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Photo: Fritz Geller-Grimm, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
The 1.5-mile-long park from which the neighborhood draws its name is dotted with statues of people with ties to Chicago or Germany (like Goethe), and features plenty of paths for running wide-open green space for sports, and even a rowing lagoon to the west.
Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue, on the south, to near Ardmore Avenue on the north, just north of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue. Two museums and a zoo are located in the oldest part of the park between North Avenue and Diversey Parkway in the eponymous neighborhood. Farther to the north, the park is characterized by parkland, beaches, recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors per year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited city park in the United States, behind Manhattan's Central Park.
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This neoclassical veterans memorial is truly grand. Its interior is an extravagant ensemble of marble, bronze sculptures, stained glass, and huge murals.
Historically, spiritually and architecturally, the Shrine is a "must see" destination for Chicago visitors. The Shrine Honors the first American Citizen Saint and Patron of Immigrants in the Catholic Church. Designed by world renowned architect Leonard Gliotto, the Shrine is a celebration of carrara marble, Florentine stained glass, gold mosaics, colorful frescoes and Romanesque splendor. All are welcome to visit the chapel, meditation garden, historical exhibit and gift shop. Visitors may take a self-guided tour or schedule a docent-led tour. Catholic Mass is celebrated Saturday at 4PM and Sunday at 10AM.
Carefully positioned within walking distance of the Lincoln Park Zoo in hopes of being parents' second stop while they're in the area, the Notebaert Nature Museum is... okay. Exhibits are geared toward kids and are sometimes hands-on. The only consistent must-see is the butterfly haven.
An eclectic mix on two stages includes solo shows, major contemporary plays like "Ragtime" and "The Vagina Monologues," and the popular improvised musicals of Baby Wants Candy (Sa 10:30PM, $15).
Plays are shown here (see Victory Gardens below), but the theater is still best known as the place where John Dillinger went down in 1934. America's most famous bank robber was leaving after a movie with the Lady in Red when FBI agents opened fire. The owners of the theater have never been keen to play up the connection, but the classic marquee is still there. Reportedly, Dillinger fans hold gatherings outside on July 22, the anniversary of his death.
One of the best concert venues in Chicago, this former movie theater received a beautiful renovation in 2009 and now hosts good, moderately priced ($12-15) indie rock shows most nights of the week. (Keep an eye out for some excellent free events on Sundays.) Arrive early for a space in the roomy balcony or a few drinks in the comfortable bar area. There's a Dillinger connection here, too — the FBI's sharpshooters were camped out on the theater's roof, waiting for him to leave the Biograph.