The Trailside Museum of Natural History is one of the museums of the Forest Preserve Cook County…read moresystem. This nature museum is fanciest of them all, as it was once a mansion. It's also in a nice area of River Forest. It was established in 1932, in a mansion that dates to 1876. The building itself has an interesting history; after being a residence, it was the site of not one but two different schools before it became the nature museum. The building was acquired by the Forest Preserves in 1919 and was for a time the headquarters of the FPCC. There's a parking lot here and I've also found parking along Thatcher Road on that side of the museum; there is an entrance on both sides. There's a pond near the parking lot for fishing. There are just under 5 miles of trails, and they have a variety of programming here as well. One of their programs is a hybrid program in cooperation with educators, which I think is pretty cool. The first time I was here, it was as a stop on the West Cook Wild Ones native garden tour. I didn't know it--or any of the nature museums of the FPCC--existed before that time. I got some great information from the master naturalist there and now aspire to have a pollinator garden of my own someday. I saw my first hummingbird moth here, many butterflies, and so many birds. And I saw a real live chipmunk for the very first time that was NOT a cartoon! Today I was here for a program called Busy Beavers, and it was really good. There were nearly 20 people that attended. One of them was wearing a Beaver Believer t-shirt, which is a reference to Oregon State University. Funnily, she has no connection to Oregon or OSU; she just likes beaver. I happened to be reppin' my hometown and was wearing my University of Oregon Ducks t-shirt, so I had to get a photo. #goducks #beatthebeavs I learned a lot from the guide, and it was really fun program. I think the hike was probably about a mile to our destination and back. There's another program here called Summer Blossoms which I'm looking forward to attending, and I will be keeping an eye out on the events here so that I can fill up my calendar.

This place is as charming on the inside as it is outside. It's small for a museum, but we easily…read morespent about an hour and a half there with two young kiddos. The inside has some nature-inspired toys and exhibits, but the outside is the main attraction, in my opinion. On one side, there are a few birds on display (are they being rehabilitated?), and over a dozen hand-painted birdhouses. What we most enjoyed was an awesome outdoor playing area for kids on the other side of the house. My kids loved the jumping stones and the water play area. We'll be back, in warm or cold weather. When it's too icy to play outside, we'll just spend more time playing inside.

There was a time the United States allowed slavery, or at least parts of it did. We're here in…read moreIllinois which was not a slave state. And this marker points to the history where a number of slaves from the south came on their journey to freedom. Slaves fleeing the South before the Civil War followed the Des Plaines River north to Maywood, where abolitionists aided them. The journey was called the "Underground Railroad" and it is believed this was one of those stops. According to historians, the Underground Railroad consisted of "stations," or stopping points, where slaves escaping to free states or Canada hid and rested before returning to the treacherous route. Taking over a small corner of this McDonald's parking lot, you would otherwise miss it. There is a plaque, some benches and a small piece of railroad though no, the railroad is a metaphor for the escaping slaves who would not have traveled on such a mainstream route. [Review 20626 overall - 173 in Illinois - 1607 of 2023.]

Mills Park is a lovely park that's fairly close to the business district in the city of Oak Park…read more The park's well landscaped, with a nice winding sidewalk, as well as lots of trees and a cast-iron fence all around it. Tip: This park is quite dog friendly :-) In the North East corner of the park stands the Pleasant Home mansion, which is a National Historic Landmark designed in 1897 by architect George W. Maher for John W. Carson. Both the park and mansion are a delight to experience, and the docent-led mansion tour is very interesting. A number of parks in the area have playgrounds for small children, but Mills Park doesn't have one. For me, that's a plus because it makes this place just a bit more peaceful and relaxing. I enjoying visiting to read a book or just to relax. In the evening, this is a nice place to stroll after dining out on Marion Street :-)

Dr. Reid is amazing !…read more Absolutely love this dentist! Dr. Reid is the sweetest and super knowledgeable! Love the hygienist Andrina also! Very thorough and gentle while she cleans your teeth. Highly recommend

Open on Thursdays from 11-4. As of April 2024, they accept a modest entrance of $2 or canned food…read morefor the food pantry per person.

