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        <title>Chicago Suburb Real Estate &amp; Area Guide</title>
        <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/exploring-chicago-suburbs/</link>
        <description>New real estate listings, entertainment, recreation, news and things to do in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.</description>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/the-new-invaders-to-play-at-taste-of-orland-park-on-sunday-the-7th.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/the-new-invaders-to-play-at-taste-of-orland-park-on-sunday-the-7th.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>The New Invaders to Play at Taste of Orland Park on Sunday, the 7th</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 



You might have seen The New Invaders at The Taste of Orland Park back in 2005, but the band is different today.  Jay Goeppner is the new lead singer and there has been a recent addition of Rick Mallin on keyboards.  Rick is singer Melody Mallin's Dad!  Rick has been in different bands, the most recent was The Runaways.


Jay Goeppner has brought new life to this 60's-early 70's rock band.  Jay still performs with the Beatle Brothers and was with Instant Karma Band.  He has played with many other bands, including back-up for Cheap Trick.  Look for Jay's bio on The New Invaders website to see all of the famous people Jay has worked with.


The band will be playing on Sunday, the 7th, at 4:00-6:00, opening for American English.  Come early to see both acts.  Taste of Orland will be held at 147th &amp; Ravinia Ave, Orland Park.  This is my favorite local festival and I hope to see you there!  I will personally be there for The New Invaders show, as my husband and real estate partner, Jimmy Herter, is a band member.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:09:46 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/osteria-ottimo-favorite-restaurant-in-orland-park.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/osteria-ottimo-favorite-restaurant-in-orland-park.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Osteria Ottimo, Favorite Restaurant in Orland Park</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
I don't consider myself a food critic - as long as I don't have to cook it and clean up after, I'm pretty happy.  I will admit as I've aged my palette has become a bit choosier and I've actually stopped going to some restaurants if I don't like what I ordered or if the service was bad.


I've never been attracted to Italian restaurants as I usually don't order pasta and if I do, I prefer a sweeter sauce than many Italian restaurants make.  My favorite pasta/meat sauce is bolognese, which some restaurants do not make the way it should be (with carrots, which gives it a deep flavor).  I love it when I find a place that makes it correctly.


One weekend evening my husband and I were driving around looking for a place without a long wait.  We ran into Osteria Ottimo but there was a wait.  We left but wanted to come back and give it a try.  And I'm so glad we did.


Osteria Ottimo is my Favorite Restaurant


I have been back many times, as I want to try everything that looks interesting to me on their menu.  Just as I have a dish in mind, one of their daily specials catches my eye.  Everything I've ordered has been wonderful, and I always take home a doggie bag for a much anticiapted lunch.





In the photo, you will see the sign says "Ottimo Ristorante."  Their website (and I believe the menu) has a longer title, "Osteria Ottimo Ristorante Italiano".  I looked up the definition of osteria and Wikipedia states:  "An osteria (Italian pronunciation: [oste'ria]) is an Italian-style eating establishment where the emphasis is generally placed on maintaining a steady clientele rather than on haute cuisine. Osteria in Italian literally means a place where the owner "hosts" people."


It's a Small Place


The tables are close and the restaurant does get busy.  They take reservations and you can wait in the nice lounge, although that can also be SRO.  Check out this Orland Park Italian restaurant's website for all the details.  You'll read about Wine Time Tuesday, Tuesday Night Spaghetti &amp; Meatball Family Style Dinner and Lasagna Night on Thursday.  Maybe you'll see me there!


Ottimo Ristorante is open for lunch and dinner (check the website for times) and is located at 16111 S. La Grange Rd., in Orland Park.  It is nestled in back of a shopping/dining center on the east side of the street.  The phone number is 708-403-3366
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            <pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:09:42 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/tiger-woods-at-cog-hill-in-lemont.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/tiger-woods-at-cog-hill-in-lemont.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Tiger Woods at Cog Hill in Lemont</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 



Tiger Woods was in the house!  Today was the end of the  BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf Course in Lemont, IL.  70 PGA Tour players, including Tiger Woods, attended for a $7 million purse.  I could see the blimp floating above Cog Hill on my way home from a wedding downtown. 


