The dusty industrial strip along the Calumet River is home to one of Chicago’s biggest mysteries: the C.T.C. No. 1, an abandoned maritime vessel that has lain idle for years. To occasional passersby, this peculiar sight might seem ambiguous, but it holds a deeper reflection of the city’s historic development throughout the 20^th century.

During World War II, as the United States was embroiled in trans-Atlantic conflicts, the need for raw materials reached its peak. Armored vehicles, aircraft, and ships were crucial for the battlefront. Originally named McIntyre, the 190-meter-long ship was built in 1943 with the purpose of transporting iron ore mined in the Adirondack Mountains through the Great Lakes. The hematite was then processed into weaponry as part of the military efforts to defeat the Axis powers.

Following the war, the ship was repurposed for the burgeoning steel industry, buoyed by the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, a network of canals and waterways connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. However, the ship’s new role was cut short when the very industry that had brought it into prominence saw a sharp decline. During this downturn, a fatal collision with a bridge in 1974 sealed its fate, leading its owner to sell it to the Cement Transit Co., which gave it its current name.

Until a decade ago, the carrier was relegated to a mere cement storage space but has since remained unused in the gritty port of Chicago. Due to the high cost of towing it, the freighter was left abandoned there for years, slowly decaying with every passing year.

Update: It was recently decided that the ghost ship would finally be evacuated and scrapped to make way for the port’s redevelopment. Yet, as of 2024, it’s still unclear whether this has actually happened. Even if you read this article after the freighter was removed, I would argue that a journey to Lake Calumet is still worth the effort. After all, it’s a rare opportunity to explore Chicago’s dystopian industrial landscape.

In typical American cities, the neighborhoods surrounding downtown are often seen as the epicenter of global shopping-mall culture, with enclosed facilities offering a somewhat sterile shopping experience. However, Chicago partly defies this stereotype with a chain of three semi-outdoor flea markets known as “Swap-O-Rama,” the largest of which is on Ashland Avenue.

With over 1,000 vendors, nearly anything you can imagine is for sale here, from vintage items to cheap imported merchandise, forming an endless mosaic of colors, shapes, and sizes. While the bulk of the market is dedicated to second-hand goods and low-cost items, it also features a barber shop, an indoor food court, and a farmers market, to name just a few.

Local small-scale producers sell organic products, including cheesemakers who offer free samples and bakery stands flocked by dozens of hungry shoppers eager to gorge on scrumptious loaf cakes with corn, coconut, and pineapple.

Despite being primarily accessible by car, a few buses stop nearby, saving you the hassle of finding a free parking space. The admission fee is $2 for adults, who receive a hand stamp for re-entry. Keep in mind that credit card usage is limited throughout the market, so make sure to bring enough cash. Also, some stands don’t have fixed prices, so be ready to bargain if you want to get more for less.

Built in 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal linked the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes via Chicago, transforming the city into a national and global commercial hub, eventually developing into the modern metropolis it is today. Throughout the 20^th century, the canal’s banks were dominated by large factories, something which made the area unsuitable for recreational activities.

In an effort to rejuvenate the area and make it more appealing, the city council converted a narrow strip of land along the canal into an urban park in 2000, creating a green enclave amid the otherwise industrial landscape.

With its walking trails, seating areas, and fishing platforms, the park offers a surreal sight of verdant lawns stretching alongside a semi-dystopian cityscape of large warehouses and factories, all set against the backdrop of the city’s iconic skyline.

If you’re up for more adventure, check out the nearby Damen Silos. Built in 1906 as the Santa Fe Grain Elevator, the facility thrived for decades due to Chicago’s strategic location. However, in 1977, a large explosion led to its abrupt closure, leaving it abandoned ever since. In recent years, the derelict silos have become a popular destination for urban explorers and graffiti artists, making it a quirky attraction for intrepid tourists.

Extra caution is necessary when visiting the site, particularly when exploring the underground tunnels beneath the silos or climbing to the top. But if you’re plucky and careful, you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking panoramic views of Chicago.

In the height of World War II, over 100,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were infamously sent to internment camps in remote locations. As the conflict continued, many were given the option of being released in exchange for relocating to the Midwest. As a result, a significant number of Japanese Americans migrated to Chicago.

Naturally, the tens of thousands of displaced civilians sought a place to gather and find a sense of community. It was for this reason that, in 1944, the local community established the Midwest Buddhist Temple. At first, members met in a public building on Chicago’s South Side and moved through various locations before settling permanently in the current temple in 1971.

Designed by a Japanese architect, the temple, along with its adjacent traditional garden, appears as a slice of Japan in the middle of Chicago, somewhat reminiscent of a Kamakura period structure. Notably, the temple adheres to the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism, which advocates sharing Buddha’s teachings with ordinary people rather than reserving them for monks.

Therefore, the temple invites new members and visitors of all backgrounds, providing them with the opportunity to learn about Buddhism, traditional Japanese cooking, and meditation.

