Casimir Pulaski Day...

...isn't until March 5 this year, but the guys and I just couldn't wait that long to honor the Revolutionary War hero and "father of the American cavalry" by dining out on Polish food. Actually, the restaurant -- Pierogi Heaven on Wells -- is just off the Clark/Lake el stop where we left off on our Hike last week.

I had originally planned on tackling the next three miles of the Chicago Marathon course but that would have put us on Cannon Drive smack in the middle of Lincoln Park. We could either cut it short at Fullerton or go a little longer to Diversey but neither seemed appealing on a frigid January night. So we bowed to the weather and walked the less ambitious two miles to the North/Sedgwick Brown Line stop in Old Town.

After dining on Polish sausages and, yes, pierogis of all types, we ventured out into the bitter cold -- 18 degrees! I'm pretty sure it was our coldest Hike yet. In the past I had usually drawn the line in the low twenties or so, but it didn't seem so bad when I was walking my dog, Stewart, yesterday afternoon.

The eight of us set out from the restaurant at about six o'clock and promptly went the wrong direction -- west -- until I course-corrected a couple of blocks later. (I've often told the guys not to get discouraged if they ever get lost; even those of us who pride ourselves on knowing our way around the city frequently get disoriented after dark. What to do? Pause for a moment and get your bearings. Thank God for smart phones!)

So we backtracked a little to LaSalle Street where we turned left (north) for the River North neighborhood. Since it was so cold I had an option in reserve for the less adventurous: you could bail from the group and catch the Brown Line at Chicago. After all, there's no shame in walking a mile in these sub-freezing temperatures!

We crossed the river with its incredible views, past the Merchandise Mart and a number of other personal landmarks from my arrival in the city 37 years ago this month: the Anti-Cruelty Society at Grand, the Ohio House Motel and Rock 'n' Roll McDonald’s (closed for remodeling?) at Ohio, and the LaSalle Flower Shop at Superior. When we reached Chicago Avenue I fully expected everyone from the group to peel off leaving just my son and me for a lonely trek up to North Avenue. To my surprise, however, only two chose to cut the trip short leaving six intrepid souls to continue the journey north. I was impressed!

So on we soldiered, past the Moody Bible Institute and umpteen high rise apartments and condos built in the 1980s to replace all the Single Room Occupancy hotels (what my dad used to call "flophouses") that used to line streets like LaSalle and Clark. (I can imagine how people used to think of the city as "rough" back in the day; now it's full of yuppies.) Across Division Street we encountered Sandburg Village on our right (east), originally an urban renewal project from the 1960s that was intended to buffer the Gold Coast neighborhood from the "encroaching blight from the north and west."

We finally reached North Avenue and turned left (west) through Old Town, passing the Second City on Wells, to the Brown Line Stop at Sedgwick. The el came quickly (Praise the Lord!) and we switched at the Harold Washington Library for the Red and Blue Lines for home.

Next week we'll resume our Hike back at North/Sedgwick and head up through Lincoln Park toward Wrigley Field. That should bring us to about the seven and a half-mile mark and the northernmost tip of the Marathon course. Hope it's warmer!