Lemont residents were aware of the ensuing traffic and took other routes.  My husband forgot about it and got stuck in some heavy traffic on Route 83 on his way back from one of his gigs (he plays in a band).


Tiger tied for 15th place.  The winner was 26 year old Dustin Johnson, who faced some bad golfing this summer, although he did win in Pebble Beach this past February.


Cog Hill Golf and Country Club is located at 12294 Archer Avenue,Lemont, IL   60439-6711The toll-free phone number is 866.264.4455


If you'd like to live in beautiful and historic Lemont and are interested in Lemont homes or Lemont condos or townhomes, give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or use the Contact link.  
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            <pubDate>Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:37:17 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/homer-glen-festival.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/homer-glen-festival.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Homer Glen Festival</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
It was great timing to be able to attend this year's Homer Glen Parade and Festival since we'll be moving to our Homer Glen home soon.  My husband's old band (he doesn't play with them much anymore as he is in a different band) played last year and this year.  I missed last year's festival so was happy to be able to make it this year, although I didn't see the parade.


I thought that attendance was light but my friend told me it was twice as many people as last year's event.  It will hopefully grow larger year after year.  


Someone mentioned that there was a wolf on display so I went looking.  Before finding the wolf I stopped by a petting area with some interesting looking alpacas (I thought they were llamas), goats and a pony.





Behind the petting area was an animal display compliments of Big Run Wolf Ranch.  There was a beautiful white wolf to one side.  On the other side of the display there were cages with a baby skunk (my husband got to pet it but it was in the cage when I was there), a beautiful coyote that I thought was a young wolf, a hedgehog or something and a baby raccoon.  The raccoon was reaching through the cage and hitting a baby wolf that was sleeping in front of it's cage on a leash.  I could have watched them all afternoon.





 


I did not get a photo of Bubba the alligator, who was pretty inactive.  I had seen that he was on the ground but when I returned he was in the van with his tail hanging out.  There were also a couple of snakes and I hate snakes so I didn't stick around.


Homer Glen got lucky with the weather.  Although there were soggy spots in the grass from the rain we've had lately, it was sunny out and hot, with some welcomed breezes.


Click the link if you're interested in Homer Glen homes.  I'm looking forward to move to the area.
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            <pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:54:09 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/valentines-day-at-the-batory-buffet.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/valentines-day-at-the-batory-buffet.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Valentine's Day at The Batory Buffet</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
I wouldn't have remembered, but last Valentine's Day was also snowy and cold.  I looked up my last Valentine's Day in Chicago Suburbs post to see what I wrote about.  Can't remember what I did, though.


My husband asked me to think about where I wanted to go on Valentine's Day.  Not one regular restaurant popped up in my mind (only visions of waiting an hour to get seated no matter where we went).  I hate waiting in restaurants.


Then I thought about the places I really love.  Places my friends would not accompany me to (well, they did once for my birthday and complained loud and clear).  I love Polish buffets.  My first choice was Bobaks in Chicago but I gave a second choice of The Batory Buffet, a Chicago Ridge restaurant located at 10135 S. Harlem Ave.  I didn't think there'd be any waiting since it's got plenty of tables and has never been crowded, even when a wedding party was starting to set up one time we were there.


Not being crowded was an understatement.  There were only two tables occupied when we arrived (and this was around 6:00).  Soon we were the only two diners in the place.  My husband had his Polish beer and I had iced tea, which tasted like real brewed iced tea.


The food was good, as usual.  I love Polish food but even though I'm a dessert lover, their desserts are probably my least favorite.  They always seem dry and bland tasting.  They did have some kind of an apple struedel-like square which was tasty and moist.  I had no idea what it was until I bit into it.


