A Visit To Wicker Park

A Visit To Wicker Park

Last Saturday, a few friends and I decided to take a walk through one of Chicago’s many, culturally rich neighborhoods, Wicker Park. This was the second time I’ve visited Wicker Park, the first being for an essay for my Anthropology 100 class. I was really excited to return to the neighborhood, because it has an amazing vibe and there is always a lot to see while walking around!

One of my favorite things about Wicker Park is how the neighborhood incorporated its history into its modern metropolis. Many of the modern day businesses and shops are located in old buildings of businesses that no longer exist. For example, there is a huge Walgreens located inside an old bank called Noel State Bank. The first thing you notice when entering the Walgreens is the ceiling. The ceiling is elaborately decorated and is quite beautiful to see! The inside of the store even still resembles the bank a little bit. In the basement, you can find the Vitamin Vault. The Vitamin Vault is where the store keeps its supply of vitamins and supplements. What is unique about this vault is that it actually is the vault of the old bank! They turned the old vault into storage for vitamins, and I think that is a really cool way to incorporate history into a modern society!

In addition, Wicker Park is home to many unique businesses and a delicious doughnut shop! Two of my favorite stores to visit while in Wicker Park are Reckless Records and Myopic Books. Reckless Records is a really cool record store, where customers can purchase old records as well as CDs and DVDs for a really cheap price! Myopic Books is an amazing bookstore, with books on any topic you could possibly think of. I even found some textbooks I have used in class there! The store is filled top to bottom with books, everywhere you look! It really is quite an amazing place to explore. At the end of your exploring, if you find yourself looking for a snack, I would recommend visiting Stan’s Donuts and Coffee! The shop resembles a 50’s theme, and has the best donuts I’ve ever tasted! It is truly a must-stop when in the neighborhood!

All in all, being from out of town, I love exploring not only downtown Chicago, but also the little gems of neighborhoods Chicago has to offer. So far I’ve only visited Wicker Park, but I’d love to visit more neighborhoods and explore!

IMG_5314

Comments are closed.