Chicagoland

[Penny and Pat]

On Friday I'm (Pat - Penny is staying at home cleaning the house like a good wife - I can say that because she isn't reading this but expect it to be corrected when she does), sorry, on Friday I'm down in Chicago and wondering if there is any speedo friendly beaches or pools for a lap swim?

Not looking for a hardcore gay hangout, just somewhere that I might not be the only guy sporting a speedo.

Thanks everyone - Pat

[ChicagoDan]

Hollywood beach on the north end of Lake Shorw Drive is very speedo friendly, the south end of the beach is pretty much the gay end. But I never had any issues wearing speedos at any beach in Chicago.

[MISwimmer]

I think at Ohio (or maybe Oak Street) Beach in downtown Chicago there is an area dedicated for open water lap swimming.


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[Penny and Pat]

I made it up to Foster Beach yesterday afternoon. I have an old friend in that part of the city so I caught the train up there and went for a swim before catching up for a drink.

Not a speedo in sight and unlike many of you gentlemen I was not prepared to be the only guy dropping my shorts.

It was a perfect weather day - Pat

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[Thom]

I made it up to Foster Beach yesterday afternoon. I have an old friend in that part of the city so I caught the train up there and went for a swim before catching up for a drink.

Not a speedo in sight and unlike many of you gentlemen I was not prepared to be the only guy dropping my shorts.

It was a perfect weather day - Pat

Such a beautiful picture. I lived in Chicago when I was in my twenties and loved the place in the summer. I had a studio in Lake Point Tower. There was a little beach near Olive park that was next to the Water Filtration Plant just north of Navy Pier. My first visit to Chicago was in the summer. I stayed at what was a Holiday Inn on Lake Shore between Ontario and Erie. (It's still there under a different name, and $400/night!) They had a roof top pool where I wore my speedos. LPT had an outdoor pool over the garage. There was an indoor pool too that was kind of small. I also lived in a building (the only one back then) at the lake end of Randolph that has a pool under a dome. I used it a lot. The floor was heated. It was amazing to go swimming in the winter when it was snowing out. The heating bill for that place must be out of sight.

I wore speedos in all these places as did others. Not a lot of guys, but I never felt self-conscious about it. But this was 40 years ago, I'm guessing things have changed. I remember, particularly, the lifeguards at the pool in the picture always wore speedos. There was a swim club out in the suburbs somewhere that had a shop where you could buy different brands of speedos. I remember the pool there was speedo heaven. Everyone wore them there. Wish I could remember where.

400 E. Randolph

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[ChicagoDan]

I used to go to Foster every once in a while, but usually went closer to North Avenue beach, as I lived not too fro there. I always wore jy speedo, and other than a friend who I turned on to speedos, Imwas the only one. Never cared, though.

[speedoboi]

Sorry to sound ignorant - I didn't know Chicago had beaches.

[Bullseye]

Sorry to sound ignorant - I didn't Chicago had beaches.

Didn't used to. It's a fairly recent development. Rising oceans due to global warming.

[ChicagoDan]

Sorry to sound ignorant - I didn't Chicago had beaches.

Chicago has had decent beaches for years, actually.with almost 18 miles of uninterupted lakefront. They have been utilized much moe in the last 10 years or so, though

[Thom]

Sorry to sound ignorant - I didn't Chicago had beaches.

Chicago has had decent beaches for years, actually.with almost 18 miles of uninterupted lakefront. They have been utilized much more in the last 10 years or so, though

Dan! In the summer, the Lake Front is amazingly beautiful. Oak Street beach had the most speedo wearers when I lived there in the late seventies. The lakefront is better maintained now than then. It was also more affordable to live near the lake then, I think. Lake Point Tower was a rental. 400 E. Randolph had just become a condominium. I rented in both places. Parking in those buildings was expensive, so I parked by the month in an outdoor lot run by the city. I was just out of school and had to save money. At 400 E. Randolph, younger guys who swam there wore speedos, including me.. I loved that pool.

[ChicagoDan]

Sorry to sound ignorant - I didn't Chicago had beaches.

Chicago has had decent beaches for years, actually.with almost 18 miles of uninterupted lakefront. They have been utilized much more in the last 10 years or so, though

Dan! In the summer, the Lake Front is amazingly beautiful. Oak Street beach had the most speedo wearers when I lived there in the late seventies. The lakefront is better maintained now than then. It was also more affordable to live near the lake then, I think. Lake Point Tower was a rental. 400 E. Randolph had just become a condominium. I rented in both places. Parking in those buildings was expensive, so I parked by the month in an outdoor lot run by the city. I was just out of school and had to save money. At 400 E. Randolph, younger guys who swam there wore speedos, including me.. I loved that pool.

My dad had a co-worker who lived at 400 Randolph in the 70s, i remember visiting a few times and using the pool. It is pretty cool, thats for sure.

[Thom]

My dad had a co-worker who lived at 400 Randolph in the 70s, i remember visiting a few times and using the pool. It is pretty cool, thats for sure.

Amazing. Glad you got to use it. There were no lap lanes when I lived there. You kind of made your own. The health club was extra. It had the first racquetball courts in Chicago. Judging from the pictures, they've turned one of the racquetball courts into a half basketball court. The building is showing its age, but it's solid. The old Outer Drive used to run just west of the pool dome.

[ChicagoDan]

The old S curve was a bitch, the sharp turns and narrow lanes made for a ton of accidents daily

[Thom]

The old S curve was a bitch, the sharp turns and narrow lanes made for a ton of accidents daily

It was horrible. Those turns were literally right angles. The best thing they ever did for Lake Shore Drive was shift it east of those condominiums at the end of E. Randolph. And that made Lake Point the only building remaining east of Lake Shore.

It was kind of strange living in those buildings. They were so isolated when I was there. The one thing I liked was being able to go to the pool and pop into my speedos after work. It was only an elavator ride to get there and back. No fighting traffic. I really missed the domed pool when I moved to Lake Point. The pool there was more expensive, and it didn't have any windows, let alone a dome. For chlorine lovers, the place wreaked of it. Funny, I remember being propositioned in the sauna there one night, the only time that ever happened. I just said, "thanks, but no thanks," and went home.

[Penny and Pat]

Thank you for all the tips, I love Chicago (in the summer - not in the winter).

I ended up going with an old friend of mine to Promontory Point for a super early morning swim with a group of athletes. My speedos were appropriate (more appropriate than in Vegas with Dave Evans). Again, I cannot believe how warm the water was.

Pat (and Penny)