Every day since I moved to Naperville, I have driven past the Garden Plots. Anxiously awaiting to…read moresee when the gardeners would come out, what plant would be placed in the allotted space, and how long it would take for plant starts to shoot out from the ground. I took a nice walk through the park off of West Street and am very pleased to see that Naperville has space for many (like me) who do not have a garden of their own. There is a sense of freedom to utilize your space and it's a huge joy to see the areas decorated with a trellis, garden chairs, vine wraps and other pieces that make a garden complete. Am I a bumbling person who loves stepping into a garden and getting lost in the sea of fresh plants--I'm easily going to say yes. There is a waitlist--which is not surprising. For this season that opened it's pearly gates May 5th, all plots are full and you can expect to see a wide range of sprouting fresh herbs and vegetables. While I would love to see this as a full year long garden plot--seasons tend to take over. The land is mapped out well and used to the fullest. Near the far entrance near Knoch Park there is a wall with Gardening Tips as well as information regarding certain types of plants. As a note, I would most definitely recommend marking a spot on the waitlist for next season if you love to garden, sit out in that garden and do what it is you do in that garden. Weed. And reap the benefits of fresh produce. Thank you Naperville Parks for having this in our neighborhoods.

Great idea, great price at $40 a summer but that $40 turns into serval hundred pretty quick. The…read moresoil there is absolutely useless, my buddy actually tested it and the results were worse than we thought. We had 2 plots in the organic section which doesn't get a whole lot of sun if your close to the tree line. Mostly everything we grew came in McIntyre sizes cuz the soil/clay had no nutrients and didn't allow the roots to prosper. Might be different in the regular sections. Everyone out there is pretty friendly. Spigots in each row are semi/usefull they can add more. My one truly negative experience is with how they regulate the organic section. It's an organic section for a reason and I busted my butt picking weeds and trying every trick in the book to make my plants grow bigger and I expected everyone else in that section to respect the organic ways...after a couple weeks I spotted a few plots close to mine where the owners were spraying non organic pesticides and fertilizers. When I reported the issue they told me to ask the people to not use them...not my job. It never was addressed even after another complaint that these people were cared so little that they left their poison bottles in theirs plots for me to look at every day...kinda a slap to the face. Your plants are mostly safe from poachers by I have seen people rummaging thru other people's gardens and taking some of their veggies...karma will get them

I stopped by here one evening before grabbing food at a nearby restaurant. I only became aware of…read moreit as I was looking at Google maps and seeing what places were around the area of an event I attended. In today's climate, its importance to have this remembrance of tragedies and the importance of black lives! You cannot get very close to it but close enough to take a picture. I actually had difficulty finding it. It is near a whole alley of murals, which was great. If you're in the area, check it out!

This mural by Michelle Huang has found a home I uptown behind the Chicago Market Coop (you'll see…read moreit from the street, but can enter their parking lot to see it more fully). The history of this piece is interesting: Businesses in Uptown were preemptively boarding up their storefronts in the midst of BLM protests in 2020. Huang took that opportunity to create this work in solidarity. At such time as the boards came down, the neighborhood organization Uptown United salvaged this work and installed it in its permanent home. I live on the cusp of Lincoln Square, Uptown, and Edgewater, so I consider this part of my greater neighborhood. I have a great love of public art, particularly murals. Huang's work is beautiful. I love Chicago's neighborhoods and their strong sense of identity and pride, and am so thankful that Uptown United took the care to preserve this work made to honor these individuals who were taken so violently, and for us to remember. #578 - October 17, 2021

What a surprise to find this mural in Lombard! I love murals and public art in general, and am a…read morebig fan of Kelsey Montague's #WhatLiftsYou public mural project. I've visited the one she did in Nashville, and have considered taking a trip to visit the one in Indiana as well. So I was delighted when, on the way to an early morning breakfast at Honey Berry Cafe in Yorktown, I found this purely by accident since I took the long way round the mall. It's between what is currently (as of August 2019) a Barre Studio and Amazing Eyelash. It's really the definition of blink-and-you'll-miss-it. I hate to name an anchor store, since it was Carson's and that's a dead brand, but JCPenney is the next closest. I was there at 8:30 on a Monday, so the mall wasn't open and the only people here were people heading to workout at Barre or Orange Theory. So it's possible that people stop here all the time and everyone knows about it, and I just am a city slicker who's out of the loop (um... so to speak). Though it should go without saying, if you do stop here for a photo, be mindful that you're in a mall parking lot, and the place where the mural is happens to be right by a sharp curve where the driver would probably not see someone who wasn't standing on the sidewalk. Exercise great caution! But take a moment to appreciate a really nice bit of public work.

