Great place with informative stories and helpful people! I recommend going here if you live in the…read morearea and want to know more about the history.

I'm so glad I made it to the Pullman Garden Walk! Last year at just about nine months pregnant I…read moredecided it wasn't the time to make the trek down to the far south side but I always enjoy a visit to Pullman so it was on my calendar as soon as I got the date. Pullman is often pretty overlooked as a neighborhood but they put on some fantastic events and it's always worth checking them out. This year there were 10 homes on the garden walk. Something interesting is that almost all of the homes had docents at them rather than the homeowner themselves, although at one of the homes the owner was there to answer questions and offered a place to sit. The gardens spanned a five block or so radius, though we weren't able to get to the outliers because we only got there a couple hours before it ended. I liked that they had the docents, who I assume were members of the Historic Pullman Garden Club. Some of the gardens have been cultivated over many years and some were significantly newer. The uniqueness of Pullman architecture allowed for some front yard gardens and some back yard gardens, and some you needed to enter through the alleyway because of the connected homes. There was a rock garden--the entire yard had been pulled up and replaced with stones and raised vegetable garden beds--and there was a garden wherein the owner had placed her own sculptures, at least half a dozen or more. Some of the homes had water or something for folks visiting (very useful since it was a terribly hot day). I would happily visit the Pullman Garden Walk again.

It's clean, it's wide, it's pretty 'ideal'…read more The monument itself is currently just some stonework, plaques are missing and HOPEFULLY being redone. If you do want to check it out, park at the car wash or the oil change place right across the highway. You may have to dodge some traffic and put yourself in harms way but, you'll get to see the marker stones. There's still a double sided sign at the 'beginning' of the 1.5 ish mile stretch located at the southwest corner of the Calumet / Joliet (Route 30) intersection. Easiest way to see it is by parking at the Speedway gas station on that corner. As far as the 1.5 mile stretch of road... it's a road, nice n wide and al that, clean and has a middle turning lane (like most roads). If you like historical stuff, and are in the area, go take a peak, snap some photos, there's not much to really LOOK at, unless you're like super into roads and infrastructure... but hey, you can say you've been to 'The Ideal Section of The Lincoln Highway'

Frankfort just got dumped on - 20+ inches of snow in 22 hours. That's a lot of snow. This morning…read moretook a walk around town, all the streets were clean. Period. They were working on municipal parking lots. Plenty of driveways weren't done yet and these guys had done the whole town. That's a damn good night's work. Hats off, guys.

Been calling for days to pick up a dead goose . Still laying there 3 days later on Waterview trail…read more Now moved to empty lot by someone.

A monument of culture and history deeply rooted in the development of not only the Bronzeville…read moreneighborhood, but our city and modern society. This bronze sculpture designed by Alison Saar stands tall overlooking southbound traffic along Martin Luther King Drive, just south of I-55, as one enters historical Bronzeville. A ton (literally probably much more) of symbolism based around the movement of hundreds of thousands of people moving north after reconstruction and into the 20th century, looking for a better life. The base of the sculpture is a series of shoe soles layered on top of each other eventually forming the body of a man and his clothing. Most of these soles have holes symbolizing the tough journey African Americans faced in this journey to the north and into new lives. The man holds a suitcase with one arm and waives with his other. Surrounding the sculpture is another series of suitcases acting as both protection, but fitting into the symbolism of the art. The long history of African American movement from the south eventually settling throughout the north (amongst other places) and bringing with them their culture, food recipes, and other traditions to mold themselves into the greater fabric of not only our city, but society in general is on display in the living history that takes part in so many places throughout the city. Bronzeville just happens to be one filled with rich traditions and iconic places and institutions jam packed with a ton of local and culturally relevant history. Bronzeville also includes monuments that invoke remembrance of the past that are controversial and even sad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_A._Douglas). Which brings me to my point. Many who live in this city aren't even aware of the Monument for the Great Northern Migration which is a shame. It is a great symbol of a legacy that has enriched modern society in so many ways and is a topic that still has relevance in modern culture and life today. Their stories should not be forgotten. Come see this sculpture. Then go around and walk amongst one of Chicago's great neighborhoods- Bronzeville.

This monument represents the Great Migration from the South to Chicago and, hopefully, a better…read morelife. I love its symbolism!

This is a small branch on the far south side. I stopped in because they are hosting a virtual…read moreprogram called Introduction to Oil Pastels next month (January 2022), and I needed to pick up materials. Undoubtedly they would have sent them to Sulzer Regional, which is my neighborhood branch, but I like visiting libraries and since I think I've visited more suburban branches than city ones, I wanted to check out a new one (I promise the pun was unintentional!) This branch has a nice piece of artwork called Forever Gwendolyn above the checkout desk. The artist is Preston Jackson. From the Brainerd branch page on the CPL site, this work "celebrates three phases of the life of Gwendolyn Brooks, poet laureate of Illinois and the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in poetry." It's a pretty small branch, to be sure. When I was there no one else was there besides a librarian and security guard (and another employee in an office or something), though a couple other folks came whilst I was in the lot and figuring tour where I wanted to go next. When you walk in you can basically see the entire branch, with the exception of the community room; but as I mentioned before, things can be shipped between branches so one has essentially the whole of the Chicago Public Library at their disposal. The library has really beautiful cathedral ceilings and clerestory windows to let in lots of light without sacrificing much needed wall space to hold the library's collection. Putting on my plant mama hat I can't help but think of how great a space this would be for plants that don't like direct sunlight! There is also a small parking lot at the branch which is nice since that's not to be taken for granted at a library in Chicago. It's also a block from the Brainerd station on the Metra Rock Island line. The librarian on duty wasn't overly friendly and didn't say anything until I spoke to them about picking up the items for the workshop, but they weren't rude either. A large courtyard with several benches takes up the skate between the entrance and parking lot, which I'm sure is a welcoming place to enjoy in the warmer months.

The Village Hall for Frankfort is a very clean, pleasant, modern building. The women who work here…read moreare very friendly and if you miss the deadline for the less expensive village stickers, they are very sympathetic. If they don't handle it, they sure know who does. The only operation which isn't very efficient is early voting. I have personally voted early here and it takes forever, each person is individually processed and all the paper work is done by hand. I have seen early voting on TV and it seems much more automated. I they could make that more steamlined I think this village hall would be perfect. On the other hand it sure eliminates any vote early and vote often fraud!

Had the pleasure of stopping at the village hall to take care of some work business…read more Had the pleasure of meeting the mayor of Homewood today. What a gentleman. We chatted about our mutual love for our fur friends. No food review here. Just a very nice interaction between myself and the mayor. True gentleman Great to meet you Mr Mayor

Ok I don't live in Homewood Il or even close so I'm not reviewing the general quality of life in…read morethe town but what I like is the welcoming attitude to the nerd rail former fans. The town has a super rail highway that has a rail park and parking next to the real rail operations with just about all access on both sides for the rail foamer. All out unrestricted/hassles viewing by railroad employees if you don't over step the property's boundaries. Overall I want to thank the town for a great rail fan trip and not getting hassled by cops and rail employees made for a great day, not everywhere has this attitude and the boot on your neck face down on the ground approach to rail fans in public spaces gets really old. The town was very welcoming to my nerdy hobby and stands out over other towns that hassle us so once again thanks for a great day in your town.