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Unofficial Start of Chicago's Summer Season — Emphasis on Unofficial
- Bob Benenson
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Saturday Morning of Memorial Day Weekend Felt More Like the Official Start of April
Memorial Day weekend is often referred to — at least here in the north — as the unofficial start to the outdoor summer season. The average temperature on May 23 is 72. Sometimes it can be warmer... true shirtsleeve weather.
This May 23, the start of this year's holiday three-day weekend, was not like that. We live right by Lake Michigan, and that morning we woke to thick fog and mist. Temperatures lingered in the 50s for most of the morning, warming a big closer to normal as the fog lifted in the afternoon. Then the fog came back again.
Thankfully, the will of our local food fans is strong, and the turnout for Green City's Saturday morning at its flagship Lincoln Park location was pretty much as strong as on Saturdays with better weather.
I came home with a modest but very photogenic market haul. Check out the chive blossoms on the right (I have already turned them around to make a jar of vivid purple chive blossom vinegar, which takes a couple of weeks to finish the process) and the celery leaves on the left — both from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois). Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan) was the source for the asparagus and strawberries (they were the only farm at the market that has a full-scale early crop of this first major fruit to hit the Chicago markets).
The most tangible evidence of the beginning of Chicago's summer season came with the opening of the fireworks series at Navy Pier, which runs on Saturdays and Wednesdays from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
As I mentioned earlier, the pesky fog had returned Saturday afternoon. It lifted, but not completely, by the 10 p.m. liftoff for the fireworks show. We live on the 30th floor of a building that is four miles due north of the Pier. I can get some sensational photos on a clear night, but the residual mist played havoc with my camera's focus.
Nonetheless, I got a few photos just to mark our transition to playing outside. Better luck — and weather — next time.
Check out Local Food Forum's Chicago region Farmers Market Tracker to see what markets are open this week, and get a preview of next week's start of the big June wave of local market openings.