Along for the Ride: Passenger-Side Photos From a Memorial Day Excursion Heading Southeast in Chicago

I didn't have much happening on Memorial Day yesterday.

No one invited me to any barbecues or picnics; I didn't attend any remembrances for fallen soldiers.

And while hanging out with family is a fairly common option, I had done so pretty extensively on both Saturday and Sunday.

So I was glad when I connected with my friend Ken, who wanted to pay a cemetery visit down in Calumet City and was happy to have me along for the ride.

Ken opted to take "the scenic route" along south Lake Shore Drive and the 41 extension, wanting to point out a grand church, stop at a longstanding eatery, show me his favorite fishing spot and take me past the Hammond, IN homes where he had spent a good part of his childhood, among other points of interest.

It was a fun jaunt and made for some good photos, as shown below roughly in the order taken. We began down the Edens & Kennedy but got over to LSD south of McCormick Place. I didn't get any good shots of the most beautiful stretch along Lake Michigan, as I was on the passenger side.

St. Michael the Archangel

A small shack featuring fish smoked on the premises; it's existed since 1948 but neither Ken or I had been here before.

It's hard to tell, but the bridge had opened while we watched.

 

Caught between two states (not just of mind); Indiana on the left, Illinois on the right.

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All photos by Seth Arkin, copyright 2017. Please do not repost without permission and attribution.

My City by the Lake: A Chicago Photo Gallery Shore to Delight

Some of my favorite moments, and memories, of traveling have involved taking long walks along bodies of water.

The Thames River in London, the Vistula in Krakow, the Seine in Paris, the Liffey in Dublin, the Danube in Budapest, Töölönlahti bay in Helsinki, the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, the Venice Boardwalk in Venice, CA, along one edge of the Pacific Ocean, the Bondi Beach boardwalk outside Sydney, Australia, along the other, the boardwalks along Copacabana and Ipanema beaches in Rio de Janeiro, abutting the Atlantic Ocean, as with the Miami Beach boardwalk.

But although I’ve always appreciated the beauty that Lake Michigan adds to Chicago and suburbs to its north, I’ve far too infrequently made a point of strolling along it. And when I have in recent years, it’s usually been in Evanston.

So in going to Soldier Field on Sunday to see Guns N’ Roses—after having done so on Friday by taking the Red Line to Jackson & State and boarding the 146 bus—I decided to get off the train at State & Lake, walk to and through Millennium Park, across the Frank Gehry-designed BP Pedestrian Bridge to Maggie Daley Park and then south along the lakefront.

On a beautiful day, it was an absolute delight, as the combination of parkland, sculpture, architecture, boats, pedestrians, bicyclists, locals, tourists, shoreline, skyline and lake made for a sublime visual symphony.

With my point-and-shoot digital camera, I captured some of what I saw. Making, I think, for a nice photo gallery.

And an even better walk.

All photos copyright 2016 by Seth Arkin. Please do not repost without permission and attribution.