I have heard many great things about the Skokie Lagoons in Winnetka, IL.... so I had to check them out. The weather was going to be great, so we made a family trip out of it. We all packed into the truck and made the hour trip east to the lagoons. We launched at at the Tower rd launch. There was a slew of kayaks and canoes out on the water. I see that they rent boats from this location and also the launch a little further East on Tower rd.
It was cool to be surrounded by other paddlers. Usually, I am the only one out on the lakes and rivers that I hit. Once in a while, I will see another paddler, but it is rare. I liked seeing the variety of boats at the lagoons. You had everything from rec kayaks, to high end kevlar canoes. Everyone was friendly also!
There were a lot of birds at the lagoons. While I didn't see anything new, we did get very close to a heron. He didn't seem to care as we floated right past him. There was also a bunch of ducklings out and about. 
We headed north from the launch and made our way up to the northern dam. It was about a half hour paddle to the dam. We were cruising pretty good. There were a lot of cool fallen trees to look at. Once at the dam, we turned around and slowly made our way back down.
This was the longest trip for my 15 month old. She loves the water, but she was got a little "cabin fever" standing in the bow for an hour. All she wanted to do was hang over the side and touch the water. That turned into wanting to get IN the water.
We got to see about a mile stretch of the Lagoons. I will definitely be back to paddle the rest. There is so much to explore at these lagoons that you could make a few trips out of it. The dam's looked passable too. There were stairs and low seawalls. I would be interested in portaging around them and paddling other sections of the area. 
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