I visited Chicago this past weekend with some family and friends, and it turned out to be a very…read morearchitecture-heavy trip. We decided to stop by Pleasant Home since we were in Oak Park for a tour of (you guessed it) the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Pleasant Home was a bit of a disappointment for us, but it was probably partly our fault. I was dragging our group around to look at historic buildings all weekend, and I was a bit worried the two people less interested in architecture were beginning to get bored. When we arrived at Pleasant Home, I saw they offered guided and self-guided tours. Because I was worried a long tour might be the breaking point for two of our group, we opted for the self-guided to keep it a bit shorter. What I didn't realize is that if you do the self-guided tour, you are limited to the bottom floor of the home. You are given a single laminated sheet of paper with the floor plan and some very basic information about the house. On top of that, the bottom floor of the house has no furniture in it (with a couple of exceptions - two tables maybe?). So, while the price for the self-guided tour was reasonable (only $5 per person), you basically have access to five or so rooms with no furniture in them. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. The house is beautiful (although the lighting seemed very low, making the house appear very dark), but I cannot recommend a self-guided tour. If you're interested in the house, pay the extra $5 and arrive on the hour for a guided tour. You'll get to go upstairs and learn more about the house than what is on the laminated floor plan guide. It might be a wonderful guided tour, I can only say that the self-guided tour option is not worth doing.

Amazing! Offers something for everyone! Very helpful when ordering books and movies! My grandson…read moreloves it when he comes into town as there is a playroom in the downstairs children's library! The staff is exemplary! In a small town we are very fortunate to have such a great library!

I came here on Saturday to update my library card. I moved to the Forest Park Area a few months…read moreago. I looked online and was happy that they were offering a complimentary parking pass to The Chicago Botanic Garden. The guy behind the counter was nice and helpful. It took him some time to get my information to get my library card. I walked around a bit and this library is quite nice. Very nice and clean on the inside and outside. There are many programs and workshops this place offers. You can check online for events young, teens and adults. I love the banner outside that says "Everyone is Welcome" Its also cool that FPL is Fine Free which permanently eliminates fines.

Unity Temple is another Frank Lloyd Wright design. It is walking distance from (only a few blocks…read moreaway) his house and studio. Make a day trip and see both of them. The Temple was part of a group of buildings added UNESCO World Heritage site recently.

Since I had a coupon from Groupon for the Unity Temple, I decided to take the hike out to Oak Park…read more It is defiantly a day trip. I took the Green Line train to Oak Park. From the train, you can walk to the Unity Temple, just follow the street signs to the Unity Temple. In the lobby, you will be given a pamphlet and a brief history about the temple. From there, you have the opportunity to take your time to walk around the temple. You certainly can tell, this masterpiece is from Frank Lloyd Wright. Granted, the temple is going under renovations, I would highly recommend taking a tour of this building.

During Parents' Weekend at the University of Chicago, the university offered tours of the…read moreneighborhood through Chicago Detours. My wife did this tour a couple years ago and highly recommended it, but I wasn't especially interested because I had also gone to school here and figured I knew enough about Hyde Park already. However, she insisted that it would be worth our while and so I agreed to climb on the bus. And it was the absolutely right decision, because the tour was excellent. In fact, it wasn't just a tour of Hyde Park. It included the surrounding neighborhoods of Washington Park, Kenwood, Jackson Park, and Woodlawn. Since this was a UChicago sponsored event much of the information related to the University's investment and involvement in the area. Our tour guide and founder of Chicago Detours, Amanda, is herself a graduate of UChicago and thus she had some additional insight into the relationship with the community. Though the 75-minute tour felt a little slow-going at times, there was much to learn about the vibrant but sometimes troubled history of the area. Amanda has tremendous knowledge and the excursion was both fascinating and entertaining. I can imagine that Chicago Detours would have equally interesting tours of other neighborhoods in this diverse city.

Virtual tours are such a cool thing to do right now. I attended a Yelp Elite event that was a…read morevirtual food tour of Chicago. It was incredibly informative and a good balance of history and current trends. Looking forward to attending more virtual tours, like the World's Fair and the Cruise From Your Couch Boat Tour. I loved seeing the pictures of the in-person tours and can't wait to attend some of those too.

This home caught my eye as I was leaving a nearby park across 1st Ave. This stunning Georgian red…read morebrick building has ties to the Civil War. It was built in 1924 and was a home for Civil War widows. Until 1973, it was in continuous use by veterans' families. It had 34 individual bedrooms with communal bathrooms, a kitchen, a large dining room and a family gathering room. The brick part of the building doesn't look bad from the outside, but the front white porch-like front area needs a lot of work. Preservationist we're successful with getting this home listed in the National Register of Historic Places. There is now a historical marker outside the front entry. Another cool thing is that the side street (Ohio Street) is still a brick paved road. I hope this will be preserved and properly renovated in the near future. I think a nice restaurant/event space would be nice. It seems to have a lot of potential. The exact address is 224 North First Avenue.