Every year my family plans a vacation during the Summer (here is last year’s) and we were planning on heading south to Georgia and South Carolina, but unfortunately due to the virus our plans had to change. Although we were excited to take in all the southern charm this summer our safety and the safety of others was our first priority. Our alternative option was taking a road trip, but instead we decided to take little drives to places we always talk about going to and never end up going. So we swapped the beach and ocean for hiking trails and canyon waterfalls!
Starved Rock State Park
Our first summer vacation stop was Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby, IL, which was a little under 2 hours for us. We got there early in the morning (there were only 2 or 3 other cars besides us). The trails were pretty much empty in the morning, which was nice during these days of social distancing. We didn’t have to worry about coming in contact with many people. We decided to do the St. Louise Canyon, French Canyon, and Starved Rock. I almost felt like I was back on the road to Hana chasing the waterfalls. It was so nice to just take in the nature, enjoy some fresh air, and get my steps in. I definitely recommend coming early as it does get crowded and don’t forget your water!
Eichelman Park
Most of the Chicago beaches are currently closed, so we decided to head up to Wisconsin later in the week. After doing some research we found a little beach in Kenosha right across the border called Eichelman, which is a park and beach and completely free! The beach happened to be in a little neighborhood secluded from a bigger beach to the north. We brought our umbrellas and beach chairs and had the perfect day. Afterwords we stopped for some good Wisconsin cheese curds at The Brat Stop, which did not disappoint!
Overall, we enjoyed our mini summer vacation as a family trying to find activities that felt somewhat normal!
