Oak Street Beach

Gold Coast, Chicago –

It may be one of the smallest of Chicago’s lakefront beaches, but Oak Street Beach is also one of the most popular – and certainly the most upscale.

Nestled in the shadow of the skyscrapers, ritzy apartment buildings, and designer stores of Lake Shore Drive, the beach doesn’t exactly channel the natural world, either in terms of scenery or of the biologically photoshopped population that crowds its shores every summer. Toned athletic types play a few hard rounds of volleyball as runners, skaters, and cyclists take to the Lakefront Trail, but the emphasis is less on sports and more on relaxation.

While energetic pretty people head up to North Avenue Beach in search of a rowdier scene, the more affluent types prefer Oak Street for sitting quietly in their expensive swimwear and taking in the sun.

Appetites fueled by hours of lounging bring breezy beachgoers in cover-ups to fine dining spot Oak Street Beachstro on the south end of the sand, where they settle in al fresco for seafood, steak, wine, and cocktails beneath the shade of the temporary palm trees planted each summer.

Relaxed but with a healthy dose of swank, Oak Street Beach is an excellent Gold Coast getaway for sun worshippers who want a touch of the high life.