after my recent jaunt back home to atlanta, i spent the next week seeing all there is to see (for tourists) in chicago. my dad come to visit monday-friday since he had the week before labor day off. i like the way he tours, we have the same style. we walk around for a bit, look at the beauty in architecture, flowers, side streets, quaint homes. then we stop for a coffee (in the a.m.) or beer (anytime around or after lunch). and always end the day with a great meal. we have no plans, no agenda, no race-to-see-all-you-can-see attitude. but we still ended up doing quite a bit.
on monday night we let the early evening roll in while sippin' margaritas at the oak street beachstro. it's quite amazing when you're sitting there; look right and see sand, waves, palm trees, and kids playing in their swimsuites; look left and see the john hancock, the gold coast highrises and lake shore drive commuters.
a stroll led us to old town for dinner at a delicious outdoor french restaurant,
bistrot margot. we had vin blanc, l'escargots, le paté, et les poissons. perfection.
tuesday, dad kept himself busy renting a bike and heading north along the lakeshore up towards loyola university. i was in cubicle-land like a good little worker. but we met up afterwards at
giordano's for the world's best deep dish pizza and beers (well probably not the world's best..it was bud light). then we met up with a new friend (friend of a friend from san francisco) who just moved to town. what better way to learn your new town than a lake a river boat tour? i knew chicago was full of architecture and history, but i learned a great deal on the tour (so i highly recommend if you make it up this way). i shall talk more in length and include pictures of all my new-found knowledge in a future blog.
wednesday, dad and i met up in the loop and made our way to chinatown and
lee wing wah restaurant as recommended by my colleague. she says it's the closest to authentic chinese food you'll get off cermak road (she knows, she's chinese). chicago's chinatown could almost be china, but it's not as big and crazy as new york's chinatown. i mean i didn't see any ducks hanging from windows. or maybe i just didn't hit the right streets. we walked around for a bit, but it was hot and there were no street-trees (a term dad and i coined because when it's hot, trees make a big difference).
after chinatown, dad wanted to checkout the northwest side of town so we headed to the bucktown/wickerpark area. for those who don't know that area, it's the "hip" place to be. it used to be scary where only drug dealers, the homeless, and starving artists would hang out. of course the hip follow the artists and the yuppies follow the hip. i still like it, but i've heard others knock it for being "too safe" and losing its edge. we walked until we got too hot and then stopped at miko's italian ice. miko makes huge tubs of italian ice and sells it in styrofoam cups out a window of his basement. you can sit in his tiny front yard on plastic lawn furniture. it's dang tasty italian ice (i recommend the lemon).
we basically kept walking from there and walked and walked under the interstate, past some rundown buildings and warehouses, and the river. my dad asked why i decided to take him on a tour of the most uninteresting part of chicago. i dunno. =) our ulimate goal was to make it to greektown for dinner. greektown is directly west of the loop off halstead between monroe & van buren avenues. chicago has the 3rd largest concentrated greek population in the world. and though the neighborhood is small, i felt like i stepped into athens. flashy cars, guys with slick hair and white pants, girls with big hair and tight clothes, well and greek letters on every sign (even the walgreen's was in greek). a few greek churches and a museum. you know if the greeks are hanging out there, the food must be good. at a friend's suggestion, we tried
santorini on halstead&adams. they import their olive oil from greece made specifically for the restaurant. it was delicious; crisper than italian olive oil. very light and easy. i would have bought some to take home but they don't sell it. i had a fresh greek salad, greek fries (fries w/ feta and olive oil...yum), a spicy feta cheese dip, and kadaifi (shredded pastry dough with walnuts and honey) & baklava (layers of filo, crushed nuts, and honey) for dessert.
