This trail is part of a larger trail that spans 26 or so miles. While many parts are plowed, you do…read moreexperience some icy portions in the winter. However, for winter running, especially lo g runs, it's a great loa toon and trail. There are some nice scenic parts to view and some street runs. I didn't see any spots for bathrooms, but I would like to check further along the way. It has some hills, which are great, and other parts that are flat. I enjoyed this paved trail very much. Can't wait to run it again!

This is my 500th review. I was waiting for something amazing for such a personal landmark. I am so…read moreglad to have stumbled upon the Cal Sag Trail. I am fairly certain that Mother Nature does not enjoy being paved. However, in the case of the Cal Sag Trail, maybe she might just reconsider. Hear me out. I used to stomp around with the dog along the Cal Sag as a side trip from Lake Katherine. The area along the Cal Sag was pretty disastrous. Overgrown, neglected, weedy, muddy or rocky, mostly unfriendly and unusable. We never travelled very far but we always liked watching the boats and trains along the way. Along came the Friends of the Cal Sag with a brilliant idea to put in a trail that would go all the way from Lemont to the Burnham Greenway, which is almost to Indiana. The full distance will be 26 miles. It is not all done yet, but the parts that are completed are spectacular. I walked with my dog along the new addition in Palos Heights. Not to sound cliché, but truly, "If you build it, they will come." That is exactly what happened here. So many walkers and so many bikers. All ages. And it is not even officially opened yet. The trail is paved and two lanes. It twists, turns and has some great sights, like bridges and trains. Other times maybe you see a car wash. There are signs along the route that let you know what suburb or area you are in. The Cal Sag Trail feels like it was always meant to be there. Land that was unused is now being used and enjoyed. Please, without delay, get a bike or some walking shoes and get out there.

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.

I stopped at the Pullman branch in order to drop off ballots for the city elections. It's a small…read morebranch but it was hopping today with people there to vote, and election workers trying to talk up their candidates. Voting and ballot drop-off took place in the community room just inside the entrance to the building. This branch has a small parking lot in the back with about twenty spaces, as well as street parking because Green Street is a cul-de-sac here. It's a small branch and a single story, but it's also a newer one having been built in 2005. It's in really good condition I was surprised to find it's been around that long. The architecture is in the prairie style that they've been employing in the newer branches, or at least the ones built around that time. Like many of the newer branches it's LEED certified as well. There's a children's section, and the main room of the library has a large number of computers for the neighborhood's use. When I was there, only one was in use but the dude seemed to be winning his game! They don't seem to have a huge collection of books, actually, though libraries are so much more than that these days; luckily the CPL system is huge and you can get pretty much anything transferred between branches if the local one doesn't have it. Given the location of the branch it's not a surprise that they feature information related to the Pullman company. Specifically, they highlight A. Philip Randolph, an important figure in labor, Pullman company, railroad, and Civil Rights history. He spearheaded the movement to unionize the Pullman Porters, and for his efforts the Pullman Porter museum is named in his honor. They also have some nice artwork; in the main room there are some panels depicting various scenes. In the entrance hall, there are portrayals of both A Philip Randolph and Barack Obama. Almost forgot to mention what I saw I was leaving. There was a little box just inside the door with two boxes of naloxone, aka Narcan, to use in suspected cases of opioid overdose. Since Illinois is a state where anyone is allowed to carry this to provide aid if necessary I've been wanting to pick some up for myself to carry, but I haven't seen it in public spaces to prove assistance. I was pretty glad to see it.

Everything went very well there nice and quiet the young lady by the name of Eve she was very…read moreprofessional with me very helpful kind and patient because I am a lady of 80 year young and she truly truly have helped me

Almost all of the staff are polite, professional, friendly and informative. Unlike other DMVs, the…read morecashier and photo line were 5 stars. The security guard, even with a level of sternness, was cool. I can't compliment those other employees enough! But somebody seriously needs to take one employee through harassment training. I thought it was odd that he went from helping at the information desk to coming around to the area where they verify info for renewed IDs. I assumed he did so because the information line was slow. He immediately told me he lived near me and his address. I nodded politely and looked out the window. Then he asked me my weight twice and said he "just doesn't see it." I made a comment about "weight yo-yo-ing" in hopes he would let this go. Women and their weight are already a touchy subject, and I was agreeing to not change a HIGH weight. Still, I hoped he was verifying it to make sure nothing changed like he did after examining my eye and hair color. He claimed to be "impressed" that I checked the front and the back of the form before signing it. But then after the second time he recited my weight and said he didn't see it, he said, "It must ALL be back there." Wildly inappropriate. I just stared at him. No smile. I was relieved when another employee walked over, loudly asked him what he was doing "processing" (so he clearly isn't usually working in this department) and handed him some kind of pink drink to try. She said she wanted to stand there and wait for him to try it, and I couldn't have been happier she was there so I could get my ID paper and get as far away from him as possible. I appreciate the friendliness from the rest of the staff. They clearly understand the line between "friendly" and "creepy." And talking about my butt literally crosses the line, especially with a coat on that CLEARLY covered it.

A dark basement area is where you must go to deal with license plates. A quick trip will do the…read moredeed, if you arrive prepared with all requisite paper ! Driver licenses and state IDs are issued in a separate area that always has a long line snaking through! There's a food court in the basement. There are shops on the ground floor. A mini Post Office is available. The CTA el station closest to the building is the Clark-Lake station. A major transfer hub! Interesting architecture to the building!

