A strip of land in front of the
University of Chicago campus, roughly 1 city block wide and over a
mile long, characterized by a gigantic
depression in the middle. It was originally intended to be a
canal for
pleasure boats during the 1893
Columbian Exposition, until some
genius realized that all of
Hyde Park was several feet under
sea level, and connecting it to
Lake Michigan would probably be a
bad idea. The project was hastily aborted, but the depression was never filled.
Since then, it's become the home of numerous athletic fields and a temporary skating rink in the winter. For those more sadistically-minded, it's a great joy to sit in the Classics cafe, sipping coffee and looking out at all the poor first years having to cross the big ditch in the winter, trying to climb up or down the icy slopes. Inevitably, they manage to get up only to find they've dropped or left their bookbags or what not down there, and have to start the whole process over again. And the fun continues...