"It's gorgeous. It's gorgeous. It's nice to be done with the cold weather," area resident Eva Aguilar said.
As temperatures made a welcome move into the 60s Saturday, Wendy Ward and her friends were among those who took to the lakefront.
"It's a beautiful day," she said. "I hope there is more to come."
Student sailors participating in a regional high school competition at the Columbia Yacht Club, welcomed the sunshine and somewhat still chilly breezes.
"Sometimes I enjoy the wind because you're going very fast," junior sailor Phillip Sanders said.
The spring fling comes after an unusually cool and wet April in Chicago.
Saturday's highs in the upper 60s would be one of the area's warmest days of the month.