Towny Tourism

Sunday was such a beautiful day that I was hardly about to spend it in the condo watching movies. Slightly dehydrated from the night before, armed only with my water bottle and an apple, I saddled up the Gary Fisher and made my way to the Baha'i temple in the ritzy suburb of Wilmette.

The Route
Wilmette is just a little north and a bit east of where I live; all in all it is about a 10-mile trip in each direction. On the way there, I took California Avenue north to Evanston where it becomes Dodge Street, then went east at Emerson, then north again at Ridge, took the jog onto Sheridan and then onto Linden Avenue, right to the temple. On the way home I decided to avoid the traffic. I took Sheridan up to Main Street and hopped on the North Channel Bike Path which ends pretty close to my front door.

The Experience
When I reached the temple, I realized right away that I'd been kind of stupid to visit on a Sunday at noon. The cobblestone streets in Wilmette were filled with parked cars and bumper-to-bumper traffic, and the temple was filled with worshipers and tourists. Although the parking lot was nearly full, Gary Fisher and I had no problem getting rockstar parking right in front.

Isn't Gary looking majestic?

Sweaty and kind of gross, I walked around outside for a little while. This gave me a chance to visit the gardens. Although they were unfortunately quite barren for this time of year, I did notice a little lilac patch filled with butterflies. Rounding the building, I saw that behind all the shrubbery and not really noticeable from the street, workers were climbing on scaffolding and parts of the grounds were either dug up or tilled under.

Very little of that is apparent in this picture:


It was very tempting to take off my shoes and wander around on the grass - we don't really have manicured lawns like this in the city. And what little patches of grass we do have are used way too often as a doggie toilet. For whatever reason I resisted and went back to the front entrance of the building.

Note: no amount of photoshopping was done to these pictures. The sky really was that color.

This isn't a picture of the main entrance. But since the building was teaming with people and all of the entrances look exactly the same, I figured this picture would do the building justice.


The detail on this building is so intricate and so delicate it is easy to understand why 41 years passed between the laying of the cornerstone and its dedication. Etched into the pillars and decorating the arches of the building are religious symbols from every major world religion. Above every entrance (eight in all) and in each alcove contains quotations from the writings of the Prophet Baha'u'lluah. The building itself is made of quartz crystal and white cement.

I posted a few more pictures of the temple and a brief description of the religion to Fredthewebsite. Please remember that being designed in Front Page 2000, Fred is best viewed in Internet Explorer.

Once it seemed like the service was over, I did go inside for a bit. The sanctuary is every bit as beautiful as the temple's facade, and light pours in from the ceiling and the walls. Like all well-organized tourist attractions, the basement contains a visitor's center with all manor of information about the Baha'i faith and the construction of the building. I watched part of a movie about the Prophet and looked at photographs taken of other Baha'i properties around the world before I'd had enough of the crowds of people. There is a bookshop down there that looks worthy of a visit on a different day.

The Aftermath
Before going home, I biked around the Gillson Park and Beach across the street. I wish I'd come prepared to spend time at the beach. There were more people at the tennis courts and bike trails than at the lake, and although I never actually go in the water when I'm in the city, somehow I think I would have made an exception for this beach - e coli be damned.

I ate my apple under the shade of what looked like a white birch and chatted with some tourists from Pakistan before heading back south.

With a tan that would make Oliver Wendell Douglas jealous, I arrived home completely exhausted. If I hadn't been so hot, I don't think I would have made it to the shower. I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling calmer than I have in weeks. I made it through the entire Da Vinci Code without moving a muscle (what a long movie!) and then fell into bed promptly at 10.