15 Awesome Things to Do in Skokie (Illinois)

A village on the North Shore, Skokie sits simply 16 miles northwest of downtown Chicago and has a particular character.

It is a extremely numerous a part of Chicagoland that was settled by a big Jewish inhabitants, together with many Holocaust survivors, within the wake of World Warfare II.

Skokie continues to have a big Jewish neighborhood, making up a few third of the inhabitants, and is residence to a number of Orthodox colleges and has an energetic Chabad.

For guests it is a welcoming place that takes pleasure in its cultural make-up, with a high-profile Holocaust museum, a ardour for the humanities, an upscale Westfield mall and first-class public facilities.

1. Illinois Holocaust Museum & Training Center

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center — Illinois Holocaust Museum & Training Middle

This establishment had been virtually 30 years within the pipeline when it opened in 2009. The origins of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Training Middle return to an try by a Neo Nazis group to march within the village within the early 80s.

In a constructing designed by Stanley Tigerman, the museum exhibitions strategy the Holocaust and subjects like prejudice and hatred, utilizing state-of-the-art museography.

The detailed Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition is a shifting however instructional timeline, taking your from pre-war Europe by means of ghettoization, focus camps after which resettlement.

One other everlasting show is the Take a Stand Middle, utilizing expertise to emphasize modern social justice and relate Holocaust survivor accounts.

Lastly, Make a Distinction is an interactive attraction for youngsters as much as the age of 12, encouraging vanity, empathy, management abilities and optimistic choice making.

2. Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park

The Skokie financial institution of the North Shore Channel drainage canal beside McCormick Boulevard had been an eyesore for many years till it was reworked into this sensational linear park.

This undertaking, a collaboration between the Village of Skokie and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Larger Chicago, started within the late 1980s and has resulted in dozens of participating sculptures and installations beside the channel.

Organized throughout 4 sections, these are surrounded by stunning landscaping, with lawns and slowly maturing bushes, and are simply accessed by way of the North Shore Channel Path.

What makes the park compelling is the number of kinds and supplies, and among the many works by main worldwide sculptors are items by the scholars of native excessive colleges.

3. Emily Oaks Nature Center

You may get reacquainted with the pure world at this tranquil parcel of wilderness in Skokie.

Over 13 acres, the Emily Oaks Nature Middle consists of oak woodland, grassland speckled with wildflowers in early summer time and two ponds, all able to be found on a path.

These habitats harbor wealthy wildlife, with coyotes, pink foxes, Cooper’s hawks, flying squirrels and nice blue herons all regularly noticed.

The middle has an academic vocation, internet hosting interactive shows and organizing actions as various as birding, figuring out wildflowers, storytelling campfires and seasonal celebrations like Earth Day.

4. Westfield Old Orchard

This plush out of doors mall has been a part of the Skokie procuring scene since 1956 and was bought by the Westfield model in 2002.

After we wrote this text the 4 anchor shops had been Bloomingdale’s Nordstrom, Macy’s and Barnes & Noble.

On elegant alleys with flowers, bushes, hedges, streetlamps and a fountain are favorites like Zara, Sephora, Hole, Foot Locker, Apple and Banana Republic, in addition to loads of premium manufacturers together with Rolex, Michael Kors and Tiffany & Co.

With regards to eating, there’s a mixture of meals courtroom mainstays and quick informal chains from Shake Shack to Cheesecake Manufacturing unit, Buffalo Wild Wings and Nando’s. And you may embody a film in your outing on the CMX Westfield Previous Orchard.

5. North Department Bike Path

North Branch Bike Trail — North Department Bike Path

Roughly tracing the course of the North Department Chicago River, this Class I bicycle path winds by means of northeastern Cook dinner County for 22 miles.

The southern trailhead is just not removed from Skokie at Gompers Park, and from there it arcs spherical, passing by means of a bit of Skokie at Harms Woods simply west of Westfield Previous Orchard and one in every of a protracted chain of forest preserves alongside the route.

The path is particularly fairly north of Skokie correct, alongside the Skokie Lagoons, recording greater than 200 chook species, earlier than reaching the Chicago Botanic Backyard at Glencoe.

From there you will get onto the Inexperienced Bay Path, on the previous trackbed of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad.

6. North Shore Middle for the Performing Arts

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts — North Shore Middle for the Performing Arts

Proper in Skokie is a contemporary vacation spot for theatre, comedy, dance and music. The North Shore Middle for the Performing Arts opened in 1996, and presents excellent cultural, literary and academic applications for the residents of Skokie and neighboring communities.

The middle consists of an 867-seat foremost stage theater, together with a versatile 318-capacity auditorium for performances and neighborhood occasions.

Lately the middle has additionally placed on an thrilling collection of outside live shows within the Out Again Parking Lot.

Keep watch over the schedule for a wealthy lineup, providing music of all kinds, well-known comedians, dance, broadway reveals and magic.

