Synopsis
This insider's guidebook to Chicago's Western Suburbs for newcomers, lifelong residents, visitors, and business travelers covers history, culture, dining, entertainment, recreation, touring, special events, and local resources. Discover a history that includes the Underground Railroad, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest Hemingway, gangsters, railroads, Route 66, and the I & M National Heritage Corridor. Visit restored prairies, nature trails, sprawling estates, historic campuses, corporate headquarters, cemeteries, and a world class zoo. Shop antiques and boutiques, megamalls and thrift stores, specialty bookshops and classic record stores, Old World bakeries, meat markets, and candy counters. Dine on hearty Bohemian and haute French, Mexican and Mediterranean, hot dogs and beer gardens, lobster and ostrich, sushi and BBQ, Tiki bars and microbreweries. Enjoy historic golf courses and polo clubs, race tracks and trolley tours, equestrian trails and ice rinks, symphony orchestras and ballet, movie palaces and dinner theater, laser shows and Kiddieland, wine bars and folk music, coffee houses and county fairs. Full of the fascinating sights, places, stories, and facts that sometimes even locals don't know about, "A Native's Guide to Chicago's Western Suburbs" equips you with everything you need to enjoy and navigate the suburbs like a true insider. From the American Movie Palace Museum to the Harley-Davidson Mall, from Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces to the Sears Catalog Homes, from Riverfest to Ribfest, the "Native's Guide" is your essential guide to Chicago's Western Suburbs.
About the Author
Laura Mazzuca Toops and John W. Toops, Jr. shop, work, pay taxes, and live in the Western Suburbs. Both are born Chicagoans--John is a native Northwest Side Chicago boy (St. Pat's rules!); Laura was born in Chicago (with roots in the Taylor Street "Patch") and raised in "BER-wyn!" Although they regularly collaborate on ways to outsmart their two children, this book is their first joint literary effort (not counting the dozens of tasteless jokes and parodies they make up for their own amusement). Laura is a graduate of Columbia College. Her writing and reporting experience includes stints at the City News Bureau, Crain Communications, and freelance work for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and other local and national publications. She has two unpublished novels under the bed. John attended DePaul University and is interested in American history, baseball, and science fiction (yes, he's a Trekker). He can still fit in his high-school gym shorts, and still holds a grudge against the 1969 Mets. He plans to write future books without his wife to avoid her kibbutzing.
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