Sometimes the best travel adventures are right in your own backyard … or at least close to it. In our hometown of Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, we are fortunate to live in a community known as Ravinia, home of the Ravinia Festival. Each summer Ravinia hosts terrific entertainment, and it’s been even better this season with an enhanced sound system. On many evenings, when the wind comes off Lake Michigan out of the east, we can clearly hear the acts as we lounge on our patio. But on a recent steamy August night, we decided to actually go and enjoy the concert experience at the venue.

First, we made a quick stop at Jens Jensen Park for Food Truck Thursday. This has become a weekly ritual which features a dozen trucks of various cuisines and a live local band, all sponsored by the city. It’s a lively atmosphere and full of terrific community spirit. I had my usual veggie burrito, and we were on the move as we followed the crowd down the path to Ravinia Park.

Jens Jensen Park, Gateway to the Ravinia neighborhood.

One of my favorite spots when I’m ready to rock on a hot summer night is by the Ravinia entrance. It’s a mini-Bellagio fountain (minus George Clooney).

Despite the residual wildfire smoke and extreme humidity, we were treated to a spectacular performance by the fabulous band Earth, Wind & Fire. They had played Lollapalooza in downtown Chicago the previous weekend (sorry, I skipped Lolla), so they must really like being in the area as much as we do. Lots of people chose to sit on the lawn, but we decided to treat ourselves to the more comfortable seats in the pavilion area. Of course, we all sang along at various times and thoroughly enjoyed the improved sound system in person. An added bonus was the rising of a near-full moon, almost right out of a movie!

It was a perfect evening and combination of events. We’ll still head to the local beach nearly every week and visit the food trucks on Thursdays, but for now, we’ll be back to “listening” to the concerts on our patio — a great way to spend the summer as it steams along.

— Sue Castorino, Globility Board member and guest blogger