Chicago is excellent. We’re having so much fun. Let me tell you all about it.
As we got out of the airport terminal, we saw forty or so Teen Challenge kids heading towards their gate. Real live Teen Challengers!! That’s the thing where they promise not to have sex for like the rest of their lives or something. Then we saw a real live Keith Haring mural at the airport (kind of the opposite of Teen Challenge, you know?).
Right before we got to our hotel, I watched a skinny woman pick up a flattened, dead pigeon off the street and run with it across through a busy intersection, throwing the bird into the bushes right next to where we were standing. Then she ran back across the street as fast as a live pigeon. I swear. In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like it.
At the hotel, we asked where to go for sushi, but on our way there, we walked right into Taste of Chicago. For over two hours, we stuffed ourselves with pizza, crab cakes, garlic-dipped plantain chips, pad thai, latkes, bbq chicken sandwich, and brownies. It was the best welcome ever.
Then we went to a park near downtown and watched children play in an outdoor fountain-type place where people’s faces were superimposed onto structures. It’s hard to explain, but the theme is: there’s really cool public art here. Plus, I love all the old buildings and architecture.
After that we came home and slept, bellies full and happy.
Today we got up early and went to Wicker Park. We ran into some Oberlin people, who remember me better than I remember them (no big surprise there). One girl is named Leah (Riv, remember her?) and she was in all of my classes. It was a weird flashback especially since she knew everything about me. She was nice enough and so was the other girl.
I am in love with Myopic Bookstore. It’s a lot like the place I work, but has fewer books than the Bookhouse. I want to live inside of it and read all the books. We also went to Quinby’s and checked out the comic/zine selection, though it’s a lot like Big Brain in Minneapolis and I like B.B. better since it’s less manly mannish.
Finally I need to mention the amazing Alliance Bakery. We didn’t get anything, but the cakes in the windows look amazing. That will definitely need to be tested before going back home.
I’m loving Chicago (despite the Obie-spotting).
It’s later in the evening. We’re determined to get the most out of this trip and so we visited Andersonville and Lincoln Park. They were both fun to visit but the fun really happened back at the hotel. Background: it seems that the Greek world unites in our hotel. Greeks are everywhere and they flow through the halls and out into the lobby. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many Greek people in one place. Anyway, when we got to our floor, there was a teenage Greek party near the elevator. When we turned the corner towards our room, two Greek teenagers were sitting on the floor, one girl crying and one boy listening.
These are the exact words that the Greek girl said (while crying): “I am so proud to be Catholic. I don’t drink and I am so proud of that. I am not sexual and I am so proud of that.”
Isn’t that amazing? It was too amazing to be true. I feel like we walked into a goldmine. I’m not going to be able to upload this for a while so I’ll probably keep adding to it. More to come…
It’s the end of another day in Chicago. I want to say how sad I am that I never got to read Aimee’s suggestions about what to do in Chicago, so we’ve been winging it. On the plus side, my parents are also in the city right now (staying somewhere else, we haven’t seen them at all since we got here) and when I called them tonight, they said they are taking Aimee’s suggestions. They’ve been to at least two restaurants recommended by Aimee. Next time we come to Chicago, I promise to use Aimee’s guide.
Anyway, today was really action-packed. We started our day having breakfast in Wicker Park. It was pretty good but our second trip to Myopic was horrible. The woman working had major attitude and when we left, I never wanted to go back. I will go back, but not when that mean woman is working.
I won’t go into all the details of the day, but here are the main points:
-We went to four bookstores today, one in Hyde Park, one in Wicker Park, one in Lincoln Square, and one in Andersonville.
-We caught the last twenty minutes of Alison Bechdel, talking about her new book in a women’s bookstore. (In my strong opinion, this book is a big disappointment and not nearly as good as her others, but I’m glad she’s having success and good reviews. She deserves it.) (See picture of me with A.B. in background.)
-We found a used copy of Tobias Wolff’s “The Night In Question” for five bucks at one of the Powells Stores.
-After browsing three different Powells locations and Myopic Bookstore, there are officially no used copies of “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” (the Vintage edition) and “The Collected Stories of Cheever” in Chicago.
This is becoming long because my lack of internet. Tomorrow morning, Miles and I are going to Alliance Bakery for breakfast. Then, my parents are meeting us and we’re trying out one of Aimee’s picks (according to my parents) for lunch. In the afternoon, the four of us are driving back to Minneapolis.
p.s. finally internet connection! we're at the heartland for lunch. my parents are on the way. this place is so cute! we're loving it and i'll write more later. thanks for all your help, aimee. at least my parents used your advice and next time we come, we promise to check our email first. hopefully we can see you when we come back.
