Our First Month in Evanston, Part 2: Exploring Our New 'Hood

October: Finding Our Way

So the next priority after furnishing the apartment was starting to explore our new neighborhood and finding the most important destinations: (1) gym, (2) library, (3) coffee shop, (4) grocery store, and (5) wine shop. No problem! 

(1) We joined the McGaw YMCA, which is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. The Y has not just one but two indoor pools. Woo-hoo! I prefer the "warm" 4-lane lap pool (82 degrees) over the "cold" 6-lane lap pool (77 degrees) and was able to get my ideal reservation time of 7-8am almost any day that I wanted. Even our first week, I went to a Thursday evening yoga class, which became my regular habit, and swam laps on Friday morning. Yay! 

We also have a great workout area in our apartment building that was very convenient for Mr. E for his weight workout or running if he didn't quite have enough time for the round-trip walk to the Y. 

I settled into a routine of getting up at my usual 6:15am time so that I could get in a bit of an extra walk around the neighborhood, usually to the Lake, before heading to the Y for my lap swim time. This also gave me an opportunity for some amazing views of sunrise over Lake Michigan.

(2) The Evanston Public Library is one block away. I got my library card as soon as I could!

(3) I began a weekly habit of trying the various local coffee shops on my way home from the Y on Friday mornings. Newport Coffee, Collectivo Coffee, Patisserie Coralie, and Mensch's Deli were all nearby options. Based on previous experience, I skipped the Peet's next door to our apartment, but Mr. E and I did take advantage of our perennial favorite Starbucks that's a few blocks farther away, on the same street as the Target. However, our favorite spot for sure became the newly-opened coffee kiosk at the Arrington Lagoon, right by the Lake. Yummy Americanos for a great price along with tasty pastries (blueberry muffin, cinnamon scone) soon made this into a regular weekend morning stop for us, followed by a stroll along the lake shore.

(4) I already mentioned that Whole Foods is literally next door to our apartment building. And Target is three blocks away (we can see it from our living room). For additional options, we have a Jewel Osco (aka Safeway) six blocks away with a Trader Joe's just across the street. Easy to get everything we need using bags or backpacks or the collapsible red canvas wagon that Mr. E procured from Amazon.

(5) One block farther south of TJ's is Binny's, the Midwest equivalent of Total Wine or BevMo, so we have an easy spot for wine and alcohol purchases as well.

The ease of having everything within walking distance is just so perfect and exactly the lifestyle we were looking for and hoping for. In addition, there are numerous massage options around -- I tried one local spot as well as the Wellness Suite on the Northwestern University campus -- and I found a fabulous chiropractic practice that's a 15-minute walk and easy to coordinate for a visit on my way home from my swim workout. 

What else? Oh, right, the Woman's Club of Evanston is a block away. I'm thinking I may join the Club once we get a better sense of when and for how long we'll be making Evanston our home base. There's also the Evanston History Center near the Lake, not to mention all of the venues on the Northwestern University campus, such as the Block Museum and the Virgina Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts. More details to come about the various cultural events we were able to attend during our initial foray into life in Evanston!