Strolling the Streets of Geneva

There’s a line from a Joni Mitchell song that goes something like this, “oh, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”.  That line has stuck with me over the years…encouraging me to take note and advantage of all the good things around me…things that can easily become taken for granted, missed or regretted. I was reminded of these thoughts last week.  I’d like to tell you about a “great weekend” I spent one evening last week.

My wife Barb and I live in Geneva just west of Randall Road in the Randall Square Subdivision. We didn’t have anything planned last Tuesday evening so I suggested to Barb that we ride our bikes into downtown Geneva and visit Third Street.  We have a pretty decent bike route into downtown and that alone makes for an enjoyable evening. We headed down Fargo Blvd through Randall Square across Randall Road and into the Eagle Brook Subdivision along Fargo. Turning left onto Loran Lane and then into Bingham Court to pick up a sidewalk path to Sunset Park of the Geneva Park District. We could hear the children laughing as they played and swam in the Geneva Pool.  From Sunset Park we took a short right on Western Avenue to Cheever and passed Dryden Park…the kids had a ballgame going and the parents were on the sidelines enjoying an evening in Geneva.  We continued on Cheever to Third Street and decided to park our bikes at the Geneva Metra Station. This bike ride only took us about 12 minutes to get downtown from our home in Randall Square.

What a great atmosphere Third Street has!  …Brick pavers, park benches, buildings with rich architecture, drinking fountains, gas lit lamp posts and shady trees…families and couples taking an evening stroll.  We walked north along Third Street past Shodeen Development’s new retail and condo residential  projects…they really do classy work!  We stopped and enjoyed the water feature at the courtyard in Dodson Place. What a relaxing place.  The water feature was designed and constructed by Aquascape Inc., located right here in the Fox Valley in neighboring St. Charles.  Others who were outdoor-dining at Wildwood Restaurant and Lounge were also benefiting from the therapy of the gentle flowing stream.

As we continued up Third Street we passed Geneva Lutheran Church…they’re doing some nice update construction that includes a circle drive up to the entrance.  Next we came to Le Berry Bistro…this is one of Barb’s favorite special lunch spots.

Across from the Kane County Court House we did some window viewing into the Geneva History Center.  If you haven’t visited the center yet, you should.  Geneva has a great heritage of immigrants and industry.

We ended the length of Third Street at the Merra-Lee Shops and headed back south.  Merra-Lee is one of Barb’s favorite stores for woman’s clothes.  She has always enjoyed their selections of items.  Needless to say, there was some window shopping done along this stretch of Third Street.

Before returning to our bikes, we made a stop at Graham’s Chocolates and Ice Cream for a double dip cone.  Rob Untied who owns Graham’s has created a very nice relaxing patio in front of the shop….flagstone surface with many wonderful white Adirondack chairs to sit on and eat ice cream, relax, or visit with a love one or friend.  A friendly place to top off a leisurely stroll upon Third Street.

Earlier in this article I said I spent a “great weekend” one evening. Have you ever had an evening like that…when everything just seemed to meld together for a wonderful experience and time just seemed to slow down for awhile.  How fortunate we are to live by such a place…only a short bike ride away!   Speaking of bike riding…our ride home was equally enjoyable.  I slept well and rested that evening.  Life is good in Geneva!