Welcome Back, Spring!

Daylight savings time is back, the evenings are long, the air is (with some setbacks) getting warmer by the week, and it’s well past time to go exploring, experience some new places and revisit some others, and oh, boy, let’s get started.

 Welcome Back, Spring!

How about a free jazz show?  The Jazz Showcase, “Chicago’s Historic Jazz Listening Room Since 1947,” is a wonderfully intimate place at 806 S Plymouth Court, Chicago.  The Showcase has been to many locations over the years, and this is the best.  Joe Segal (founder), and his son, Wayne (current owner), will be there to greet us, talk jazz, and guide us to the bar or a table. For a one drink minimum we can listen to the Large Jazz Ensemble from nearby Roosevelt University.  April 18th, 7:30pm.

Of course, the Showcase is open, and displays great music, all the time.  Check out their calendar at http://www.jazzshowcase.com/calendar/?month=04&yearBB=2017 and GO!

Welcome Back, Spring!

Let’s take a warm, sunny Saturday or Sunday and head down to Starved Rock State Park, Illinois’ oldest state recreational area.  What geologists call “The Kankakee Torrent,” a massive flood that occurred about 14,500 years ago, tore through the Illinois River valley and carved many of the bluffs and formations we see today.  We’ll reserve spots in a guided 4.5 mile (7.3km) Hike and Lunch, Saturdays, from 11am – 2pm, where we’ll hike open trails, climb stairs to beautiful look-out spots, check out the archeological sites and learn so much about this legendary place at the heart of Illinois history. It’s a “strenuous” hike, so dress appropriately, and be prepared to work up an appetite.  Lunch is included.  Perhaps we’ll see eagles fishing in the river to feed their young, or some of the seasonal waterfalls.  (815) 220-7386, http://www.starvedrocklodge.com. 2668 E. 875th Road. Oglesby, IL 61348

 Welcome Back, Spring!

April showers bring May flowers, they say, so let’s take a rainy day and spend it inside the warm and beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory, shall we? 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago, (312) 746-5100,   https://garfieldconservatory.org, where the “Spring Training” Spring Flower Show will be in full display throughout the month.  From Noon to 4pm the U of I Plant Clinic will have people there to answer any questions about plants. We’ll see Chicago in glorious full bloom, set in displays that honor the (finally) World Series Champions Chicago Cubs (and never mind that the White Sox have won twice in recent years).  Saturday, April 22nd, is also Earth Day, where the Conservatory will ably demonstrate that global warming and the resultant climate changes are very real, very dangerous, and not at all a hoax.  Join me, please, join me for this, 6pm -10pm.

 Welcome Back, Spring!

When was the last time we went to Chicago’s mighty Museum of Science and Industry?  Well, let’s go again, because there is a new, exciting, thrilling and inspiring movie that we absolutely want to see: Dream Big.  It’s about engineering, architecture, science and the ability of the human mind to conceive new structures and inventions, design them and throughout the process figure out how to get them built.  Oh yeah, we have to see this. And the U-boat, the U-505?  How about the Coal Mine? Yes, a real coal mine.  Remember the real Stuka dive bomber, being chased by a real British Spitfire, hanging from the ceiling?  Do you see why I call this museum “mighty”?  5700 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, http://www.msichicago.org/

 Welcome Back, Spring!

“What about weeknights?” you ask.  The Art Institute of Chicago, located at 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, http://www.artic.edu/visit is free on Thursday evenings, from 5pm (17:00 hrs) until closing at 8pm (20:00 hrs).  Gentlemen, this is one of the best dates going.  Trust me.  We’ll walk past original works by the world’s greatest painters, sculptors, photographers and artists in every medium.  I particularly enjoy the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, always amazed at how the sculptor captured such grace, form, and apparent motion with only hand tools.  But don’t stop there, walk slowly, observe closely, and talk softly with your special someone about your thoughts and feelings for a few particular pieces.  (The Institute galleries, by the way, are filled with little nooks where you might even steal a kiss.  I told you this is a great date.) During April we also have the chance to see the painting we all know as “Whistler’s Mother,” which is back in Chicago for the first time in over 60 years.  The artist called it “Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (portrait of the Artist’s Mother)” to emphasize the arrangement, and the austere tonal qualities over the identity of the subject. In any case, the famous 1871 painting is the centerpiece of a 25-piece arrangement that is intriguing and quite satisfying; a great way to end our wonderful double date, don’t you think?