Make the Most of Your North Shore Summer
August on the North Shore has always felt like the reward for making it through July. The humidity finally breaks, the farmers' markets overflow, and everyone pretends they're not already thinking about school starting. Well, not yet. There's still time to slow down, get outside, and enjoy what these towns do better than almost anywhere else in the state.
Start Your Weekend at the Farmers' Market
A good farmers' market is one of those things you don't fully appreciate until you've lived somewhere without one. The Downtown Evanston Farmers' Market and the Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Commerce Farmers' Market are both the real thing. Enjoy local produce, baked goods, flowers, jewelry, art, the works. If you're after something for a proper homemade dinner this weekend rather than another takeout container, this is where you go.
Spend a Day by the Lake
We don't get many of these days left, so use them. Glencoe Beach has a sandy shoreline, volleyball, and paddleboard, kayak, and sailboat rentals if you're feeling ambitious. Or head to Gillson Beach for what remains, in my opinion, some of the best lakefront views this side of the North Shore.
Enjoy an Evening Outdoors
There's no shortage of outdoor programming up here, and I'd argue that's half of what you're paying for when you choose this over the city. Wilmette's free Sounds of Summer series runs into September, with shows at Village Green on the 3rd and 4th. Down in Evanston, Downtown Summer Sounds brings free concerts to Fountain Square, which is an easy excuse for an evening out before dinner and a wander through the shops nearby.
Explore the North Shore While It's Still Sunny
Not that the fall and winter don't have their own charm (they do), but there's something about exploring these downtowns in the summer sun that just hits differently. Spend an afternoon in Winnetka or Wilmette, grab coffee and poke around the shops in Evanston, or drive up to Highland Park or Lake Forest for a change of scenery. Say what you will about the tight inventory and the price of getting in up here, and I have, but the payoff is this: beautiful neighborhoods, lakefront parks, and real community events, all nearby each other. That's not nothing.
