I planned this one.
I was joined by Bill (for the majority of the time) and Jo. Kate, Ed, Max and Sadie joined us at about 1:30.
Hermosa Google map
'Hoods Hermosa packet
'Hoods Hermosa flickr album
What a beautiful day we picked for Hermosa. Mid 70s. Sunny.
Perfect day to start on a patio.
Though, note. Parking was more difficult in this neighborhood than expected. Lots of permit parking only, mostly on north/south streets. I mean, we FOUND parking. It just took a hot sec.
Jo, Bill and I met at Rica Arepa on Armitage at 11 for brunch. A well rated Venezuelan joint. Their little side patio was lovely. We got a plain arepa to share. Like a corn fritter. We used it to try their 3 sauces: garlic, house (super spicy and vinegary) and a green spicy. Then I got the pabellon stuffed arepa (shredded beef, black beans, cheese, plaintains). Jo and Bill got some other delicious stuffed concoction. Jo declared arepas better than tacos. Though the arepa was a delight, I vociferously disagreed.
Time for a walk.
We spent a lot of time pooping around the old Schwinn factory. Huge. Now mostly empty.
Then we sampled some gorgeous ciders at Right Bee Cider. Charlie, owner and founder was our bartender. After calling us nerds for our packets, he got really into it, requesting one for himself, sharing it with a regular and local who came in after us, requesting suggestions from him, etc. We had some nice chats with Charlie while Bill and I tried 5 of his offerings. I got a howler of the Rose Cider to go. Jo got aggressively into Charlie.
St. Philomena Catholic church is imposing, has been there since the 1890s, and so it was confusing when I could find NOTHING about it online. No history. No web site. And even more confusing, when we got there, it was locked up tight. Catholic churches are ALWAYS open. On a Saturday afternoon? No? Really? Confusing. Even though on their little side chapel it said they had perpetual adoration. Huh. So no inside pics, even.
That's where we picked up Kate, Ed, Max and Sadie. Max got a snow cone from a street vendor.
Ed got a loaf of french bread from a bakery as we strolled along Armitage to...
Pipeworks brewery. It's their production facility and bottle shop. But NOT a taproom. So we had a few one ounce tasters to try some options. Kate and I got some beer to go. Nice staff with lots of answers to questions.
We got off the big street (Pulaski) and took more residential streets to our next stop. We definitely saw 2 chickens just wandering on the side of the road. I got VERY excited.
The neighborhood is MOSTLY these residential streets. Really well tended smaller homes. Bungalows and 2 flats and workers cottages. Lots of flowers and plantings. Some decor tended towards the gaudy. But lots of people on the street. Folks sitting on porches hollering at neighbors. Kids riding bikes. A STRANGE number of ice cream trucks. Mostly Puerto Rican and Mexican families. Everyone super friendly. Saying hi as we walked by. Exclaiming over the baby.
We found the church where Walt Disney was baptized. At that time St. Paul United Church of Christ. Now Bethany Evangelical Baptist. Walt Disney's dad, a carpenter (worked on the Columbian Expo), actually built the church. Even gave sermons there on occasion. Also, closed. No going inside.
Then a few blocks away, the house where Walt Disney was born. His dad built that house, too. Disney lived there til he was 3. The current owners are fixing it up and will eventually open it as a museum. But they're not quite there yet. So just an exterior visit for us.
At this point we lost a Bill, and the remainder of 'Hoods got in our cars and traveled to Ponce restaurant on Fullerton for a snack. Puerto Rican food. Super busy. Even at 3pm. And I can see why. Delicious food for crazy cheap. BYOB. We had some of our Pipeworks brews. We sat on the street patio. I had two dumplings, a banana and a yam, each stuffed with pork. Kate had a gooey ham and cheese sammie. Ed had a jibarito. Jo had a pork skewer and some corn fritters. I finished with flan. All for $29. Unbelievable. Would go back.
Jo and I finished with some drive bys of the two major parks in the hood. Hermosa park was pretty small. Kelvyn park was bigger, more populated, and had a really nice field house. It was also on this strange little boulevard.
We routed ourselves out of the neighborhood via the historic bungalow district in its Northern half. Lots of pretty bungalows. Lovely.
Hermosa is pretty far from where we live. But it was a really pleasant neighborhood with some great food. Would def go back, if nearby, for a stroll or a bite. And some cider, for sure.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
'Hoods #56: Edison Park, January 12 2019
Bill planned this one!
