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Burnapalooza in the Forest Preserves

TheRoadScholar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:11:45 +0000

Highland Park/Highwood, IL–This week’s birdapalooza continues, with red-headed woodpeckers hammering at trees, and hawks swooping and cartwheeling through the air. Makes me want to sing “Free Bird“. The only glitch is that it’s also time for controlled burns in Openlands Lakeshore Preserve and in the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve. Is it really my allergies kicking up, or is it just the leftover smoke and smell of burned leaves? Even with the burned patches (all clear to walk through once the fires are gone), the walks are great. Runners, walkers, and leashed dogs enjoy the scenery, the sounds of the birds, and the calm, blue waters of Lake Michigan. Ah, spring.

Ludwig the poodle loves forest preserve walks. Photo by Laurie Borman

Maple Syrup Hike at Ryerson Woods

TheRoadScholar — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:58:41 +0000

Big Mama sugar maple holds two buckets of sap. Photo by Laurie Borman

Deerfield, IL– It’s a sure sign of spring when maple sugar hikes begin at Ryerson Woods. Jen Berlinghof, an environmental educator at the 552-acre conservation area owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, leads the hikes. She’s also the manpower behind tapping 35 trees each year, boiling the sap, and making the syrup. Hikes begin in the green architecture Welcome Center, where families sample sap and syrup, and learn the age-old process. Then it’s off to the woods.

“We put our arms around the trees, and if our hands don’t reach, it’s big enough to tap,” says Berlinghof of the 15-in. diameter minimum tree size for tapping. There seem to be plenty of big sugar maple trees, however, and she points out “Big Mama”, a giant tree with two buckets.

Hikers see the taps up close, practice hand-drilling into a log, learn how to identify sugar maples by their branches, and even taste test some maple sugar candy.

Two more weekends remain for the hour-long maple syrup hikes, but reservations are suggested.

Olympics Hockey: Did Canada really win the gold?

TheRoadScholar — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:55:26 +0000

The hockey game was Olympian, with a late score by the U.S. team. And though Canada scored in overtime (3-2), when you realize that three Canadian players were Chicago Blackhawks and one Chicago Blackhawk was playing for the U.S., I say Chicago won the 2010 Olympics Hockey final. Look for some serious celebrations in Chicago this week, including a great welcome at the next Chicago Blackhawks game on Wednesday.

Vancouver Top Five Favorite Things

TheRoadScholar — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:13:32 +0000

Aquabus will take you in and around Vancouver. Photo by Laurie Borman

Vancouver, British Columbia–Everybody’s watching Vancouver, with the Olympics in full swing. It’s cool, it’s sophisticated, it’s laid-back, and one of the best cities to visit. Here are my top five favorite things about Vancouver:

Artful Caffe Artigiano latte. Photo by Laurie Borman

Custom-made lattes. Get a latte, cafe au lait, cappuchino, double-shot espresso. Whatever your prefernce in coffee, Vancouver barristas serve it with style. At Caffé Artigiano, (I like the one at 574 Granville) they’ll pour a leaf design, maybe make Olympics rings. Ask and you shall enjoy.

Water taxis. Hop aboard a water taxi for a shortcut to the city’s sites. They’re so much fun you might want to take a taxi to nowhere. The most colorful: Aquabus.

Boutique bonanza. You don’t have to buy, but you’ll definitely be tempted by the many shops here. There’s a veritable bevy of fashion designers. Check out Smokin’ Lily on Main St.

Breakfast, Lunch, Pie. Coffee’s great, but if you really want some good grub, I’d head over to Sophie’s Cosmic Café in the Kitsilano neighborhood, 2095 4th Avenue West. She serves a mile-high pie to die for, tasty breakfast burritos. Oh, I’m drooling. Excuse me.

Sophie of Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, shows off her mile-high pie. Photo by Laurie Borman

Stanley Park. It may be cliche, but Stanley Park really makes my stay. Walk amongst the trees, watch crew teams out on the water. It’s 1000 acres of park within a walking distance of major hotels downtown. An outdoor lovers’ dream.

