Remember those 52 Adventures in Chicago cards? Once again, it’s been months since I grabbed one for a little exploration. What I intended to finish in one year is now approaching its third year. This may take a decade to complete, but it’s gonna happen!
Today the kids had off school and I was at a loss for what to do. Since I’ll take any excuse to avoid the gym, I thought I’d have them each draw one of the adventure cards. Seriously, I love these things for creative ways to get out and explore our amazing city.
Maybe they’re not all kid friendly, but most can be adapted to any age.  My 3 year old son grabbed the Guns & Gangsters card…well, maybe that one isn’t the most adaptable. I don’t know that talking about the mafia and heading over to the Green Mill for some jazz is all that kid friendly so we’ll save that one for an adults only adventure. Luckily my daughter grabbed the Greektown card. Much more kid friendly. And I love any excuse to introduce them to new foods. Why we don’t get over here more often anyway is beyond me.
We started the morning at the Mary Bartelme Park which is just two blocks west of Greektown. I love this park and so do my kids! Really amazing views of the city that can be nicely framed by the five gates at the northwest entry to the park and fantastic playground equipment.

If you like geometric patterns these gates can make for some interesting abstracts.

And if your kids are climbers, like my two monkey’s, this is one of the best parks in the city!

Now, off to Greektown! This area is quite small, only a few blocks along South Halsted Ave consisting of mostly restaurants and the National Hellenic Museum. There may not be a whole lot to photograph in an architectural way but if you’re into street photography there might be some good opportunities. I rarely see this way when I photograph so here are a couple, sort-of, architectural/street shots.

Oh, and one more of the kids at the very south end of Greektown.
We actually visited the National Hellenic Museum.  Surprisingly, the kids begged to go in there. They had some crazy monsters visible from the street so they were all into it. Especially since there was this magnetic wall where they could design their very own monster.  And it really is a great museum.

Nothing like two little kids pondering artwork 🙂


Despite how small Greektown is, there’s plenty there to fill half a day. And any excuse to eat, and introduce your kids to some authentic Greek cuisine, especially saganaki (flaming cheese) and baklava, is welcome by me! In case you’re wondering, we ate lunch at Athena because the kids thought the waterfall was cool and Artopolis (see the photo with the van earlier in the post) had some really amazing desserts!
Since this is a photoblog and I was lucky enough to go to Greece a couple years ago, here’s a link to a Flickr set of images from that trip in case you’re interested.