Favorite Place: Lurie Garden, Millenium Park

As promised, we're going to use this whole blog thing to highlight some of our favorite places in Chicago. We want to get you excited to come visit our fair city, and figured what better way than to take you on a tour (albeit virtual) of some cool spots, shops, nooks and eateries.

First up, Colleen's choice: The Lurie Garden at Millenium Park



The Lurie Garden is the perfect little hideaway right in the middle of the city. It has these amazing, 15-foot high hedgerows on the north and west side of the garden, which protect the plants within, and also make the interior of the garden feel surprisingly tranquil, given that busy Michigan Avenue is so close by. The hedgerows themselves are called the "Shoulder Hedges," meant to represent Carl Sandburg's idea that Chicago is the "City of Big Shoulders."



Within the 5-acre garden are tons of perennials, grasses and shrubs, which sway in the city breezes.



Another highlight are the hardwood bridges bordered with tiny water streams. In the summer, it's fun to slip your shoes off and dip your tired feet into the water. By October, that might be a fun experiment with hypothermia. But the walkways are beautiful nonetheless.



And the best part of all? The Lurie Garden is right smack in the middle of Millenium Park, making it very easy to get to. So, here's the plan: grab a coffee or tea at any one of the many nearby cafes, then take Washington Avenue east, across Michigan Avenue and into Millenium Park. Once you get to the Pritzger Pavilion (it's the giant metal ampitheater at the north end of Millenium Park), hang a right (that's south). The entrance to Lurie Garden is past the Pritzger lawn. Go in, sip your tea, have a walk and take a breath. It's a lovely place to relax and contemplate all of the fun things you've done/you're going to do in Chicago.