Last Saturday my mom came home from the library with a flyer for a bird walk, set it next to my coffee and said, "This one is free, Megan." She knows me. Since I started this blog in March, every weekend has had the same question hanging over it: how do I see people and get out of my old bedroom without undoing a week of careful spending?
My credit card from the Rogers Park year isn't paid off yet, and my emergency fund is $1,800, so restaurant brunch and a movie are off the table for a while. What surprised me is how much of the North Shore costs nothing at all once the snow is gone. I made a list in my notes app in March and have been working through it. Here it is, with honest notes.
The lake and the trails
- Gillson Park and the beach path. Before the summer beach season starts, the sand is just open space. I walk from our street to the water and back in about forty minutes, and on clear mornings the Bahá'í House of Worship looks almost white against the sky.
- The Bahá'í House of Worship gardens. Visitors are welcome to walk the grounds and go inside, and it costs nothing. It's quiet in a way that nothing else in Wilmette is. I sat on a bench there for twenty minutes on a Tuesday after work and felt like a different person.
- The Green Bay Trail. It runs north from Wilmette through Kenilworth and Winnetka along the train line, flat and easy. I walk it to Winnetka, look at the houses I will never live in, and walk back. About two hours round trip.
- The Northwestern lakefill path in Evanston. You can walk out along the water on the edge of campus, and at sunrise it's mostly runners and geese. I park on a side street a few blocks west and walk in, since campus parking isn't free.
- The path along the North Shore Channel. This is the park I'd ignored for years. There's a long stretch in Skokie with outdoor sculptures along the water, ten minutes from my office. I drove past it hundreds of times. Now I eat lunch there on nice days.
- The Wilmette harbor, where the channel meets the lake. Sailboats aren't in yet in April, but it's a good place to watch the water churn on windy days.
- The village library. Beyond books, our library lends passes to some area museums and attractions. You reserve them ahead, and the good ones go fast, so I put in requests early. My mom works the circulation desk and pretends not to notice how many holds I have.
- Library events. Author talks, a monthly film night, a seed swap in April. I went to the seed swap mostly for the people watching and came home with three packets of basil seeds for my mom's garden.
- Spring migration. My dad loaned me his old binoculars, and the lakefront parks fill with small birds passing through in late April and May. I can't name most of them yet. I'm learning.
- The Chicago Botanic Garden. Walking or biking in is free; it's parking a car that costs money. I haven't gone yet because I want to bike it, and my bike needs new tires. It's on the list for fall.
What "free" actually cost me
Nothing on this list required paying admission, but I'm not going to pretend I spent zero. In March and April so far, my weekend spending was about $31: two coffees on the Green Bay Trail walk ($9), gas to Skokie and Evanston on weekends (maybe $14), and an ice cream at Plaza del Lago that I fully do not regret ($8).
Compare that to last spring in Rogers Park, when one Saturday of brunch, a drink and a cab home could easily cost $70. That year is a big part of why I'm writing a blog about paying things off. I don't miss the cabs.
The best part of the free list is that it gave me a reason to say yes to people. When Priya texts on a Friday, I can answer "lake walk?" instead of making up an excuse. She came up from Lakeview two weekends ago and we did the Green Bay Trail and then sat on my parents' back steps with iced tea. It was one of the better Saturdays I've had all year.
If you're local and you've got a free spot I'm missing, I'm keeping the list open through May. I'll take suggestions, especially anything that works on a rainy weekend, because April has had a lot of those.
