Book excerpt: “100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die”

Take a Fall Stroll Through the Sculptures

Here’s a little piece of trivia for you: The Village of Skokie isn’t actually in Chicago, but the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park is.

Wondering how that works? The park sits on a 2-mile strip of land in the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). In 1988, a collaboration between MWRD, the Village of Skokie, and some public art enthusiasts produced the park that exists today. Roughly seventy sculptures call the subtly landscaped space home. Winding paths permit visitors to walk or bike through, and fall is the perfect time to do it.

Finding the park can prove to be a bit of a challenge. As you drive along McCormick Boulevard, it might be easy to miss the collection of public art tucked between the trees — especially if you’re gawking at the fall foliage — but don’t let that keep you from making a visit. It’s a quiet place to wander and experience large-scale contemporary sculpture, and it is most certainly something that should be on your Chicago bucket list.

Molly Page is a freelance writer and digital strategist. She considers herself lucky because her work often feels more like play. After falling madly in love with her adopted hometown, Chicago, she wrote a book about it, 100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die. When she's not hard at play, she can be found snapping pictures and adding to the list of foods she’s tried that would make you gag. Shrimp heads, anyone? Follow her adventures via Twitter or Instagram @mollypg.

Book excerpt: “100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die”

It isn’t only humans who look to Chicago as a popular travel destination. Birds love it here too. During spring and fall migration, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary is quite the hot spot. Birders flock to “The Magic Hedge" to catch a glimpse of the hundreds of bird species making a short stopover in Chicago.

In 2001, the city began to focus on returning the sanctuary to its native vegetation. Time, money, and effort have created luxury accommodations for our winged visitors. The seemingly wild and unkempt plantings give the area an enchanted feel. Even when the birds are hiding in the trees, their songs can be heard throughout the area.

If you’re looking for a guided bird watching experience, you’re in luck. The Chicago Ornithological Society hosts early morning walks around Lincoln Park’s North Pond every week during the fall.

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

Bio:
Molly Page is a freelance writer and digital strategist. She considers herself lucky because her work often feels more like play. After falling madly in love with her adopted hometown, Chicago, she wrote a book about it, 100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die. When she's not hard at play, she can be found snapping pictures and adding to the list of foods she’s tried that would make you gag. Shrimp heads, anyone? Follow her adventures via Twitter or Instagram @mollypg.

Book excerpt: “100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die”

Every year on a Saturday afternoon in August, King Drive is transformed from a major thoroughfare to a raucous parade route. The Bud Billiken Parade has been a South Side tradition since 1929. Floats anchored by DJs, enthusiastic marching bands, and colorfully costumed drill teams entertain thousands of neighbors as they celebrate the return to school each academic year.

This year’s parade is happening Saturday, August, 13th and is scheduled to step-off at 10 am.

Be sure to bring your appetite. All along the parade route, smoke billows from grills where jerk chicken wings, ribs, and other mouthwatering treats tempt spectators and draw shouts from float passengers. Family picnics line the street as the community cheers on performers and spends an afternoon celebrating. The parade, organized by Chicago Defender Charities, Inc., is intended to promote education; it ends in Washington Park, where the party continues throughout the day.  

Looking for another way to celebrate Chicago this week? Stop by Hip Cat Chicago on Friday, August 12th at 7 pm for a free cocktail event. Learn more and RSVP on Facebook.

Bio:

Molly Page is a freelance writer and digital strategist. She considers herself lucky because her work often feels more like play. After falling madly in love with her adopted hometown, Chicago, she wrote a book about it, 100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die. When she's not hard at play, she can be found snapping pictures and adding to the list of foods she’s tried that would make you gag. Shrimp heads, anyone? Follow her adventures via Twitter or Instagram @mollypg.

South Loop author pens “100 Things to do in Chicago Before You Die”

Local author Molly Page wants you to enjoy 100 things in Chicago…before you die! Page, a freelance author from the South Loop, has written an insider’s guide—100 Things to do in Chicago Before You Die—to some of the best that Chicago has to offer. Originally from St. Louis, Page has really embraced the city and all it has to offer. A lover of history and architecture, Page has assembled some interesting sites to see and experience. For example, did you know that there is a magic show at the Palmer House Hilton? And have you visited the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park? You’ll also discover the best blues club in the city and it’s probably not the one you’re thinking of right now.

Page has lived in Chicago for five years and has grown to love her adopted city. 100 Things to do in Chicago Before You Die is published by Reedy Press, a publisher specializing in local-interest guidebooks. The book is available at bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com. At Amazon, Page’s book is the number one bestseller in Midwest US Travel Guides.