It's another sidebar convo, friends and neighbors! Sarah and Maddie talk this week with their friend Alexa Caldicott, a Lincolnwood mom about the school closures effecting our community. In addition to talking about the utter chaos of these decisions, we reminisce about high school and talk about what it's like for Alexa and Sarah to live in the town they grew up in. We shout out some incredible teachers and parents from the Dewey and Lincolnwood communities and just otherwise talk about our feelings and what the F we are supposed to do next.

Alexa's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askalexa_realestate/?hl=en

This week on the 602, we’re joined by Kelly and Sam Mack of Mack’s Bike and Goods on Central Street. Sam is a fourth-generation Evanstonian and has been a professional bike mechanic since he was 13, and today he and Kelly run a family-owned bicycle shop that’s become a neighborhood fixture.

We talk about the joy of cycling, what it takes to run a small business in Evanston, and how Kelly’s work with the city is helping shape the 2026 Bike Plan Update. We (ahem, SARAH!) also get confused about the Chicago Avenue Corridor Project and what it could mean for protected bike lanes in town (which she wants her own kids to be able to use before they go to college!!). We dream about what our city could look like if it was truly safe and accessible for all children, pedestrians, and cyclists, of ranging abilities and motives.

Find Mack’s Bike and Goods at 2948 Central Street in Evanston.

Their website is here: https://www.macksbikeandgoods.com/

Mack's Bike and Goods is on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/macksbikeandgoods/?hl=en

This week Sarah and Maddie talk with Tom and Rachel Carlin, the husband-and-wife team behind Burl, Evanston's farm-driven, open-fire restaurant. We chat about all of their combined experiences in Chicago’s best restaurants, how they met, their first smooch, why they chose Evanston to be their home and the home of their first restaurant, and how Tom builds a menu around the farms they've worked with for years. We also get into what it's like to run a restaurant while raising a family in the community you serve. This one is full of good feels and mouth-watering food talk! Make a reservation at Burl’s website below! Get the cabbage!

Burl’s website: https://www.burlevanston.com/

Burl Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burlevanston/?hl=en