The most fabulous SP sent me this link. Lake Shore Drive is almost holy to anyone who has lived in Chicago. This piece is a lot of fun, although it doesn't do LSD full justice: you have to see the blue sky, the lake to your left, and everywhere, the trees and landscape, the parks and ponds that give Chicago its motto: Urbs in Horto, City In a Garden. And of course there is the architecture. A major bike path runs to the left, along the lake's many beaches; this is my commute path in the summer, and one of my earliest memories of Chicago was riding bikes with SP along the lake during a summer visit for his birthday, falling in love with the view, and deciding that one day I had to live here. SP names it among the most beautiful places on earth, and he's right:
"The most beautiful spots in the world are the curve on the bike path along Lake Michigan where the skyline suddenly bursts out at you from behind the trees and the bike accelerates down the hill, carrying you ever faster towards the massiveness of North Michigan Avenue and the Drake; Streeterville as seen from Lake Shore Drive at night, right after you come around the bend, with Navy Pier to the left and Michigan Avenue Bridge and the Wrigley Building in all their illuminated glory to the right; the main crossing in Shibuya at night while they still had those elephants marching along the large screen on top of the Starbucks. If there really is magic to life, I think it is most palpable in those three places."
Tomorrow I'm actually going to drive the exact route shown here, taking the North Michigan exit. Heading to an eye appointment and swing lesson instead of trouble, but there's always time for that.
There are visitors who ask specifically for me to drive them down LSD, and I'm always happy to. Here's your turn.
2 comments:
Yes, but you absolutely HAVE to go north to south. Like so many other things, it's boring if not done right.
Yeah, you do. You need that breathtaking reveal as you come around the bend.
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