Northerly Island - Urban Prairie Paradise

My friend works on Capitol Hill as a spokesperson for a member of the Illinois delegation. One morning he was woken up at 5 am by call from a Chicago reporter wondering if his boss “would have any comment regarding Mayor Daley’s orders to bulldoze giant Xs into the runway at Meigs Field earlier this morning?”

“Fuck you,” said my friend, and hung up the phone. It was almost April Fool’s Day.

It was no joke.

Roughly six years later, I made my first visit to Northerly Island (technically a peninsula, but, whatever), the park that replaced the airfield in the wake of that dictatorial-yet-badass 2 am Mayor-sanctioned vandalism.

I headed out on my bike this August afternoon because I’m the kind of person who both wants to live in a major city and spend hours at a time not having to look at, hear, be around, or speak to other people. Blame it on a combo of growing up in a town where, like Cheers, everybody knows your name and doing a lot of camping as a child. I need my space. And then I need to be able to pick up Thai food, work in a coffee shop and all kinds of activities not possible if one lives out in the middle of nowhere.

So, Northerly Island.

As soon as I cleared the concert pavilion with its icky backstage-at-the-carnival vibe, I was smacked across the face with so much quiet natural beauty, I couldn't believe I was still in the City.

Is this a field of wildflowers taller than my head? Why yes, yes it is.



I am in love with these sculptures

This installation is called The Daphne Garden and the artist is Dessa Kirk. Just gorgeous. I'm a sucker for Greek mythology, too.

On the eastern shore, there is a rocky beach perfect for meditating and watching the sailboats go by.

A glacier made it.



Skull!! OK, not really.

Northerly Island is home to native flowers, plants and birds. And a couple of blissed-out hours there were the perfect remedy for my City-jangled nerves.


And viewed from this short distance away, I could remember all of the things I love about living here.

The best part? Aside from a few birdwatching ladies and some bicyclists, (well, and a Segway tour, but they cleared out pretty quickly) I hardly saw anyone else the whole time I was here.

I highly recommend Northerly Island for a quick little nature fix. Sure, you can still hear the cars on Lakeshore Drive, but pretty soon you're just focusing on the birds and the breeze.

And if you see me there, just...you know...leave me alone, OK?