An Itinerary for CAC Open House in Hyde Park

Written for a friend who told me what was already in her plans, so I supplied her with links to background information on her way.

1. South Side Entertainment District along Cottage Grove.and 63rd Street

It grew because of the Cable Cars, so you can see a couple photos and see why it was there in this article

https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/hyde-park-stories-streetcars-part-ii/article_72912358-48f2-11ee-9660-9b88ce422a33.html

1.Grand Ballroom CAC stop

From 63rd and Cottage, go north on Cottage Grove to the Midway Plaisance and head east

2. Background of the history of the Midway: (World’s Fair, canals, and art extravaganzas)

3. Statue of Linne near Rockefeller (history of Swedes in Chicago)–you’ll want to park around there

4. Rockefeller Chapel–CAC stop, self-guided tour of the Chapel, but they are guiding people up the tower, which is a spectacular view of the city and the carillon, but you need very good quads as it’s a lot of steps.

5.Hyde Park Union Church–CAC stop originally THE Baptist Church for the Baptist University

6. Nella (Neapolitan Pizza and Pasta) –Pit stop for food–Bib Gourmand but just a casual place

If Nella is full or you’d like to try something else

7. The Nile (middle eastern) and The Woodlawn Tap (Jimmy’s) the University bar with a lot of character

If you have more time or another trip

A. Statue of the Knight on the east end of the Midway (Czechs/Bohemians in Chicago)

B. A building on the Midway near the knight statue with an interesting history for Women

C. Japanese Garden, because of the OPC construction, you need to park on Stony Island and walk over.

It’s a lovely space that’s always beautiful, but it has a storied past. It’s always “open” but if you might like the walk.

https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/hyde-park-stories-the-japanese-garden-part-i/article_5208a020-f5dc-11ed-a907-e7867366995f.html

https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/hyde-park-stories-the-japanese-garden-part-2/article_a6f5a0be-fb5a-11ed-9dcc-870cbb58b56d.html

Two Places on the CAC list that are available other times but definitely worth a look

D. Hyde Park Bank–crazy 1920s decor

F. Blackstone Library

The library is interesting to me because it is modeled on a small building that was at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition AND the lobby shows murals by one of the muralists at the fair, so it’s a little glimpse of what the fair buildings were like.

And E. is Virtue Restaurant — Michelin rated Southern Food. It’s amazing.–the Sous Chef was a finalist on Top Chef