We’ve been inside all spring due to the pandemic, and in that time, weekends have seemed way too short. But Monday is Memorial Day, which means we’re heading into a three-day-weekend.
We’re also getting closer to the next phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to reopen Illinois (on May 29, if current trends hold). And though the weekend might be soggy, temperatures are forecast to be in the ’70s.
Across Chicagoland this weekend, we’ll all be looking for events and activities to get into the summer mood. Whether you’re planning to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, grill in the backyard, binge on a TV series or pore over a book you’ve been meaning to get into, we have some suggestions.
Get your grill on
Be you a carnivore, vegetarian or vegan, grill marks on foodstuffs do tend to make things taste better, and Memorial Day weekend traditionally kicks off the summer grilling season. So sweep up that deck, balcony, patio or backyard. Here are the best gadgets to shift eating outdoors into high gear, plus if you need a recipe to inspire you, this grilled steak with creamy horseradish walnut sauce should do the trick. And even though you may be a bit hesitant to move around the city the way you used to pre-COVID-19, the Spice House’s Chicago Heritage Collection of grill spices can help you celebrate the flavors of the city’s neighborhoods.
Try your luck with grandma
Critic Michael Phillips says it’s sad that movies aren’t getting the theatrical releases they deserve these days, including the small-scale indie “Lucky Grandma,” made by a director who’s clearly going places and starring a sharp performer who’s clearly been places. But watching Tsai Chin (of “The Joy Luck Club” fame) boss this movie, one close-up at a time, works at home too. Read the review here.
Take a moment for Graceland Cemetery’s monuments
According to critic Blair Kamin, a cemetery can comfort the living, especially during a pandemic. When the lakefront was shut down in March, foot traffic at Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery picked up. The picturesque 119-acre grounds may be a bit wet right now, but the cemetery has always attracted strollers who go there to refresh their spirits rather than to mourn. It is as notable for its architecture and landscape design as for the notables (captains of industry, celebrated architects and Cubs star Ernie Banks) who are buried there. Read more about the green oasis here.
A side of chocolate and …
It may seem an odd pairing, but per Lonely Planet’s “Global Chocolate Tour” book, the combination of caviar and chocolate works well. Chocoholic or not, you may want to experiment beyond peanut butter and chocolate. Read on for some edible inspiration.
Find the love of your life
Go on first dates without ever leaving your couch. With video dating, geography is no obstacle. The dating pool has gotten more international during the pandemic. Read more to find out how it all works.
All I want to do is stream, stream, stream, stream …
Movies, TV and streaming services have a plethora of available entertainment for the holiday weekend. So, just pick a medium, kick back and relax. Read on to see what’s streaming this week.
Look to the skies
If it’s too wet to trek outside this weekend, pick up a set of binoculars and look to the trees for some bird watching. The family will have fun spotting all the colorful birds. Read more on watching the skies.
Get some culture
Faced with dark theaters and empty seats, Chicago’s always-innovative theaters, comedy shops and dance companies have turned to video. See what’s streaming from Chicago theater and dance groups.
Put on your dancing shoes again
The first run of the series, broadcast Sunday nights through last weekend, made “The Last Dance” the most popular documentary content in ESPN history, averaging 5.6 million viewers nationally. And if you missed any of it, or the lessons therein, you can catch it again on ABC and debate the finer points of the Bulls dynasty with your friends one more time. Read on for more.
Host a proper send-off for your graduate
Three-day weekends scream party time. So bring on the revelry for your graduate, and make some memories. Read on for ways to celebrate your student’s accomplishment.
Get inspired. Find a purpose.
This pandemic has changed many a person’s perspective on charitable giving. One of the many Chicagoans making a difference even before COVID-19, Josephine Robinson
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will inspire you to do your part (so will coder Brianne Caplan). Here’s how Chicagoland can give back during the coronavirus pandemic.In memoriam
The film and TV worlds were hit hard recently when comic actor Fred Willard died at age 86 and indie filmmaker and prolific TV director Lynn Shelton died at age 54. If you want to reflect on their good work, find a streaming platform and stream away.
Try something vegetarian
With some supermarkets in the area limiting the amount of beef, poultry and pork a customer may purchase, shoppers may come up short. Which means it’s a great time to have a few new vegetarian recipes in your back pocket. We have 11 vegetarian recipes to try. But if meat still can’t be beat, we got you there too.
Reality TV to take you away from reality
If you thought your family was a bit too close for comfort during this quarantine, just watch Norridge mother and daughter Kathy Crispino and Cristina Bertolli on TLC’s “Smothered.” “Chicago seems to love this show and love that there’s people from Chicago representing it,” Crispino said. Read on for more.
Explore Chicago history, and contribute some of your own
Realizing that we are living through a moment that will likely be seen as pivotal, institutions like the Illinois State Museum in Springfield are gathering in-the-moment reminiscences and, when feasible, artifacts. The University of Illinois at Chicago Library is looking for similar materials from its community for the project Six Feet Apart: Stories From UIC During COVID-19. If you want to read about Chicago’s past, Chicago Collections is a good resource. Read more on how to make history here.
Traverse the globe with Lonely Planet TV
With over 350 episodes of award-winning travel shows available for free until June 1, you can work out your wanderlust from the comfort of home. Lonely Planet TV is offering shows like “Globe Trekker,” “Treks in a Wild World” and “Planet Food.”
A virtual parade and Memorial Day TV
Ancestry.com will present a virtual Parade of Heroes on Monday to commemorate those who gave their lives for our country. Kathie Lee Gifford will host, and singer-songwriter Tori Kelly will perform. RSVP to the Facebook event to be notified when it goes live. If you want more specific programming that salutes American heroes, here is a list of Memorial Day TV programming. And if you want to pay tribute to fallen military, do a digital tribute, at USAA’s PoppyinMemory.com.
