Things to Do in Burr Ridge

Memories & Beyond's papers, dies, stamps, tools, and classes equip crafters with all the materials and skills needed to preserve precious keepsakes. Underneath an enormous red sign reading "scrapbooking," 6,000 square feet of ribbon and stationery unfold before visitors, helping them to chronicle distant journeys with an extensive travel section or show off regional pride with a wealth of Chicagoland-themed papers. Each Friday and Saturday night, hobbyists gather amid the account machines, die cuts, and tables of the crop room to craft and share drinks and snacks. Classes hone basic and advanced scrapbooking skills sets, from matching basic colors and patterns to constructing stunning gift cards from layered paper or documenting memories before they even happen.

The golfer addresses the ball at the tee box before taking aim at a target: a green on the other side of a water hazard, a classic forced-carry par three. Though it would not be out of place on any golf course, this particular hole is actually a part of the Chicago Players Club's 26-acre practice complex. In addition to the practice par-three hole, the facility encompasses a sprawling driving range with 55 grass hitting stations, 17 covered and heated hitting bays, and seven target greens. Adjacent to the range, golfers can hone their game around the green at the short game range, which includes a bunker to build sandcastle memorials to all of the golf balls lost in battle to course hazards. The entire complex is open year-round and lighted for after-hours practice.

Though golfers can find ample opportunities to improve their skills at the facility through solo practice, the Chicago Players Club can make practice sessions even more effective with advice from a staff of veteran instructors. The staff includes decorated PGA pros Mike Mandakas—who started the Chicago Players Club after working at both the elite Olympia Fields and Medinah Country Clubs—and Mike Harrigan, who played in eight Western Open PGA Tournaments and was the Illinois PGA Pro and Teacher of the Year in 1995. The staff offers lessons for players of all ages and abilities, as well as club-fitting services to ensure golfers and their equipment are emotionally compatible.

A green flag cuts through the air, signaling rows of Sodi GT2 karts to throttle up their 200cc Honda GX engines and roar around the quarter-mile track. Inside the 40,000-square-foot facility that houses these karts, Chicago Race Factory's staff provides safety briefings and protective helmets to drivers, scheduling track time in advance or penciling walk-ins into the next available race. The track is also open to parties for birthdays, social gatherings, and corporate team-building events. Recognizing man's natural need for speed, they have formed competitive and league racing for true gearheads who want more laps around their racer-designed track, whose tire border prevents captive Michelin men from escaping back into the wild.

If the sun is shining, then the Hickory Hills Golf Club's greens are open. The club welcomes players 365 days a year to drive through the more than 7,400 total yards of fairways that make up their 18-hole championship and 9-hole executive courses. Golfers drive carts along a chain of manicured links that date back to 1915, the year the seedlings from Woodrow Wilson's "Plant-a-Golf Course" program began sprouting flagpoles.

Courses at a Glance

Championship Course

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Total length of 5,928 yards
• Course rating of 67.9 from the back tees
• Course slope of 116 from the back tees

Executive Course

• 9-hole, par 30 course
• Total length of 1,560 yards from the back tees

A stately, English Tudor–style clubhouse greets guests from its perch overlooking Stony Creek Golf Course, a 5,004-yard, par-65 fairway chain that connects over rolling, tree-lined terrain. A stone-lined creek forms a watery wishbone across the relatively short course, adding a scenic sense of continuity as golfers hack their way across nine par-3s, eight par-4s, and one 518-yard, par-5 alpha hole known to give greenskeepers wedgies. The course shares its grassy hillocks with a fully lighted practice facility featuring a driving range—which offers the option of hitting from synthetic turf or real grass—and a miniature golf course occupied by fountains and waterfalls. After a day at the links, guests can unwind at the clubhouse bar and grill, where immense windows look over the course and a covered patio provides an area for spectating games of bocce ball, horseshoes, or pole vaulting with 3-irons.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-65 course
• Length of 5,004 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 62.5 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 103 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options
• Scorecard

New Traditions Riding Academy's head instructor Martha Thompson-Hoyt and her staff of instructors improve the rein-handling abilities of aspiring riders and accomplished champions. The full-service riding academy offers group lessons, which provide learning and bonding opportunities for families and friends in addition to private lessons that help students achieve personal goals and weeklong camp programs, which completely immerse riders in the equine experience. All students are required to wear long pants, helmets, and hard-soled boots with a half-inch heel to ensure safety and looking fetching atop hoofed beasts.