I planned West Ridge.
Technically Devon and Little India are part of West Ridge. We DID start at a bakery on Devon (and visited the St. Henry church/cemetery), but we avoided the majority of the Devon area and saved it for another day (see July 9 2017).
Bill, William, Vicki, and Sara joined me on this one.
'Hoods West Ridge Packet
'Hoods West Ridge flickr album/pics
We started at Argo Georgian bakery. It had just a couple of small tables to accommodate us. But it was WORTH it! They've got a crazy oven in which they cook the Georgian bread. I had a hachapuir (filled with 3 diff types of cheeses) and a raspberry puff pastry. SO good.
Back in the car to drive through/walk through the Talman West Ridge historic bungalow district. There are...many bungalows.
I made a last minute decision and guided us back to Devon for a few non-Indian hot spots.
We walked around the grounds of Misericordia for a minute. Formerly an orphanage, it's now a home for 600 kids and adults with developmental and physical disabilities. There's a restaurant on site, the Greenhouse Inn, that looks kind of nice. Would like to check that out sometime.
Right next door is St Henry's Church, originally German, now the Blessed Aloysius Stepanic Croatian Catholic Mission. There was a service going on, so we couldn't do much more than pop our heads in.
And then we visited St Henry's cemetery, behind and attached to the church. It's just a small, old cemetery. Lots of original West Ridge inhabitants. And, if the legend is true, the original 'Cracker Jack' sailor boy.
Then we walked the entirety of Ridge Rd proper, from Pratt north to Howard. There are tons of old houses, some pretty grand. Many of which belonged to the original founders of the neighborhood. Ridge blvd is a literal ridge, a bit of high ground that is the ancient lakeshore.
We had a titch of 'hoods magic at Casa Bonita, a cool old apt building. The building manager noticed us snooping around their courtyard, and offered us a tour of the premises! So we got to go inside and see their game room, and woodshop, and children's room, and especially their rad indoor pool!
We drove to lunch at the Candlelight. It has great, thin crust pizza. And Jeremy's favorite fried cheese curds in the city. I got a corned beef pizza. Like a boss.
Onto Indian Boundary Park. Which has a little lagoon with turtles. Adorable. There just HAPPENED to be a sweet string quartet performing at the park house. 'Hoods magic, again. The park is ringed by more cool, old apt buildings. The park castle apts. The park gables apts. We did NOT get invited into those.
We walked around the bungalow district just south of Indian Boundary Park. Some rather nice homes!
Then time for a cool treat at the Western outpost of Lickity Split. We'd previously been to the original location, on the Edgewater 'Hoods.
We drove over to Deer Park, a pre-planned community of 10 homes, all different, all winners of a Chicago Tribune design prize in the 1940s. Now seems to be inhabited by an Orthodox Jewish community. Almost aggressively idyllic, with fathers and sons tossing balls, and groups of boys playing bball. I mean, a freaking lemonade stand.
A lot of West Ridge is Jewish. In fact, as we drove around we tried to spot the eruv that surrounds the neighborhood.
And then we ended by walking around the Peterson Woods neighborhood. Mostly homes from the 20s and 30s. Very tranquil. Very lovely. Bordered by the river on the west and a very nice park that runs its length.
West Ridge is REALLY residential. But some VERY nice residences. And parks.
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