Exploring Chicago

Erin Walters - Irving Park Chicago International Charter School

Hello again, CS friends!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged as school life has picked up quite a bit, but I am back at it now and have lots to cover from the past few weeks!

Lately I’ve been trying to get out and walk around as much as I can because of the nice weather we’ve had. One of my favorite places to go and explore is the Wicker Park neighborhood, which is only a 15 to 20 minute bus ride from Canterbury Court Apartments! Wicker Park is a pretty funky place, but it has some of the best thrift shops I’ve ever been to. Buffalo Exchange is one of the better-known ones, and it can be pretty overwhelming at first because the racks of clothes are so packed full. However, I always end up finding something really great that is never too expensive. It definitely beats trying to find affordable clothes on Michigan Avenue. Wicker Park also has some fun boutiques to walk around, even if I can’t afford any of what they’re selling.

And, of course, there is also great food in Wicker Park! When I was there a few weekends ago, I had lunch at a place called Antique Taco. It’s one of the coolest looking places inside, and the tacos are amazing. I had pork with bacon and avocado, and reflecting on that meal now is making me hungry! There are also lots of fun coffee shops to check out, such as Wormhole, Filter, and Bru. These are great places to go to get away from the Gold Coast area to lesson plan for a while!

Another fun place to walk around when the sun is shining is Fullerton. This is a stop on the red line, just north of Clark and Division, where Canterbury is located. DePaul University is located there, and the college-town feel had a nice familiarity to it that made me think a lot about Hope College, except in Chicago. The houses on the streets were so beautiful, and my friends and I started to joke about what ones we wanted to live in. I even considered looking up how much it actually did cost to live there!

 

For dinner in Fullerton, we went to a pizza place called Homeslice. The interior of the restaurant made me feel like I was camping, even though I was indoors. The walls made it feel like we were in a log cabin, and the rest of the décor had the same rustic feel. The pizza was also delicious, and they had fun names for them, such as “The Knife and Forkner” and “Party Boi.”

After pizza, we went to a sweet shop called Sweet Mandy B’s. The place was adorable inside, and all of the sugary foods looked way too tempting. I’m pretty sure there was just about every possibly baked good in the shop, and I definitely would be willing to taste-test all of them if given the chance. Going here also made me decide that I would definitely be willing to own a bakery once I retired from teaching.

That’s all for today! Sorry for the long post—I had some time to make up for!

Until next time,

Erin