Impressive well maintained and nice building here. This is for Business Affairs in Cook County. I…read morethought the staff were helpful. It was straightforward. You can expedite paperwork for 24hrs turn around for an additional fee. No massive lines, no nonsense here at the Business Affairs Office. Well done representing and getting things done. We have so many responsibilities in business, and no one wants additional unnecessary headaches . Go here, it's quick and they get it done. Ty. If you drive , I'd say to download the Spot Hero App, for discounts. If you take the train, it's off State Street and Dearborn. Across from the Daley Center. Many wonderful places to eat and shop nearby. The Washington Hall was great, cool inside food court.

This office lock their doors at 4:30 pm today Feb. 27 and did not provide any information. It would…read morebe nice if they had provide the reasons why were they closing early instead of 5 pm as they say in their office door.

It's a 4 star if you are into this type of thing...it's not really my thing, which is why it's a 3…read more This is Chicago's oldest house, according to the literature. Pros: The guides are extremely knowledgeable. Our guide was a history major & she knew every little thing about the house & and its history. She also grew up in the neighborhood. One guide was a biology teacher & when we were outside, she told us all about cicadas, more than the generic info you read about in the news. It's really pretty & the interior was filled with old wedding dresses & it's history. Interesting fact I observed... wedding dresses don't seem to go out of style. The wedding dresses were numbered & correspond to a phamlet detailing its history. It's a recommendation of $5-$10, affordable & you do your part on old building restoration. Cons: It's a very small house.

Check out some old Chicago history. If looking for the oldest place in the city then come here for…read morea look. The Noble-Seymour-Crippen House is the oldest structure. Even though it wasn't a part of the city for a long time, it is now and it's older than anything else. Pretty much this is used for banquets and stuff mostly even though it's also a museum but you can make an appointment to visit. Before coming here it should be known this isn't like a museum that a lot of people know about. It's used mostly for events. Things like weddings and that. It has pretty limited hours if just coming to look around. This is open only Saturdays. It's the oldest known structure in the city. The oldest part was built in 1833, and the addition was built in 1868 or so. Among the artifacts are a collection of things found in the ground collected in an archeological dig. There's objects like buttons, guns, toys, and more. Other exhibits show the history of Norwood Park and what it was like. This place is also the home of the Norwood Park Historical Society and is where they have meetings. Good place to check out if you can make the limited hours. It's a must if wanting to learn more about the local history and what it was like back then. This is also pretty popular for those looking to have some big event like a wedding or whatever.

Renaissance Court is located in the Chicago Cultural Center. Randolph St. Entrance is the most…read moreconvenient. Once you get past the double doors, Renaissance Court is to your right. This is one of the City of Chicago's six regional senior centers. This one is different than the other centers. If you are 55+ - you are welcome here. You have to be 60 to use the other senior centers. This one does not have some of the services the others offer, however, it seems to offer a lot more variety of classes and activities than the others. There is some info in the Chicago Dept. of Family and Support Services "Life Enrichment Programs".quarterly brochure which you can pick up at senior centers, libraries and probably some other city offices. You can also download a pdf. But the brochure only lists a sampling of the classes. At Renaissance Court you can pick up a calendar listing everything going on for the month. They also have some flyers with more info about some of the classes. Many classes are free, but some do have a fee. Some classes: chair yoga, hatha yoga, meditation & movement. Tai Chi, belly dancing, line dancing, variety of other exercise classes IMPROV, performance workshop, drawing, water color, book club and much more. You really have to pick up the calendar. On Saturday there is a Hoop Fitness class. Tried the class out for the first time. I don't remember being that good at hula hooping as a kid, so I was a bit skeptical about this. I met some ladies before the class that assured me that it is all about fun and not to worry. I probably spent more time picking up the hoop than twirling it. Instructor Andrea and rest of the class made me feel welcome and comfortable. Andrea is really nice and encouraging. Luckily, we did some other exercises with the hoop that did not include twirling it. The ladies were right - - it is great fun! On Fridays, you can get a 60 minute table massage for $30. This will be some of the best $$ you ever spend--if you can get an appointment. They can fill up quickly--Tisa is a very good massage therapist. Also, unless things have changed in the past year, you have to make the appt with the office and pay in advance. They didn't take credit cards, so I had to stop by to make and pay for the appt. My limited experience with Renaissance Court has been a good one. It would be nice to live closer and to be able to enjoy more of the activities more often. I do plan to try a few more classes and definitely to give that hula hoop another try :)

Pack the Highway, held in Edison Park, is the kind of local flavor, mini fest sort of thing I like…read more It's not huge; a few blocks from end to end. Northwest Highway is the event's eponymous highway, and it's closed from Ottawa to Olympia for the evening. The major attraction of the event is the car show that spans the entire length of the closed road. There were three or four blocks of cars lining both sides of the street, some newer (as recently as the last decade or so) and some old-timers from the 30s or earlier. They were all in really good shape and some were absolutely gorgeous cars. There were even a couple for sale, if one had 45K or more to spend on a vintage vehicle. The neighborhood was hopping as well. Some of the businesses probably stayed open past their typical hours for the event; I stepped into Pennybird, which I've been curious about. At least a couple restaurants had their food trucks out; I grabbed something from Americanos for my little one and picked up a pizza from Pizzaboy. (I have never had fresh arugula on a pizza but it was really good!) Of course the food trucks only had a small selection of the menu, but the restaurants were open for full service. Americanos was also selling margaritas out of the window which I heard were good too. Further north on the highway, near Edison Park, there was a bit of kids activities happening. They had someone doing balloon animals, and that was a great idea but they probably needed at least a couple folks, or some pre-made balloon animals, because the line was long and we didn't wait. The neighborhood fire engine came out for a short while and let the kids climb in; mine is not quite ready for this experience and got a bit upset but I like that the firehouses participate in civic events like this. There was a gaming truck parked near Edison Park for video games. It was a nice neighborhood event that I look forward to attending next time.