He was joined by me, Jo, Julie. Kate, Ed and Max found us at about noon.
This was our 9 year anniversary 'hoods!
It was also appropriately cold and snowy. Just like Bronzeville 9 years ago. It was a little inconvenient. But mostly beautiful.
Edison Park is primarily residential with LOTS of parks and, apparently, approximately one small commercial area, just next to the train tracks. It's like a downtown strip in a small rural railroad town. We began and ended there.
We started with a long sit down at Le Flour for coffee and pastries. Cute. Small. On a corner. The descriptions of the coffee drinks were occasionally hilarious. I ordered mine for its 'irresistible flavor.' And then we talked about systemic racism for about an hour.
Then we walked across the train tracks to Monument Park. Mostly just a small neighborhood park next to a church, with a big monument to WWI in it, alit by a huge stone eagle.
Into the car and on to the next park. This one was Olympia Park. The field house was jamming with 3 foot high children sporting, or about to sport. I think there was some basketball happening. Perhaps some soccer was imminent. There were, like, 3 baseball fields which we walked across to get to 3 formerly dead trees, now art installations. One is carved like a woman holding a birdhouse. The second is abstract with hands reaching around it. The third looks a little phallic, a little like a popping blue pimple. They were fun. And we met team Max back at Olympia's little playground.
How about another park? This time Brooks Park. Again, the field house was littered with small children playing with a ball. We assumed you had to have youngish kids to live in Edison Park, based on our observations. But we looked up the stats and I think only, like, 38% of residents had children? We were a little shocked. What else do you DO in Edison Park but raise kids? There were some bocce beds at the rear of the park, behind a giant grass field, lined with alleys and garages. And a small playground.
We did the unthinkable and crossed the street OUT of Edison Park and, apparently, into Niles to check out ANOTHER park, Pioneer Park, which had batting cages and putt putt and a pretty baller playground. RIGHT next to a cemetery. Max had a 3 year old nervous breakdown, so we got back in our cars.
We drove by Turzak House, designed by Goff, who apparently designed the weird metal house in Uptown by where Dan and Anne used to live. The Turzak house wasn't as outside the box as a lot of his other buildings are. It mostly looks prairie. Very FLW. Lots of horizontal and cantilevering. It's on the National Historic Register.
Saint Juliana Catholic Church was empty and no lights were on, so a little dark. But all the better to see their fabulous 70s stained glass! VERY cool. Folks were coming as we were going. I think there may have been a funeral on its way. We were out.
Last park, Edison Park proper. With a hockey themed playground. Its field house is supposed to contain a toy train that we were jazzed to check out. But the field house was closed. Hoods fail. Why would a park field house be closed on a Saturday? Otherwise the park is SMALL.
But it IS back in that commercial district, the one by the train stop. So we walked past the Edison Bowl to Edison Park Inn for lunch. It's been there since the 50s. Very neighborhood. It has a bar. The 2nd room, where we ate, inexplicably has a skier and a swimmer and guy in a boat hanging from the ceiling. Mk. Remarkables from the menu: multiple offerings covered in Merkt's cheese, an Italian beef pizza (I ate), and a burger with peanut butter, jalapenos, and cheddar cheese. Intrigued.
After lunch we walked around the block, the majority of the 'downtown' area. We stopped in Tony's, an incredible Italian market and deli, and the only real reason why Julie came with us that day. Julie got a huge Italian beef sandwich to go, as well as the small muffaletta. I got the large mufaletta. It fed me and my husband two separate meals. And it was delicious. The one other time I'd been there I got the Italian sub. Also awesome. Their meats are primo. They have all kinds of homemade pastas. Italian cookies. Italian staples. A few tables to eat at, if you can't make it home before you cram it all in your face. I HIGHLY recommend Tony's.
Then Max and fam tagged out. The remaining 'Hoodsters decided we couldn't leave Edison Park without at least a stop in Moretti's, a giant Italian restaurant in the former Edison Park Bank. We counted 5 bars. There may have been more. There must be 50 TVs in there. They pump some crazy jams into the street, as early as 10:30am. We got some limoncello, checked out the scene, and headed home.
I'd go back to Edison Park just to go to Tony's. Not a ton of other reason to go there. But it treated us well. It's as far Northwest as you can get in Chicago.
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