Hanging Out At The Beach

It's been so hot in Chicago recently. The thing to do is get some sun and hang out at the beach. At least that's been floating in my head for some time. I just hadn't gotten around to getting to the beach. Finally, my friend who I call Michelle on my blogs and I decided we were going yesterday. We headed to Navy Pier to pick up her cousins and then headed back south to stop and Harold's and get some chicken wings. Then finally we made our way to the 55th Street Beach. Our goal was to go around 4 pm so as to miss the hottest part of the day. That worked out better than we planned because we didn't get there until the six o'clock hour. It was still very warm, and we still got about two hours of (setting) sun. One of our friends brought her dog, and he had tons of fun frolicking on the beach.

Navy Pier is always super crowded in the summer time, but loads of fun if you like just walking around and looking at things and then eventually spending too much money. If you go to Navy Pier you have to either do the hot air balloon or the Ferris wheel. I like the miniature golf, but then I'm pretty competitive. And make sure you stop and get some Garrett's popcorn.

Harold's Chicken has some of the best fried chicken in the Chicago area. Their mild sauce is to die for. All Harold's are not created equal though. My two favorite ones are the one east on 53rd and the one right by the expressway on 87th. Yesterday, we went to the one on 53rd since it was right up the street from the beach. I got my favorite order: 6 wings with fries and mild sauce and a Grape Strawberry Mistic. If you've never had a Mistic drink, I suggest you hunt one down.

Finally the beach. It's one of the more culturally diverse beaches you'll see in Chicago since it's at the east edge of Hyde Park, which is incredibly diverse. And the views are excellent. You can't see downtown's skyline from there, but you still get the view of the water, and you can see the Museum of Science and Industry behind you. We parked by Bar Louie, which is a great bar and if you ever go there, try the Buffalo Calamari, they are amazing. It's a nice scenic walk from where we parked to where we were at the beach. The only thing to be conscious of is the sand. it's a pretty lightweight sand and there are tons and tons of little rocks in it. My feet were actually hurting by the time we left. But if you are less of a Princess Pea than am I, you should be fine.

Places Mentioned In This Post: Bar Louie, Harold's Chicken Shack, Museum of Science & Industry, Navy Pier, 55th Street Beach
Neighborhood in Chicago Area: Downtown Chicago, Hyde Park
Recommendations: 1. go with what you like at Harold's. If you're a dark meat person, don't order wings.   2. bring an extra towel to the beach. You'll need it when your first one gets irreparably sandy.   3. Don't try and go to the museum and the beach in one day, but Navy Pier and the beach in one day is okay. Either way, you'll be very tired at the end of the night.   4. Be careful who you make friends with at the beach. I'll be writing a blog post on about that soon.
Who To Do This With: A group of very flexible friends