They also didn't have labels over everything although you could figure most of it out.  They seem to be missing the entire glass "awning" over one side of one of their buffets.  They have a salad buffet area and then two different main meal buffets filled with dumplings, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes and vegetables (my favorite of the night), pierogies (I forgot to take one!), rice, buckwheat, and meats such as shank, beef, chicken, fish, meatballs, beef stew and ribs.  And let's not forget the different versons of sauerkraut.  The stuffed cabbage was my second favorite item of the night.


I don't know how they stay in business.  There is never a crowd which is a shame.  But it made for a fun and relaxing Valentine's Day for my husband and me and it almost felt like he reserved the whole restaurant for me!  All we needed was an accordian player.


We also stopped at the Polish deli next to the buffet but didn't buy much.  In fact, I laughed at some of the packaging as I wouldn't know how to prepare half the stuff as it was all in Polish.  Both establishments close at 8:00 and there was a rush right at closing time.  In fact, one gentleman tried going into the buffet and didn't seem too happy when he was obviously told it was closing (and it was only 7:50 - I guess she didn't feel like staying open for one person). 
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            <pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:50:23 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/bengstons-pumpkin-farm.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/bengstons-pumpkin-farm.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Bengston's Pumpkin Farm</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
My favorite holiday is Halloween so I needed to get something on this blog about it. There are many pumpkin farms in Northern IL and although I have a very long list, I decided just to mention those located in the southwest suburbs since that is where I work. The photo is a carved pumpkin on display at Benstons's Pumpkin Farm located at 13341 W. 151st St., Homer Glen, IL 60491. The phone number is 708-301-3276. Hours are 7 days a week from 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and free parking is offered.There is much more than pumpkins at this farm so give yourself time to enjoy all of the offerings which include a petting zoo, pig races, the Haunted Fun Barn, pony and train rides, cow milking and more! You can get a coupon and find out more on Bengston's web site which is located here. Be sure to visit one of the most popular areas of Homer Glen Real Estate before the big day. Have fun! Photo Originally uploaded by Ryan Kinderman 






Children's Farm Pick-Your-Own-Pumpkin


Another local place that offers more than just pumpkins is The Children's Farm in Palos Park.  It is located just north of 131st St. on Southwest Highway.  The Children's Farm Pumpkin Patch is open every day in October from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 10:00 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the weekends.  Their phone number is 708-361-3650.  Their web site isn't as fun as Benston's but if you're interested in going here there is more information on the site which is here.




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            <pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:08:09 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/say-good-bye-to-swallow-cliff-toboggan-slides.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/say-good-bye-to-swallow-cliff-toboggan-slides.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Say Good-bye to Swallow Cliff Toboggan Slides</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
    Photo originally uploaded by PaulEisenberg


Let me first say that I have never had fun on the Swallow Cliff Toboggan Slides located in Palos Township.  A friend of mine broke her back on them in the '60s and the truth is, I don't think I'd be interested even if that didn't happen.  I'm afraid of heights and fast rides.  But I've used that excuse about my friend ever since.      My son Chad &amp; I wound up at the Toboggan Slides walking a trail at Horseshoe Lake located in Palos Park over the summer this year.  Because I've never been on the cliffs I couldn't remember exactly where they were located.  Running into them during a trail walk was like finding an old treasure.      Sadly, that treasure, dangerous or not, will be leaving us.  Cook County Forest Preserve District commissioners voted this week to get rid of the slides and regrade the hill for sledding.  They feel repairing them would cost too much.  It was stated that fixing them would run around $4 million, whereas removing them and regrading the hill would be approximately $1.3 million dollars.      They were officially closed down in 2004 but were operable for decades.  However, weather had to be cooperative for them to be used with enough snow (at least 4 inches) and temps of 25 degrees or under.        These are not the only slides that will be removed in Cook County.  I thought we had the only toboggan slides in the area but others are being removed from Bemis Woods in Western Springs and Deer Grove in Palatine.      Even though I had no use for these slides I guess I'm just a sentimental fool.  There were a couple others on the committee that did not want this memory erased but they were outnumbered by their opponents and the financial facts.  I'll need to take my grandkids out there and take more photos to remember this piece of Palos Park real estate before it's gone. 
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            <pubDate>Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:12:56 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/whats-the-best-chicago-suburb.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/whats-the-best-chicago-suburb.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>What's the Best Chicago Suburb?</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
I have been asked recently, on more than one occasion, what is the best place to live in the Chicagoland area or what is the best area of Chicago or the best suburbs.  That is a loaded question!


