a prolific vice district, a bustling publishing center, a zone of urban decay, and a revitalized residential neighborhood. Throughout all these incarnations, it has always been one-of-a-kind. Despite being next to Chicago's Loop, the city's central business district, many people do not know much about this landmark area filled with unique features, beautiful lofts, and wonderful stories. This tour is a great opportunity to discover what makes Printers Row so special. By the late 1... read more

The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived around the 1849 Gold Rush. As the Chinese population moved eastward over the next few decades, along with the trans continental railroad, Chicago’s first Chinese community emerged downtown, around Clark and West Van Buren Streets. But as Chicago’s population swelled from 500,000 to over 1 million between 1880 and 1890, the growing Chinese community needed elbow room and a place to call its own. Many moved to the near southwest portion of the city, around South Wentworth Avenue and Cermak Road, establishing what has today become Chicago’s thriving Chinatown, a densely packed, 30-block area with 27,000 residents and over 400 businesses. A prominent building in the Chinatown streetscape has a colorful history. In the 1920s, a group of Chinese community leaders known as the On Leong decided that a ... read more

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