14 July 2020

Naperville Riverwalk

Earlier in the year we had a family trip to Chicago planned but had to postpone due to C19.  Since we were in the area, I thought we’d stop a few places in the suburbs that were easier to get to with a vehicle than taking the train from downtown.

First stop was Oak Park, famous for having the greatest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses and his own home and studio.  I had been here in the early 90’s for a college architecture class.  We did our own walking tour of 14 FLW designed structures and took the FLW Home and Studio tour.

If architecture is not your thing, Oak Park is also known for being the birthplace of writer Earnest Hemingway.  Within three blocks, one of America’s greatest architects practiced while one of its greatest writers grew up and went to high school.

Frank Lloyd Wright will be a reoccurring theme on this trip as we will be visiting his alma mater, University of Wisconsin, and his best known work, Fallingwater in SE Pennsylvania.

The second stop was in Naperville.  One of the wealthiest cities in the Midwest and consistently ranking on Best Places to Live lists, Naperville was a nice place to take a walk along the river and get some authentic Chicago style pizza.