Real estate agents should not answer such questions but guide a potential buyer to do their own homework.  This also gives me the impetus to provide even more information on my website about the areas I work in.  I believe buyers should be able to make a decision on where to live based on their personal preferences.  But we cannot force our preferences, or opinions, on buyers.  We could be accused of "steering," which basically means promoting areas based on ethnic or racial groups.  This could result in punishment of paying hefty fines and even losing our real estate license.


Besides that, we can truly only give our personal opinions on different areas that we know.  Our MLS is one of the largest in the United States and there are towns I have never set foot in, even after being a licensed REALTOR® since 1983.  Even after selling real estate for 24 years, I don't know every single town or area of Chicago and it's suburbs and could not give anything more than what I have knowledge of.


What Are The Best Schools?


This is basically the same type of question that could get a real estate agent in trouble.  Once again, unless an agent has a photographic memory this is just not a question we have factual data for.  Also, there can be many different meanings to what the criteria is for "best" from person to person.


We Get Tested


I don't think that buyers and sellers realize that real estate agents get tested.  Testers can be actual buyers sent out to different agents to test how they treat different buyers.  These kinds of questions might also be asked to test our response.  Even if I knew the answers to these types of questions, which I don't, I would not risk my long standing license to give an answer that is nothing more than personal opinion.


Where Can You Find the Answers?


Our MLS is huge so I don't offer information on every single area that it encompasses, although I do offer all MLS listings on my website.    The Chicago suburbs I specialize in are in the sidebar of my home page.  


If you ask the question about the best suburb or best school to an agent that gives you an answer then beware.  That is not a well trained agent and might not be in the business much longer.  And don't get angry with an agent that refuses to give you an answer.  That is an agent that is professional and follows our standards of ethics and the law.    


Helpful Links


Here are some quick links to get you started on your search:






You can find many different statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and my favorite source is their Quick Facts where you can enter the town you're interested in.  The state page starts here.






There are many different school search sites.  Great Schools seems to be most popular as they give each school a score.






I have tried finding a crime statistic site for individual areas but haven't been successful.  There are a few out there but I guess the best one would be City Data.  Unfortunately, many of the crime sites only provide information for larger cities.






I hope to have my Chicago Suburbs pages offer as much information as possible so you can find everything you need on this website, without having to do further searches.  This way instead of having to explain why I can't answer your question I can guide you to find the answer that is most important to you. 
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            <pubDate>Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:01:16 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/pegasus-restaurant-in-chicago.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/pegasus-restaurant-in-chicago.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Pegasus Restaurant in Chicago</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Last night my husband and I met with 4 other friends for dinner at Pegasus Restaurant in Chicago's Greektown area.  For the week we had the plans made I thought we were meeting at the Parthenon and kept questioning my husband when we were the first to arrive.  I wasn't sure until I got inside that I had eaten lunch here about 7 years ago.


It is not the largest restaurant in the Greektown area but it is very comfortable and cute.  There is a large menu and it was difficult to make one choice.  I ordered the baked Grecian chicken and chose it over the roasted because it was getting late and I didn't want to wait an extra 15 minutes for the cooking time.  I was very happy with my choice.


I only tried one of the appetizers that was ordered which was the saganaki.  We also ordered a squid dish (unbreaded) and a sliced zuccini dish with a garlic potato dip.  Two different styles of bread were served and they were both very tasty.  I try to stay away from the restaurant breads but these were special so I had to try both!  In fact, our table of six had to get more.


