Decades ago, my mom, sister and I met my aunt and cousins at their friend’s house on the banks of Crystal Lake. It seemed as if we were far away from home in rural Wisconsin — and our day consisted of swimming in the lake.
But a recent day spent with my sister, Laurel Ann Kaiser, in Crystal Lake showed how much more there is to this McHenry County city. Here you’ll find locally owned coffee shops, a brewery, farm-to-table restaurants and an historic downtown lined with brick buildings, including a performing arts center.
A former quarry is now a large outdoor recreation area where you can swim, paddle boat, canoe and even scuba dive. You’ll also discover miles of hiking trails, one of them leading to a prairie where rare plants grow.
In short, Crystal Lake is a well-honed marriage of 21st century trends (e.g., gluten free foods, craft beers) with 19th century charm (e.g., antique shops in brick buildings).
There’s plenty of free parking; or you can take the Metra to the downtown area to spend the day.
Morning
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At 8:30 a.m. on a warm Friday in June, adults and children milled inside Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters (5005 Northwest Highway, 815-356-0115, www.consciouscup.com) ordering pour-overs, scones, gluten-free treats and lavender-infused, organic, fair-trade coffee from Mexico, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanazania and other countries.
Coffee connoisseurs Jamie and Drew Stout of Cary come here every other Friday for a morning date. They sit by one of the many wooden tables in the larger-than-typical coffee shop.
“We’re foodies. We like good coffee. We’ve tried many others and this is the best,” Drew said. He drank a pour-over, which Jamie described as being smooth and earthy, while she drank coffee, with foamy milk on top to which the barista added a decorative touch.
Another morning-time treat in Crystal Lake is Country Donuts (181 W. Virginia St., 815-455-2028; countrydonuts.net) a locally owned shop serving fresh doughnuts, including a specialty patrons rave about — apple fritters. It’s open 24/7.
If you prefer a big breakfast, try Tony’s Cafe (1030 McHenry Ave., 815-477-8118, facebook.com/TonysCafeCL), where you can feast on banana bread French toast, stuffed potato pancakes or a pancake berry burrito.
Armed with energy from coffee and scones, we next visited Veteran Acres Park, where kids and adults can play.
At one entrance (431 Walkup Road, 815-459-0680, www.crystallakeparks.org), a playground and splash pad (in summer) beckoned. From here, you can hike around the wetlands or drive to the other entrance (330 N. Main St. 815-455-1763; www.crystallakeparks.org), as we did, to get to the Nature Center.
Inside the center, education supervisor Jess Day explained how a honey bee colony works as we viewed an active hive. He also opened the butterfly house, where we saw painted ladies that had just emerged from their chrysalises.
Populations and species differ depending on when you go. We also peered inside a small aquarium to see how many walking sticks we could find (from thumb-sized youngsters to hand-sized adults).
Behind the center building, you’ll find trails to hike through woods, along the wetlands and around Wingate Prairie, which contains rare plants found only in a few places in Illinois.
Volunteer stewards manage the ecosystem to keep it intact. We walked the prairie perimeter searching for the huge erratic rock Day told us about that’s been there ever since glaciers deposited it eons ago.
Afternoon
For lunch, we were directed by several folks to The Cottage (6 E. Crystal Lake Ave, 815-459-7520, thecottagepub.net).
Diana Calabrese, the general manger, said The Cottage is owned by a British native who opened the Crystal Lake restaurant to mimic the pubs he ran in England.
We sat on the deck, where live music is featured on Saturdays – (summer night time fun) and sports stations are broadcast on large flat-screen television sets.
Ice cream is available from the locally owned Julie Ann’s Frozen Custard (6500 Northwest Highway, 815-459-9117, https://julieanns.com).
We ate British fish and chips, which can be ordered all-you-can-eat style on Fridays.
The Cottage, also open for dinner, is downtown, where you can stroll among a variety of shops, many housed in brick buildings along clean sidewalks with flowers in pots.
We stopped by Twice Told Tales (61 N. Williams St., 815-459-4343), a shop selling used books.
Crystal Lake Antiques Mall (2 N. Williams St., 815-245-5678, http://clantiquemall.com/wordpress) features small spaces for 40 renters selling an eclectic mix of items including a rare vintage grind majestic record changer as well as Longaberger baskets.
Within walking distance is a place for an afternoon pick-me-up, Grounds Coffee (82 Railroad St., 815-900-1339, facebook.com/Groundscrystallake) which offers a frozen bubble tea made with tapioca. “It’s an interesting texture, but it’s good,” a patron remarked. Agreed.
Hannah Abraham, a high school junior, said she visits Grounds Coffee because, “It’s local and I like to support local shops.”
The coffee shop owners also run an adjacent reclaimed furniture store . Reclaimed (82 Railroad St., 815-900-1339, http://www.reclaimedcl.com/
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).We wandered the first floor and upstairs into what felt like a miniature museum with furniture made out of recycled wood and samples of the wood hanging on the walls.
You could spend the rest of the afternoon meandering downtown, but if it’s a hot afternoon in Crystal Lake, the place to be is at Three Oaks Recreation Area (5517 Northwest Highway, 815-356-3782, crystallake.org/residents/three-oaks-recreation-area).
This former gravel mine was filled with fresh groundwater to create two big, deep lakes. The parking fee is $5 per car (residents are free), and once there, you can choose your favorite outdoor activity.
The swimming beach ($10 adults, $6 children), features a splash pad and playground. You also can rent canoes, kayaks, sailboats, row boats and paddle boats.
Within the recreation area is the Quarry Cable Park (815-893-0036, thequarrycablepark.com), where you can wakeboard, scuba dive, eat, drink and listen to live music some nights.
Evening
Crystal Lake Brewing (150 N. Main St., 779-220-9288, crystallakebrew.com) opens at various times during the week. The family-run business featuring locally crafted beer welcomes children supervised by guardians until 7 p.m. After that, it’s 21 years and older.
You can bring your own food or purchase something from food trucks Friday nights and listen to live music Thursday nights.
For dinner and a huge craft beer selection, visit Duke’s Alehouse (110 N Main St.; 815-356-9980; thedukeabides.com).
“We have a beer selection second to none,” said William Dycha, bartender. “At any time, we have 150-200 beers, and 90 percent of those are craft beers.” One of the most popular is from a can — Beach Blonde — a smooth, light beer made by Crystal Lake Brewery down the street.
For an infusion of arts, visit the refurbished 1929 vaudeville theatre, Raue Center for the Arts, (26 N. Williams St., 815-356-9212, rauecenter.org), where you can purchase tickets for shows such as Lucy’s Comedy Night and musicals including “Guys and Dolls,” running select dates this summer.
The historic theater in downtown Crystal Lake typifies the combination of modern day times and yesteryear seen throughout the village.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.