Chicago

We were in Chicago a little less than three weeks ago, winding up our brief trip back to the midwest. My only foray to the beach was on the morning we left, when I dodged rain squalls on my way to meeting M for breakfast at Tempo.

I've got much better shots of these beaches from an earlier trip:  Chicago: July 2010

The first three photos are from Oak Street; the bottom one is from Ohio Street Beach.

But rain or not, I still love these public beaches against the backdrop of Chicago's skyline. There's nothing terribly natural about them - nourished and groomed pocket beaches have replaced the spits and marshes that once marked the mouth of the Chicago River - but it shows that we can still provide ways for people to interact directly with the water, even in our most urban settings.

There are a lot more photos from this trip, mainly of skyscrapers, over on the other blog (hshipman: Chicago).