Our table ordered a selection of dishes including a couple of pasta dishes, fried skate and broiled lamb chops.  Everyone raved about how good their dinner was.  I even finished my vegetables which were string green beans in some type of very light sauce.


We ordered two shared desserts and that was another difficult selection since they offer many choices.  I ordered a lemon custard in filo dough covered with honey sauce (called galactoboureko - the longest Greek word) and the other order was a chocolate mousse layer cake (socolatino).  They were both wonderful although I preferred the lemon custard.  It wasn't like custard, more like a cake that was light and fluffy.   


I was surprised at the reasonable prices.  We have local southwest suburban restaurants that don't offer half the ambiance and the food isn't as good that charge more for similar items (although they don't offer most of these dishes).


This is one of those places that after you eat there, you wonder why you haven't dined there more often (oh yeah, I remember, I'm always trying to watch my weight)!  If you've tried other Greektown restaurants you'll need to make your next stop to Pegasus located at 130 S. Halsted Ave., Chicago, IL  60606.  The telephone number is 1-888-558-2637.  We were able to make reservations and there is also veranda seating for nice weather.   
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            <pubDate>Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:55:52 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/field-museum-king-tut-tour.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.cook-county-real-estate.net/blog/field-museum-king-tut-tour.html</link>
            <author>judyorr@gmail.com (Judy Orr)</author>
            <title>Field Museum King Tut Tour</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
On Labor Day my family and I visited the Field Museum to see the King Tut exhibit.  We started out going to see Da Vinci's inventions at the Museum of Science and Industry but it was sold out.  Photo at right is courtesy of MHarrsch.  


I had seen the King Tut exhibit in the early 90's and it was pretty impressive.  It was a real tour with tomb-like walls.  In fact, I got a little claustrophobic on the spiral staircase built to get to the upper level.


I was disappointed with this exhibit.  It was mainly smaller artifacts in glass cases.  In fact, some of the display prior to entering the actual exhibit (the free stuff), was just as interesting, if not more.  Without paying for the tour (I believe general admission is $12.00 and with the tour it was $26.00), you could still see mummies and a sarcophagus or two.



For an additional fee of around $5.00-$6.00 you could get headphones describing the different displays.  We opted to not get them as we had 2 toddlers with us.  I'm sure it does add to the experience, plus the wallet.  I enjoyed the Jackie-o display (her different outfits plus other items) more than this exhibit, and I'm much more into Egyptian history and artifacts.


In fact, my daughter-in-law, Jeanette, heard a man say, "That was a waste of money," on the way out.  You would think with today's technology these kinds of exhibits would improve.  But I remember the older exhibit as being superior to this one.


We also spent another $2.00 or $3.00 to attend what we all thought was the "Underground King Tut" exhibit.  It had nothing to do with King Tut (and three of us heard it this way), but was all about insects living under soil.  However, our little ones in tow actually enjoyed this more than King Tut.  We were warned that some kids would be afraid as some of the bugs were large and moving.  My granddaughter kept wanting to go back to the "bugs."


My favorite exhibit (no extra charge) was The Evolving Planet located on the top floor, which showed life from the beginning to the present and extinctions that occurred and are still happening.  This is where you get to see dinosaur bones and fossils.


We also enjoyed the animals and although my son &amp; daughter-in-law belong to Brookfield Zoo, they agreed that it was almost better seeing the stuffed animals up close instead of having to find them in their zoo habitat.  It gives you a better idea of true size.  The kids loved this, too.  Of course, I always love seeing Bushman and the Lions of Tsavo.


The Field Museum truly holds a place in my heart as my grade school (Paul Revere in Blue Island), took us there every single year for our field trip.  We did enjoy our trip and were worn out after seeing almost every exhibit.  However, I wish we had just visited the regular museum exhibits and not spent the time or money on the King Tut tour.  Of course, without having sampled it on our own, we wouldn't have known any better.  Maybe this critique will help you make a decision.  
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            <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:25:31 -0500</pubDate>
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