Keep it campy
Chicago Park District playgrounds and field houses will remain closed through May 31, and while it’s still up in the air whether traditional summer camps will operate, you can plan now for the virtual ones. Or watch Netflix’s “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” a documentary executive produced by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. The project looks at Camp Jened and the teen campers there who were inspired to join the fight for disability civil rights.
Train your dog
You may have put it off since you and your dog have less alone time since quarantine, but if you want to train your pet (cohabitating in your apartment), PAWS Chicago is there to help virtually. Developed by PAWS Chicago’s dog behavior experts, virtual training classes range from beginner to advanced training principles. The PAWS Chicago Training Center virtual program is full for the holiday weekend, but there are openings for a number of classes the following week.
Stay Home. Hit Play.
Families can take virtual field trips together with this weekly video series that features Mayor Lori Lightfoot and museum curators. Viewers can see behind the scenes of the most popular exhibits and hidden treasures not usually on display. The fourth episode dropped online Wednesday, showcasing the Museum of Science and Industry’s “Science Storms” exhibit, 3D printing lab, and the trains and engineering exhibits. There’s also the Kids Content Series, a resource available on the governor’s office’s All In Illinois campaign, which offers kid-friendly educational resources for families.
Binge some Bigley
Amazon Prime Video’s new series “Upload” is a sci-fi comedy whose time has come. Just ask DePaul University alumnus and “Upload” actor Kevin Bigley. It’s a Greg Daniels creation and as Bigley says, “It’s a good quarantine watch.” Read the Q&A. Once you binge “Upload,” stick around Amazon Prime to catch the horror thriller “Inheritance” or season two of “Homecoming” (with Janelle Monae).
Taste-test low-cal beers
Low-calorie craft beer has become timely during quarantine. At least 18 brands are available in the Chicago area, and almost none of them were on the market — or even existed — a year ago. In recent weeks, in the depths of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, Josh Noel tried them all. Read on for our rankings.
Book it to the Semicolon Bookstore for free books
Two words: Free. Books. West Town’s Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery will host #ClearTheShelves for Chicago Students, a K-12 book giveaway Saturday. The program aims to promote literacy in the Chicagoland area.
Obsess about homemade barbecue sauce
Homemade barbecue sauce can be delicious, and the easiest versions take, like, five minutes. Then, if you want to get all fancy-toity, you can goose it into your own brand with your own ingredients. So get creative. Read on for the recipe.
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Tune in to the ‘Celluloid Skylines’ festival
Of all the Chicago film festivals forced to go virtual this year, the “Celluloid Skylines” festival may be the most comfortable with the transition, since it’s a shrewdly curated, four-day project of the Chicago Architecture Center and the Music Box Theatre, running Friday through Monday. The fest is built around four wildly different and formidable movies well-known for their visual swagger and discussion potential. (Zoom discussions will follow.)
WOOGMS parade time
The annual holiday weekend parade’s motto: “Everybody marches, nobody (just) watches” morphed into “Everybody marches and everybody watches” thanks to the pandemic. The multigenerational Wellington-Oakdale Old Glory Marching Society (aka WOOGMS) parade that typically has families walking the streets of Lakeview will be a virtual one this time around, saluting veterans and health care workers. The virtual ‘parade’ will be similar to the annual event in many ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance led by neighborhood kids, the raising of the flag, with special appearances by Congressman Mike Quigley, Secretary of State Jesse White, Alderman Tom Tunney, and others, as well as a recorded past WOOGMS performance by the Jesse White Tumblers. Participants are invited to tune in and march from home, and share photos and videos of them doing so via social media.
17 political TV shows to watch if you’re totally over politics
Before we had a reality star in the Oval Office, political series fell, for the most part, into four categories: aspirational (“The West Wing”), instructional (“The Wire”), satirical (“Veep”) and sensational (“Scandal”). All examine the effects of power on the individual and the inevitable tension between people, good, bad and complicated, and the democratic system, also good, bad and complicated. Here is a list of some of the best.
More Issa is never a bad thing
If you’re not watching Issa Rae on her HBO show “Insecure,” now is a good time to get your feet wet. If you want to see more of her comedic chops, her new film, “The Lovebirds ” with Kumail Nanjiani (“Stuber,” “The Big Sick”), comes out Friday on Netflix. Read the review.
Where to order grilling kits and takeout meals from Chicago restaurants
Grilling kits are the hot item restaurants are offering to ease your Memorial Day Weekend cooking. We’ve gathered grilling kits and other offerings — including ice cream treats and cocktail kits — from 22 area restaurants. Bonus: Many of these restaurants have just reopened for takeout and delivery, so you can maybe get a taste of food you’ve been missing for two months. Order ahead from our list.
Tackle some overdue grooming
Is it possible to re-create salon services at home during the coronavirus pandemic? Thankfully, a few local stylists are coaching clients on how to cut and color their own hair through Zoom. So, look for a tutorial and try a new look for the warmer months. Read on for tips.
Enjoy Millennium Park at home
Do you feel like summer isn’t summer without Millennium Park programming? Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is offering an online Millennium Park at Home series on YouTube (youtube.com/ChicagoDCASE) and Facebook (@MillenniumParkChicago) to bring some live events straight to concertgoers. Millennium Park at Home begins Memorial Day weekend, May 22 and 23 with a virtual DJ house mix on what would have been Chicago’s 5th Annual House Music Festival.