Loyola Beach, August 27

OK, this time not so great. I just found out this morning that Loyola beach is designated as a "Distance Swimming Beach" by the Chicago Park District. Actually the district says Leone Beach but then identifies the course which is better known as Loyola beach, the quarter mile from Pratt pier north to the first breakwater. Since I am thinking of bring my crew down for what we used to call "cheap shoulders", the warmup for upcoming Big Shoulders, I decided to check this out. The guards were aware of the designation, but they wouldn't let me swim the whole way, just about 250 yards between guard towers. And I had to stay on the shore side of the rowboat with the kids. The water was about waist deep. The was a light east wind and 2ft waves, which broke exactly where I was swimming. On the plus side the water was 74 degrees and the sun was out, air a pleasant 76. On this weekday afternoon there was plenty of parking in the lot off of Lunt and the $.25 per half hour meters were reasonable. And there was a restroom, typical of the Chicago Park district, but no shower. The lot was actually fairly far from the beach. But hey, the swim was free and legal so I guess if one of us northsiders is desperate for a lake swim on a summer weekday afternoon this is better than nothing.