Yesterday was my final day in Chicago. With the help of my new friend Louise, it was amazing. She picked me up early and we headed towards the Garfield Park Conservatory.
Rather than going on the highway or sticking to main streets, Louise had plotted a route that allowed me to see a number of other neighborhoods that I’ve never been in or even knew about.
We spent time exploring Ukrainian Village in the city’s Near West Side, part of the larger West Town community area. A sign proudly exclaims that Kyiv and Chicago are sister cities. Louise told me that Chicago has a LOT of sister cities. When I checked, there are, in fact, twenty-eight. We passed by, but didn’t enter the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. It’s a neighborhood I will return to, as it also has several other beautiful churches and the Ukrainian National Museum and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Who knew?
Then, zigzagging through the city, we arrived at The Garfield Park Conservatory, located in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. It is one of the largest botanical conservatories in the United States, it encompasses nearly 4.5 acres of indoor gardens. If you are in Chicago, go visit. Admission is free and it is gorgeous.
We spent hours exploring through the various rooms—palm, fern, desert, aroid (herbaceous plants including anthurium, calla lily, jack-in-the-pulpit, and philodendron) and a special display of spring flowers. The displays are well done with many unusual species.
Even with a couple of hours, it wasn’t enough but we had to leave for me to get to the airport. Louise generously offered to drive me there. We again went through neighborhoods I’d never seen, including industrial and residential areas. Despite the number of times I’ve been to Chicago (more than twenty) this is the first time I’ve gotten a real sense of the neighborhoods beyond the inner city. I loved it.
Louise had one last stop in mind, a visit to Portillo’s, beloved by her family and from what I can tell most Chicagoans. We didn’t have enough time to eat in the restaurant, instead we got takeout. But I got a chance to get the vibe, pure Chicago.
I got to the airport early, assuming there’d be long lines because of the new enforcement of Real IDs. When I arrived, it took no time at all. It was my lucky day!
Building on that luck, as we neared the airport I was on the correct side of the plane to have a perfect view of Manhattan as the sun was setting. There was also a great view of Citifield where the Mets play. And…most shocking of all…there was almost no traffic on a Saturday evening! I got home in record time.