Edna’s Restaurant Chicago has two cultural treasures on the West Side, and only one relies on fancy sculptures to draw its fans. Edna’s soul food emporium once served as a favorite comfort of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. back when he moved to Chicago to take his fight for civil rights to the North. Edna herself still holds court, making sure first-time visitors feel equally comfortable, and making sure they get a taste of all the right foods. And what a taste! Pork chops, spare ribs and fried chicken to die for, all filled out with savory Southern sides like okra, collard greens and mac & cheese. And if you’ve got room, peach cobbler and a selection of homemade cakes big enough to feed a small army await. 3175 West Madison (773)638-7079
The Mass Menagerie: How Suburban TV Pioneers Bruce and Claire Newton Connected and Collected the Ephemera of Al Capone, Garfield… The Newtons were extreme collectors. During the early 1980s, I visited their four-story, eighteen-room house in Aurora filled with antiques. A secret bookshelf door in the basement opened to a modest-sized workshop where dozens of marionettes and puppets were created, including Nautilus the Sea Dragon and Polly the Parrot, the latter of which was used for political campaigns of that…
Hoosier Savior?: A Pilgrimage to a Sort-of Christian Theme Park in Indiana The Shrine of Christ’s Passion is a multimedia, interactive, half-mile-long prayer trail and sculpture garden. It depicts the route Jesus Christ took to Mount Calvary, just outside the walls of Jerusalem, before He was crucified. The attraction is located in St. John, Indiana.