Stanley Park. Photo courtesy Tourism Vancouver / Tom Ryan

Heavy Snow Falling and I’m Driving AWD

TheRoadScholar — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:48:39 +0000

We may not have the Snowmaggedon of the East Coast today, but Chicago is hunkering down for a foot or more of snow today and tomorrow. No biggie–this city’s been prepared for heavy weather since the late 70s when a certain mayoral candidate lost the race because he couldn’t get the streets cleared. Chicagoland has had trucks out since 2 a.m. this morning, and a 45-minute drive took me all of an hour and 15 minutes, even with the snow falling heavily.
Of course, I’ve got all-wheel-drive on my 1998 Chrysler Town and Country van, so I feel safe. And happy that I didn’t buy that new Prius last year when gas prices were so high. I also have a Toyota Corolla and have found lots of little design flaws in it, which seem to predict some of the issues in today’s Toyota problems. The Corolla is also a 1998, and by 1999, the driver side floor mat rumpled and caught under the pedals. The mat had been hooked to the floor by a single small metal pin that broke within a few months of purchase. Uh, this is for a car that’s going to last me 10 years? I ignored the broken pin, since it seemed more of a design flaw to me than something that would be repaired and stay that way. The loose bottom half of the pin still rattles around under the floorboard.
Hmmm. Well, it may not be eco-friendly, but I’m sure glad I have my snow-driving van today. And a pair of snowshoes, packed along “just in case”.

Illinois Winter Wonderland: Ft. Sheridan Nature Preserve

TheRoadScholar — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:37:28 +0000

Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve path in winter. Photo by Laurie Borman

: Trees raise their limbs to the sky. Photo by Laurie Borman

Highland Park/Highwood, IL–Fresh snow covers the paths of Ft. Sheridan Nature Preserve in Lake County. Only a few birds pierce the silence. This is the time to trod in snowshoes, down the path to the lake and back up through the trees. Check out the lakebergs forming in Lake Michigan, the snow that recaps Queen Anne’s lace in white. I don’t know why people don’t come here now, but I’m happy to have the place to myself.

Lake Michigan's frozen flating bergs. Photo by Laurie Borman

Chicago’s Spertus Institute Architecture Tour

TheRoadScholar — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:42:23 +0000

Spertus Institute at 610 S. Michigan Ave., Photo by William Zbaren

Crown Great Hall. Photo by William Zbaren.

Chicago’s Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies built an amazing structure on historic Michigan Avenue in 2007, all angles of glass and ribs of steel. You might be thinking, ugh, I hate those cold all-glass buildings, and in the middle of beautiful Michigan Ave., it must be especially gross. It’s not. The amazing structure sits on a small footprint and juts out just a wee bit beyond the adjacent structures. It’s like a ten-story faceted jewel. Architecture writer Cheryl Kent noted that “the building’s crystalline facade fits in superbly, if surprisingly, on a street full of stone and brick landmarks, mostly from the turn of the 19th century.”
The LEED-certified building, designed by Chicago-based Krueck & Sexton Architects, features 726 pieces of glass in 556 shapes. They’re attached to custom-made metal ribs in varying angles to give the unique prism-like front.
On a Spertus architecture tour, (there’s one on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m., and another in March) you will get a bottom to top walk-through with a staff expert, learning about the special qualities of the glass, where to stand to get a sky-view north along Michigan Ave., and even the features of the stacking bookshelves in the library.
Tours last about an hour and are $15 for adults, $10 for students, but you must book in advance at www.spertus.edu or call 312.322.1773. After the tour, plan to spend time looking at the Spertus Museum, as admission is included in the tour fee. The exhibit “What Does It Say to You?” runs through March 14, 2010, with 60 objects and videos of reactions of the objects.

Asher Library. Photo by Laurie BormanSpertus Museum. Photo by Laurie Borman

Why Does A Six-Point Buck Cross The Road?

TheRoadScholar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:39:15 +0000

Highland Park, IL–Why does the buck cross the neighborhood street? I don’t know, I forgot to ask I was so stunned. He, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed.

The Apple of My Eye

theroadscholar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:27:23 +0000

Twin Lakes, WI–Golden delicious apples make for good eating and easy picking at Oriole Springs Orchard, a Wisconsin institution since 1919. An easy drive over the IL border from Antioch for north suburban Chicago residents, Oriole Springs has plenty of apples and now a pumpkin patch, too. Just down the road is Harvest Time Orchards, where you can’t pick your own apples, but they sell apples, cider, and heavenly donuts.

Here are a few other north Chicago area orchards to explore:

Homestead Orchard, More Than Delicious Orchard, Lang’s Orchard, and Woodstock Country Orchard, all in Woodstock.

Zieglers Orchard In in Grayslake.