Deerfield, Waukegan Road were part of my family's Labor Day 'scenic route'

Deerfield and its main north-south artery, Waukegan Road, were instrumental in helping my dad maintain his sanity every Labor Day during the 1980s.

Labor Day traffic coming south of Milwaukee on I-94 was a nightmare.

In an effort to avoid tolls and traffic on I-94 while returning from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to our Northwest suburban home, my dad developed what we affectionately called "the scenic route": Taking Waukegan Road right through downtown Deerfield.

We knew it actually took longer. But back then, Labor Day was "always" 75 degrees and sunny, with no humidity, and we didn't want to spoil a beautiful day stuck in traffic.

As the years progressed, the route became more complex; slower, but more "scenic." Past the fragrant Wisconsin cabbage fields, over the border toward U.S. Route 41, a quick zig to Waukegan Road, through Deerfield and then a zag home.

Little did I know that over four decades later, I would be assigned to cover Deerfield as a photographer and reporter for the Daily Herald's Deerfield Herald weekly publication.

It seems only right then that the first subject for my semiregular Skyview aerial photo features downtown Deerfield and Waukegan Road, since it was part of one of my favorite holidays during my youth.