STAY AWAY from this event!!! Unless you are okay to pay $10+ for one taco or have 6 hours to kill…read moreon a weekend to get your money's worth. I should have checked Yelp before I purchased the ticket. But originally, the event says they are offering $35 for 7 tacos, discounted drink and other ride deals. My impression, probably will be agreed by lots of others, is that I can hit 7 bars and try their tacos in 2-3 hours to have fun. HOWEVER, one day before the event, I received the schedule, together with another line of saying that we are limited to one taco per hour???!!! Most tacos tasted fine, but some tasted like having been siting in a heated pan forever and the tortilla even fell apart... Unless you have 6+ hours to kill, you are at least paying $5 for a taco and spend extra money for the drinks. Also, event website says there's no refund. It's some event I will never go again and would strongly recommend no one else to go.

Having a great time so far. Great combination or food, drink, and fun. Jump in the path with us all…read moreday long. El Hefe is already crazy and tasting FA BO LO US. https://www.mapcustomizer.com/map/Chicago%20Taco%20Crawl

I am such a huge fan of public art. I am not an artist, I don't understand most art, but I like to…read morelook at and experience it. I drove down here once and found all of the murals along Clinton, each with a sign, but didn't have the chance to look at them any longer than the time it took for me to drive down the street. Today, the block was closed for the block party that took place yesterday. Since this is one of the few times to be able to wander that block with almost no cars and definitely no traffic, I took the opportunity to wander and study them in greater detail. Along this short strip of Clinton, form Broadway to Wilson, is a collection of nearly 40 murals. The works range from the size of a door to multiple stories tall. Most of the murals were painted on wooden board, and transferred to their permanent spaces, but there are a few that are painted directly upon the buildings. They range from whimsical and silly (in a good way!) to more somber and thought-provoking. All are beautiful and make this easy-to-miss street into a destination. Fortunately, this open air gallery is steps from the Wilson stop on the CTA, so you can stop here easily if you wish and parking can be okay sometimes too, with permit parking being free on Sundays, so take a little time to visit yourself. It would take maybe an hour to wander through.

I had never heard of Virginio Ferrari before my most recent trip to Chicago. Wandering around the…read morecity, I noticed several of the thirty pieces that he installed around his adopted home town. Originally from Verona, Italy, but not related to the Enzo Ferrari family, he was hidden at an orphanage during WWII by his mother who was quite ill. Since he was just there for protection and nourishment, the nuns did not give him the gifts of toys that the true orphans received. This forced Virginio to create his own toys from found objects. Barbed wire, stones and other scraps became his playthings. Doesn't sound too safe but fostered his imagination. The family survived and were reunited after the war. They moved back to Verona where he joined the family's stone cutting business. They helped to restore Verona's destroyed landmarks. His skills were later honed as he attended university to study art formally. There he was exposed to bronze casting methods that date back to the renaissance as well as international abstract artists. His first show was at age 24. He was then invited to be in the art-in-residency program at University of Chicago. Amazing! Dialogo is a very abstract work on the University of Chicago campus. Love the strong lines that just draw you in. From Verona to Chicago, a very interesting life.

People don't really come here for the Lincoln statue; it's not a tourist destination. However, The…read moreChicago Lincoln (the name of this work) is notable in several respects. This statute was designed in 1860. That makes it one of the earliest of the Lincoln statutes; if you'll recall, Lincoln wasn't elected president until 1860. The statue cost $35,000 to construct--a sum that would be equivalent to $1.25 million today. The statute is sometimes know as the "beardless Lincoln" because--you guessed it--Lincoln as depicted here has no beard. This is true to life, as during his travels to and in Chicago from 1847 to 1860, he didn't have a beard. It's also what makes this statue unique: It's the only statue of Lincoln sans his famous facial hair. It's location is also a nod toward some of his important work in the city, as he met with his first vice president in Lake View Township to discuss business of the new administration. Though the statue has been in its current location for nearly 40 years, it's not its original spot. It was once placed right in the middle of the Lincoln, Lawrence, and Western intersection, and cars had to navigate around it. It is for this reason--in whole, or in part--that this intersection was one of the three most dangerous in the city, taking the dubious honor of being the second most dangerous in 1975. It was subsequently removed to its current location several yards away and no longer in the middle of the street, rendering traffic exponentially safer at this location.

If you've got to wait for a bus, you might as well wait with the 16th president…read more Seriously, there's always a very strange smell right here. It's a major intersection, with two bus stops next to the statue, a Walgreen's, and a lot of pigeons.

This is the love you mural it is in downtown Chicago. We took some pictures next to it. We had a…read moregood time. I really like the color scheme with the pink and white.