The temple also hosts traditional Japanese performances and festivals (timetable available here), including the Ginza Holiday and Bon-Odori festivals. These events offer the chance to enjoy martial arts, dance, Taiko drumming, and a variety of tasty Japanese street food.

Europe’s rich cultural heritage inspires awe around the globe, so much so in fact that replicas of iconic European monuments can now be found all over the world. Located in Niles, a low-key suburb northwest of Chicago’s municipal borders, is a structure that bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Italy’s most visited sites.

In the mid-1930s, entrepreneur Robert Ilg, owner of Chicago’s Hot Air Electric Ventilating Company, commissioned a recreational park for his employees. A major feature of the park was a swimming pool with a large water tank, which Ilg found visually unattractive. To obscure its unsightliness, he then opted to erect a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa around it.

Standing 29 meters tall and 8.5 meters wide, this cloned building is about half the size of its Italian counterpart and has a less pronounced lean. Nonetheless, it’s still more than enough for capturing the popular and illusionary photo of “holding” the tower with your hands.

The tower features several bells, three of which were cast in Italy centuries ago, further cementing its affinity to its source of inspiration. At the base of the structure, there is a memorial plaque dedicated to Galileo Galilei, the famous 17^th-century Italian astronomer who conducted his gravity experiments by dropping different objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Chicago, nestled along Lake Michigan, is home to many beaches, though most are packed with sunbathers during the warm season, especially those near downtown.

Formerly a landfill site, Montrose Beach offers a much calmer alternative to the busier lakeshores farther south. Located in the northeast part of the city, its wide, spacious sandy strip has enough room for a large frisbee game even on the 4th of July, let alone on an ordinary weekday.

In stark contrast to its smelly past as a garbage dump, the beach today is clean and well-maintained, boasting multiple sports facilities, ample free parking, and even a designated dog-friendly area. Though it’s one of the best places for an afternoon picnic with a view of Chicago’s skyline, Montrose Beach also has its own food scene, including a few restaurants and concession stands, most notably a Mexican vendor selling treats like Mexican-style fruit cups and corn on the cob.

Bordering the beach is the 15-acre Montrose Bird Sanctuary, home to over 300 species of birds, some of which are rare and endangered. From the 1950s until the 1970s, this area served as a military base, and its commander opted to disguise it by planting honeysuckle shrubs around it.

After the barracks were evacuated, the shrubs and newly planted trees became a haven for numerous migratory birds, earning the area the nickname “Magic Hedge.” Popular among bird-lovers, this lush thicket is teeming with flying critters year-round, but in spring and autumn, it reaches its peak with a blaring chorus of songbirds – something not to be missed.

With skyscrapers towering hundreds of meters high, Chicago’s downtown can feel a bit claustrophobic after a few days or so, possibly sparking a desire for a dose of nature. Roughly a 30-minute drive from the city center, the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, located south of Darien, is the perfect getaway from the city’s hustle and bustle. It features a surprisingly large variety of landscapes, from dense forests to open meadows.

The preserve is crisscrossed by a 15-kilometer main trail that winds around the Argonne National Laboratory, allowing hikers, cyclists, and even horseback riders to traverse the entire area. Awash with 740 types of plants and 600 animal species, it’s one of the most ecologically diverse reserves in the state.

The preserve is divided into three main parts: a dense oak-maple woodland that covers most of the terrain; the Bluff Savanna, which extends south to the Des Plaines River and is rich with hundreds of plant species, including endangered ones and some of the oldest black walnuts in Illinois; and the Poverty Prairie, named for the poverty oat grass native to the region, a grassy area with sparse trees that becomes the epicenter of New England asters’ purple bloom each spring.

Within the forest are two waterfalls. The first, Rocky Glen, was built as a dam in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is easily accessible on foot. The second is more secluded, with its exact location kept secret for conservation reasons. While you might assume that this park owes its name to one of these waterfalls, you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s actually christened after Seymour “Bud” Waterfall, who was president of the forest preserve district for 26 years.

With the advent of the automobile and its mass production in the early 20^th century, middle-class Americans embraced the idea of road trips, journeying across states on the newly constructed highways. In the pre-smartphone era, the only way to share travel experiences and insights was by sending postcards. This gave rise to the once immensely popular “Greetings From” postcards. This formerly ubiquitous card depicted countless cities and towns across the country with embossed 3D text featuring drawings of famous landmarks and icons associated with those places.

Inspired by these classic trinkets, New York-based graffiti artist Victor Ving and studio photographer Lisa Beggs embarked on a journey throughout the U.S. to recreate the “Greetings From” postcards as murals, aiming to complete as many as possible. In May 2015, the talented duo took just four days to finish the “Greetings from Chicago” mural in Logan Square, located between Prindiville Street and Milwaukee Avenue. Their work triggered a street art frenzy across the then-humdrum neighborhood.

With the help of local artist Amuse 126, Victor and Lisa created the mural using almost exclusively spray paint, including intricate details like the downtown skyline in the “H” and the city’s sports team logos in the “A.” The mural, which attracts dozens of local Instagrammers each day, is a blend of nostalgia and modernity, providing visitors with an exceptional online memento.