Shopping therapy

Of the many conveniences offered at Greenview Place, some of our favorites involve taking the van out and about. Every other Monday, we head out for a shopping trip – or, as we call it, an afternoon of retail therapy and fresh air.

This week we are headed to the Addison Mall, where we’ll find stores like Target, Dollar Store, and the Entenmann’s Bakery Outlet. Our residents always enjoy going out and about in the community and past trips have included trips to Kmart, grocery stores, and craft stores. In fact, on the last trip residents helped break in the brand new Walmart Supercenter on Diversey.

Yowzah!

We wasted no time acclimating ourselves to the new store, and founds loads of deals and fun items. 

In addition this month’s shopping trip, we are also planning an outing to the Lincoln Park Zoo. You may recall our trip to the zoo’s neighbor the Lincoln Park Conservatory a few months ago. Well, later this month we are headed back to Lincoln Park to visit the 35-acre free city zoo.

We will finish off the month with a final shopping trip. So, stay tuned for an update and pictures from our zoo adventure next week!

From field to table, with a stop in between

Recently, we took at trip to the Lincoln Park Conservatory to view the Spring Flower Show. In addition to the orchids, azaleas, and hyacinth we planned to see, we were also greeted with plants of a different sort.   These plants were the kind you might want at your breakfast table. Sounds interesting, right? With spring planting going on at the family farms surrounding Chicago, and some people observing Earth Day, we thought it was an appropriate time to see the plants that bring us our food every day.

Do you enjoy fruit for breakfast? (Who doesn’t, right?) Well, as we wandered through the different rooms, we saw trees growing bananas, coconuts and mangos. The banana plant was very tall, with clusters of ripe yellow fruit growing near the top. Although it sure looked like a tree, it turns out that bananas actually grow from a flowering herb plant.

And what breakfast would be complete without coffee? Not mine! Although the coffea plant is native to Africa and Asia, the Conservatory had a plant growing nicely. The “coffea” plant produces purple fruits called cherries; inside the cherries are two seeds. The seeds of that plant are what we know as coffee beans, and make the drink that we are all familiar with. 

Maybe you are more the hot chocolate type? The Conservatory had that covered too, with beautiful cacao plants. Do you like tea with ginger? We spotted a specimen of red tower ginger – just gorgeous. And how about this? There were food-name plants, too. What do you think of: yellow lollipop plants, and red shrimp plants. But they were definitely not made of lollipop or shrimp!

We urban folks don’t always think about how our food gets from the fields to our tables. So, like us, take a moment to think about all the things the earth, and the things growing from it, do for us every day.

A spring in your step!

Did you know that Monday March 4^th is Chicago’s Birthday? And even though it seems like winter might last forever here in Chicago, believe it or not, spring begins in two weeks!

To help celebrate the change in seasons, celebrate some Chicago history, and ring in the beginning of spring, we’re planning a trip to the Lincoln Park Conservatory Spring Flower Show. The annual Spring Flower Show began January 26th; and we have a bus reserved for our trip on the afternoon of the 18^th. Yippee!  

After many fun-filled trips to other local flower exhibits, such as the Fall Colors Trip to Morton Arboretum and the summer trip to The Garfield Park Conservatory, our residents requested that we plan our next trip to the Lincoln Park Conservatory.  The flower trips are always so popular and well attended that we decided a trip to see the spring blooms was most definitely in order.

When we visited Garfield Park, we were able to take some beautiful pictures of the azalea plants there. We’re thrilled because a special feature of the Lincoln Park show is the chance to see the direct descendants of the great azaleas that were part of the Columbian Exposition. And we all know that was the World’s Fair held in Chicago in 1893!

This year’s Spring Flower Show runs through May 12 at the Lincoln Park Conservatory located at 2391 N Stockton Dr.

The first day of spring is March 20^th, so why not take a moment to welcome spring, and see a slice of Chicago’s History?