Children cautiously sticking their toes into Lake Michigan.
Canines barking as they do the …. well … the dog paddle.
And the Northwestern University Marching Band getting ready for the first home football game.
Those were among the things you could see and hear along the lakefront on Labor Day, a date which, symbolically at least, signifies the end of summer.
Only two of the city’s six beaches, Lee Street and Clark Street, were open for swimming.
The others, according to the city’s website, were closed to swimmers “due to limited staff.”
Many of the city’s lifeguards are college students who have already left town and returned to campuses around the nation.
But other college students from all over were along the lakefront here as part of Band Camp, that pre-season time of year when college marching bands warm up their chops and learn their formations.
Members of NUMB (Northwestern University Marching Band) were divided up into different sections … trumpets here, drums there, clarinets over there.
Brendan Stahl, a junior majoring in economics and math, is also the section leader for the trumpets.
“It’s been kind of hot,” Stahl noted, about the 90-degree temperatures.
“But we’ve been taking breaks.”
Stahl said the summer-long hazing controversy, which cost head football coach Pat Fitzgerald his job, was certainly on everybody’s mind.
“We’re going to be diligent and help do the best we can to uplift school spirits and be proud to be part of Northwestern,” Stahl told Evanston Now.
The marching band takes the field Saturday, for the Wildcats’ home opener at Ryan Field.
Back at the beaches, there is only one more day of swimming at Lee and Clark beaches, according to the city’s website.
But the dog beach will only close due to bad weather, so dog owners like Shelley and Todd Murphey will be able to keep bringing their dog Bunny to the lakefront for a dash and a dip.
“It’s so great,” said Shelley Murphey.
“She loves to swim.”