I don’t think I’ve ever been more ready for spring. It is just me or did winter feel like it was eight months long? This will be our first spring in Chicago, and I’m very excited to do some cliché Chicago things. I put together this Chicago spring bucket list with some activities I plan to do in and around the city. Some of these are things to do with the family and others I’ll be checking off by myself.
My Chicago Spring Bucket List
Take the water taxi to Chinatown and get dumplings.
I’ve been meaning to make my way down to Chinatown to discover some shops and try some dumplings. If you have recommendations for food in the area, please let me know!
Visit the Art Institute of Chicago.
A huge museum with a very diverse collection of pieces, The Art Institute of Chicago is one place in Chicago I have yet to visit. I’ll probably take a day to myself before the summer starts and explore the museum on my own.
Try a new bakery in the city.
If you don’t know by now, I love a pastry, and it’s one of my goals to find the best croissant in the city. I’ve got a list going of places I want to try. If you’re looking for recommendations now – two bakeries in the city we’ve recently visited and loved are Del Sur Bakery in Lincoln Square and Lost Larson in Wicker Park.
Go to opening day of our local farmer’s market.
To me, the opening of the farmer’s market means spring has finally arrived. I can’t wait to spend my Saturday mornings grabbing some produce and fresh bread for the week.
Visit the beach.
We actually just returned from the beach so I’m checking this one off my list right away. There are a few beaches in the Chicago area – Oak Street Beach and North Avenue beach are the ones most accessible from the downtown area. We went slightly farther north to Montrose Beach which, from my research, is more family friendly, although I’ll definitely be checking out the first two options as well. Montrose Beach also has a dog area so we plan to make a return trip with Bea.
Go for a hike at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve.
As much as we love it here in Chicago, we definitely miss the incredible hiking we had available to us when we lived in Seattle. I know it’s not the quite the same, but I’d like to at least get out in nature for a bit. From my limited research, Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve looks pretty and has plenty of hiking trails. We also have some camping trips planned for the summer.
Buy fresh flowers.
It makes me so happy to see a vase of fresh flowers on my table, especially in the springtime after months of winter and dead plants. I’ll probably just pop into Trader Joe’s a few times and select a few different flowers to arrange myself.
Run or walk a few miles on the Lakefront Trail.
The Chicago Lakefront Trail is an 18 mile waterfront trail that runs north and south along Lake Michigan. I’ve been on the trail many times but never done any kind of distance. I think it’d be fun to do at least five miles or so (maybe more!)
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