Chicagoans approach winter as a combat sport, something to muscle through. Heading out, we assume a stance of both fight and flight. Our shoulders press into our ears, our foreheads scrunch, our bodies curl around themselves in tight formation, armadillo-style. We get small and go fast. Winter swimming in the lake has helped me to … Read more
Why travel far in bad weather for R&R? These winter hotel packages prove the coziest (and bubbliest) getaways are right here. For Camelot vibesA Kennedy Christmas package at the Blackstone Sip hot cocoa as you listen to Bing Crosby records on a vintage Victrola. Mood-setting decorations inspired by the Kennedy White House will have you … Read more
For whatever reason — perhaps it’s my nomadic Jewish ancestors — I have a seasonal constitution. In the summertime I’m Tavern-Style Tal, light and crisp, and from December to March I’m in full hibernatory deep-dish mode. My wife’s appetite isn’t as dictated by climate; her blood type is broth. She will eat a meat-and-potato stew just as eagerly on … Read more
Chicago in the winter is a reminder that love, for all its heart-pounding, soul-stirring, head-spinning magic, also requires some suffering. Anyone can relish the lakefront path in the summer. The breeze! The beaches! The joyful packs of fellow joggers! The dudes bumping Morgan Wallen’s “Sunrise” at … sunrise! It takes commitment to love it when … Read more
When snow falls overnight, the footprints of Chicago’s wild critters are unusually visible, especially in nature parks or cemeteries early in the morning, before people (and their dogs) show up. If the snow’s a bit wet — not too fluffy — you can make out the distinctive impressions left by a variety of paws and hooves. I’ve seen coyote … Read more
When it begins to look a lot like Christmas, it begins to look like a terrible time to travel. Lines get longer. Lost bags pile up higher. Even the emotional support dogs look tense. But at O’Hare’s American Airlines–heavy Terminal 3, the insanity of holiday travel meets the actual joy of the holidays. Garland hangs … Read more
On a cold, gray North Shore day, when the house is fast becoming a prison for you and your kids, with the siren song of the TV harder and harder to resist, there is a place you can go, a wonderland of delights for old and young alike, where all is warm and embracing. I … Read more
It was the pandemic winter of 2021, and I was desperate for an outdoor activity. So when I saw that the North Park Village Nature Center offered snowshoeing once we hit six inches, I was intrigued. I’ve never been bold enough to ski, and the last time I tried ice skating, things didn’t go so … Read more
Christmas bustles like few other days in Chinatown. With restaurants closed elsewhere, it’s almost become a cliché: we Chinese sitting shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish brethren, shoveling lo mein into our maws. Several years ago, perhaps out of irony to score Instagram points, I thought it’d be funny if my Chinese family ate at a … Read more