7. Skokie Heritage Museum

Inside just a few steps of the Village Corridor is a pair of fascinating previous buildings that collectively function the Skokie Heritage Museum.

The primary of those is the Historic Engine Home, constructed in 1887 as a response to the Chicago Fireplace of 1871.

This tremendous brick constructing was decommissioned in 1969 and at the moment homes everlasting historic shows on the primary ground, in addition to touring and short-term displays on the second ground.

Simply behind it’s a fantastic piece of Skokie historical past within the type of an authentic log cabin, raised in 1847 by the early Niles Township settlers Nicholas and Elizabeth Meyer.

8. Skokie Theatre

Catching the attention for its shiny Artwork Moderne type and checkerboard motif, the Skokie Theatre has been round in some type since 1915.

The present design dates to an enlargement and reworking within the 1940s. For many of its historical past the venue was a single-screen movie show, earlier than lastly closing in 2004 and changing into a dwell efficiency venue.

Right now the Skokie Theatre is run by MadKap Productions, programming musicals, live shows, expertise reveals, performs, stand-up and sketch comedy, seasonal celebrations, cabaret, youngsters’ reveals, Oscar night time screenings and way more.

9. The Exploritorium

A unbelievable choice for wet days, the Exploritorium is an interactive indoor playground run by the Skokie Park District and lately acclaimed by the Chicago Tribune.

This attraction is creatively designed to assist kids study by means of open-ended play.

There are two and a half tales of tubes and tunnels to discover, together with a climbing wall, a water play space with a water vortex, a costumed dress-up space with a stage, the Engineering Megastation and the train-oriented Transportation Station.

10. Skokie Water Playground

The Skokie Park District maintains two glorious out of doors aquatic services. The bigger of those is a water park that may be discovered simply north of the Emily Oaks Nature Middle.

This boasts an expansive, 14,00Zero-square-foot foremost pool with seaside entry, in addition to three water slides.

The fully-accessible splash pad, with its many jets and sprinklers, is at all times a success with youngsters, and one thrilling characteristic is a 300-gallon tip bucket that fills after which drenches everybody beneath.

There’s a concession stand for a snack, cool drink or frozen deal with, and there’s room sufficient for all households to unfold out and loosen up.

11. Devonshire Aquatic Middle

One other a lot anticipated summer time establishment for households in Skokie is the Devonshire Aquatic Middle.

This facility hosts a wealth of applications, from swim classes, to gender-specific swim periods, dad or mum/tot swims and even “Dive-in Motion pictures”.

The middle consists of a big foremost pool, with seaside entry and swim lanes. That is complemented by a separate dive tank with a three-meter drop slide, in addition to a completely accessible splash pad.

There’s a concession stand right here, open all summer time, and a solar hill for some post-swim relaxation.

12. Skokie Valley Path

Beginning by the Dempster-Skokie L station and operating south is a well-liked bike path extending by means of Skokie.

Following the ComEd proper of approach, the path is a superb shortcut by means of the village for cyclists and passes by means of the west facet of the Emily Oaks Nature Middle.

On the time of writing this text the Skokie Valley Path was within the means of being related to the Valley Line Path, permitting rides by means of a succession of Chicago’s northern suburbs, together with Wilmette, Glenview and Northfield, in addition to Lincolnwood within the south.

13. Skokie Competition of Cultures

Skokie Festival of Cultures — Skokie Competition of Cultures

It’s becoming that a spot as numerous as Skokie ought to host a wildly profitable celebration of world cultures.

This occasion takes place throughout two days in Could in Oakton Park, and has grown dramatically since its inception in 1990.

Now some 40 cultures are represented, with arts and crafts, people music and dance, kids’s video games, cultural cubicles and a very worldwide array of meals.

The occasion’s showpiece is a show of the flags for each nation represented within the competition, and a mini prepare experience meanders by means of the park throughout the celebration.

14. Skokie Farmers’ Market

A trademark of the summer time and fall in Skokie, the village’s farmers’ market takes place on Sunday mornings from the beginning of June to the start of November.

The placement is the Village Corridor car parking zone, the place you’ll encounter a big array of distributors for native fruit and greens, cheese, herbs, flowers, preserves, honey, sauces, pastries and extra moreover.

The farmers all come from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, and far of the produce you see was picked solely hours earlier than. There’s additionally often some inviting meals to go, with a preferred stand that makes nice tacos and tamales.

15. Georgia Nut Firm

A significant employer in Skokie is that this nut and confectionery firm, based by one Rose Musso in 1945 and now within the fourth technology of the identical household.

One of many largest privately held snack producers in North America, the Georgia Nut Firm has a large manufacturing facility in Skokie and you’ll drop by the retail retailer right here for nice offers on their vary.

This might be honey roasted peanuts, yogurt pretzels, chocolate almonds, milk chocolate malt balls, roasted cashews, dried fruits, sugar-shelled chocolate and all types of superbly packaged seasonal treats.