Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Follow I-90 until you reach Route 53, and drive north on 53 until it dead-ends
at Lake-Cook Road. Take the west exit off 53 and follow Lake-Cook Road to
Hicks Road. Turn right on Hicks Road and then left on Old McHenry Road,
which will take you right into the center of town.
Arlington International Racecourse
With its gleaming-white, palatial, six-
story grandstand and lush gardens, this racecourse is one of the most beautiful
showcases for thoroughbred horse racing in the world. It has a storied history
stretching back to 1927, and its track has been graced by such equine stars as
Citation, Secretariat, and Cigar. The track's annual Arlington Million (the sport's
first million-dollar race, held in mid-Aug) has attracted the top jockeys, trainers,
and horses in past years and recently became part of the new World Series Rac-
ing Championship, which includes the Breeders Cup races. Arlington's race days
are thrilling to behold, with all of racing's time-honored pageantry on display—
from the bugler in traditional dress to the parade of jockeys.
Arlington likes to say that it caters to families, and it must be said that the
ambience here is more Disney than den of iniquity. Various “family days”
throughout the summer include live music and entertainment ranging from pet-
ting zoos to puppet shows.
2200 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights.
&
847/385-7500.
www.arlingtonpark.com. Gates open at 11am
Wed-Sun. Season runs May-Sept. Admission $6 adults, $3-$6 for reserved seating. Take the Kennedy (I-94)
Expwy. to the I-90 tollway and exit north on Rte. 53. Follow 53 north until you reach the Euclid exit. Or take the
Metra train line to its Arlington Heights stop, which is within walking distance of the racecourse. Free parking.
THE WESTERN SUBURBS
So many corporations have taken to locating their offices beyond the city limits
that today more people work in the suburbs than commute into Chicago. Much
of the suburban sprawl in counties such as DuPage and Kane consists of seas of
aluminum-sided houses that seem to sprout from cornfields overnight. But there
are also some lovely older towns, such as upscale
Hinsdale
and, much farther west,
the quaint tandem of
St. Charles
and
Geneva,
which lie across the Fox River from
each other. Perhaps there is no more fitting symbol of this booming area than the
city of
Naperville.
A historic, formerly rural community with a Main Street
U.S.A. downtown district worthy of Norman Rockwell, Naperville has exploded
from a population of about 30,000 residents in the early 1970s to approximately
130,000 today—which makes it the third-largest municipality in the state.
Naperville maintains a collection of 19th-century buildings in an outdoor setting
known as Naper Settlement, and its river walk is the envy of neighboring village
councils. But much of its yesteryear charm seems to be disappearing bit by bit as
new subdivisions and strip malls ooze forth across the prairie.
Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield is the Chicago area's largest zoo. In con-
trast to the rather efficient Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield is spacious, spreading out
over 216 acres with thousands of animal residents—camels, dolphins, giraffes,
baboons, wolves, tigers, green sea turtles, Siberian tigers, snow leopards, and
more—living in naturalistic environments that put them side by side with other
inhabitants of their regions. These creative indoor and outdoor settings—filled
with activities to keep kids interested—are what set Brookfield apart. One of the
newest exhibits,
The Living Coast
, explores the western coast of Chile and
Peru and includes everything from a tank of plate-size moon jellies to a rocky shore
where Humboldt penguins swim and nest as Inca terns and gray gulls fly freely
overhead. Other impressive exhibits include
The Swamp
, which re-creates the
bioregions of a southern cypress swamp and an Illinois river scene and discusses
Kids
