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  #1  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 1:12 AM
OhioGuy OhioGuy is offline
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Back in Chicago & SW Michigan

I spent several days in mid July in Chicago (and a couple nearby suburbs) and then hopped on Amtrak’s Wolverine service to New Buffalo for several days with my family at a beach house just up the shoreline from downtown New Buffalo. We also spent a day in St. Joseph about 28 miles further north. This is the second year in a row I’ve combined a trip back home to Chicago with family beach time in SW Michigan (last year we stayed in South Haven). As nice as the eastern shore of Lake Michigan is during the summer, I think next year we may opt for just Chicago (or the North Shore) and enjoy its beaches. Anyway, here are the photos from my time out & about.

1. I arrived on a redeye from SFO to ORD early on a Wednesday morning, took the blue line to Jefferson Park, then switched to the Lawrence bus to head east to my friends’ place in Lincoln Square where I was staying while in Chicago.


2. Now heading through Lincoln Square to Ravenswood to stop by my favorite place for amazing croissants, La Boulangerie, which is next to Lycée Français de Chicago on Wilson Ave.


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4. Here we are… the croissant jambon et fromage is fantastic!


5. Now for some peace & tranquility at Montrose Harbor


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11. Montrose Beach


12. Montrose Dog Beach


13. Heading west from the lakefront towards Andersonville


14. Andersonville


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19. Bryn Mawr historic district


20. This section of the red & purple line tracks is under reconstruction so the station area for Bryn Mawr is a bit of a mess. But it’s open and available and it’s time to head south to Lakeview.


21. Boystown


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27. The new flyover for outbound brown line trains just north of the Belmont station.


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29. Back in Lincoln Square


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32. Love these Chicago bungalows!


33. Winnemac Park


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35. The following day I biked outbound on the 606 from Bucktown to Kimball Ave to check out a relatively new coffee shop, Dayglow. Turned out to rank easily among my top 2 coffee shops in the city (challenging Sawada for the top spot).


36. A delicious flat white and an incredibly tasty root beer float doughnut. It had root beer flavored cream inside. A unique and delicious flavor for a doughnut.


37. Scenes along the 606


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41. Stopped by Parsons for lunch and opted for this frozen pisco drink which was perfect for a warm sunny day.


42. Making my way towards Milwaukee Ave.


43. Heading southeast on Milwaukee Ave through Wicker Park.


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49. River West


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56. Approaching the West Loop


57. And now making my way towards the Riverwalk. Such a beautiful afternoon!


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63. Down to the Riverwalk.


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67. Up to Michigan Ave.


68. I definitely had better coffee on this trip than these people are about to have…


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70. Now in the Gold Coast.


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75. Over to the lakefront.


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78. The south end of Lincoln Park.


79. Back into the Gold Coast.


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81. And now heading into Old Town.


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87. Time to catch the brown line back to Lincoln Square.


88. A farmers market was happening when I arrived at the Western brown line station in Lincoln Square.


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94. The next day was unfortunately rainy other than a brief break in the early afternoon. But it was nice sitting by the window at Groundswell Coffee in Ravenswood enjoying a flat white and doughnut.


95. I ventured out for lunch in North Center during the brief afternoon break in the rain.


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99. Heading downtown on Saturday morning.


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101. Stopping by my #1 coffee shop, Sawada, in the Randolph Market/West Loop area.


102. Then out along Grand Ave in West Town to check out the new Publican outpost.


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105. The Grand Ave streetscape in West Town isn’t overly attractive, but it’s improving (the city had portions of it torn up to rebuild the sidewalks and curbs which should be nice in the future).


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107. I hopped on a Divvy bike and headed back east through the Fulton Market/West Loop to Union Station to catch my Metra train out to La Grange.


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109. Arriving in La Grange.


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111. Heading through downtown La Grange to meet up with friends for a late brunch.


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115. This was a ridiculously indulgent brunch dish but it was tasty! Two mimosas and a pretzel-croissant french toast with caramel and white chocolate drizzle. I think I gained 5 lbs from that one meal alone.


116. The La Grange Craft Fair was happening on this particular Saturday.


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120. Afterwards, I headed with my friends to their house in Riverside. Unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of time to explore this historic community (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux). I mostly just saw the small commercial area adjacent to the Metra station.


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126. After the Metra ride back to Union Station, I caught the brown line at Quincy to head back up to Lincoln Square.


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128. It’s Sunday morning and time to head back to Union Station for my train to New Buffalo, but first another stop at Groundswell.


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130. And one final walk around Lincoln Square.


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134. Heading back to Union Station.


135. Not the most pleasant experience waiting for an Amtrak train at Union Station.


136. But we were finally allowed to board the train.


137. Arriving in New Buffalo. My Amtrak train to New Buffalo did not stop between Chicago and New Buffalo. It was very quick and convenient (about 70 minutes)!


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139. The sun came out the following day (Monday).


140. The harbor area was covered in green.


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142. Downtown New Buffalo is rather small but has some decent restaurant options.


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148. Now for some beach time with my family.


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151. On Tuesday my family decided to head north to St. Joseph to check it out and spend some time at the beach. It was a particularly warm and humid day with basically no lake breeze, so most people were down at the beach rather than walking around downtown.


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160. Along the bluff on the edge of downtown with the beach down below is a nice linear park.


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166. Heading down to the beach from the bluff above. This is the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Amtrak station. It’s on a different line than services New Buffalo and doesn’t have as much service to/from Chicago, but you can take the train here.


167. Silver Beach in St. Joseph.


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173. Walking along the St. Joseph River which divides St. Joseph from Benton Harbor.


174. Photo taken from St. Joseph with Benton Harbor on the left across the river.


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176. A residential area adjacent to Silver Beach.


177. And now back up the bluff to explore the neighborhood of Old St. Joseph, located just south of downtown. There were some beautiful old homes in this area.


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187. Back into downtown St. Joseph.


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194. My family’s final full day in New Buffalo was all about relaxing at the beach on a gorgeous summer day.


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199. Dinner Wednesday evening in downtown New Buffalo.


200. The sun sets on our time in SW Michigan.


And that’s all from this trip. Always happy to be back in Chicago and these past two summers enjoying the SW Michigan beaches with my family has been an excellent capper to my Chicago trips.
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  #2  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 1:27 AM
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geomorph geomorph is online now
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Such an excellent tour! Thank you for the La Grange shots especially.
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  #3  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 3:14 AM
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Oh Chicago. You scream with potential. Great pics!
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  #4  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 4:28 AM
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SLO SLO is offline
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Excellent thread...
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Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 2:31 PM
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tdawg tdawg is offline
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Just wow! And Chicago has one of my favorite waterfronts in the world.
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  #6  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 4:40 PM
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Steely Dan Steely Dan is offline
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Excellent photos.

Chicago + a Michigan beach town = summer fun in the Great Lakes at its best!

i love that you can take amtrak from the loop almost directly to the beaches in new buffalo and st. joe's on the other side of the lake.
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Jul 27, 2022 at 5:42 PM.
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  #7  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2022, 5:04 PM
MplsTodd MplsTodd is offline
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Great photos! The neighborhoods of Chicago never cease to impress!
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  #8  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2022, 12:31 AM
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Awesome photos of some wonderful places.
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