ok, after being decidedly full, we rested our feet at the imax movie theatre on navy pier for my first screening of the
dark knight (the latest installation of the batman series shot mostly in chicago). everyone i work with has been shocked (almost offended) that i haven't seen it yet. chicago is obsessed with batman since they started using the city as the new gotham in
batman begins. everyone talks about it. thousands went to see it opening night (wednesday at 12:01am). and it's been 5 weeks since the release and i still hadn't seen it. now, i really like the '60s tv show and michael keaton batman movies, but i do agree with everyone that this was by far the best of the series. it was so dark and yet funny. so intense and detailed. my dad doesn't understand why there has to be such violence and over-the-top special effects, but i say because they can and people want to see that. there were a lot of great scenes of chicago and the loop (which looks gloomy and gothic with all the old architecture). and i know everyone else might doubt it without seeing it, but heath ledger as the joker was truly the best acting in the movie. but i'll always love christian bale since i saw him in
newsies.
thursday morning, dad and i walked through the lincoln park neighborhood and wind through streets off armitage and lincoln avenue. there are some beautiful homes and streetscapes; my dad found his favorite street in the world (outside of paris) somewhere off of armitage. our eventual destination was
nookies too for breakfast. what a decision i had! i always get something sweet (and the crepes looked delicious) but i went for heuvos ranchero, a seasonal dish, and it was mouthwateringly delicious. i will most certainly go back for strawberry filled crepes later this year. the restaurant was a place i saw myself taking a book, sitting for hours, with an endless cup of coffee, and no one will mind.
after, we headed south...south...and further south. the green line to the garfield stop. stepping out of the 'L' station was almost like entering a 3rd world country. burned out buildings, crumbling streets, boarded up windows. very sad, and had it not been daylight, very scary. why did we go down there? well the southside, jackson park in particular, was the setting of the
1893 world's fair which we read about in
devil in the white city (great book! read it...more about the fair in another blog). the university of chicago and frank lloyd wright's robie house is also south near jackson park. our main reason for heading down there was to walk around and feel as if we were at the fair, but not much has survived. the southside area isn't as maintained or appreciated as it could be. only 1 building remains from the fair: the science & industry building, which has been converted into a
museum. we met up at the museum with a friend from college, her husband, and 6month old baby who were in town for the weekend to visit me. now the architecture, exterior, of the building was magnificent (and when you think of it in comparison to the other fair buildings, you will be overwhelmed at the size of the fair). however, the inside was a little kid-like. and frankly, i just don't like science that much. there was a train room that was complete with full-size locomotives,
the spirit of america, and to-scale cities, mountain & train models. hard to explain and the pictures didn't turn out, but ethan is going to LOVE it. they also have a huge U-505 submarine; apparently this is the coolest part of the museum, but dad didn't want to go in it...
we left the museum early to tour the
prarie district, chicago's first 'gold coast' where all the wealthiest of wealthy lived. it's south of the loop around indiana street and 18th avenue. most of the homes remain though the area is exploding with new construction. the oldest house in chicago, the
clarke house, built in 1836 is a landmark. it survived the great fire of 1871 and was moved in 1977 to a different address off wabash avenue. the
glessner house still stands in the prarie district and is the last building in chicago by h.h.richardson, famous for his richardson romanesque style.
thursday night was a trip to wrigley field, the first for my dad and friends, to watch the cubs take on the philly's. we had hotdogs, brats, and beers. and the weather was perfect. unfortunately, the baby got tired during the 6th inning, so my friends left. and then dad, not being a huge baseball fan, wanted to beat the crowds home. i gave it because the cubs were losing and i didn't really want to witness a loss. of course, aramis ramirez hits a grand slam in the 8th inning and the cubs win...
friday was dad's last day. we skipped the field museum where my friends went so we could walk around astor street in the gold coast, get coffees and explore the near north side. we stopped in one of my favorite parks off walton&dearborn. it's sided by the
newberry library which is a gorgeous old building mixed with romanesque and gothic style architecture. i truly could have sipped my coffee on that bench in that park all day. but hunger called, so we went downtown to eat under the colorful umbrella's of park grill at millenium park. um yeah, we had mojitos at 11am. stuffed, we headed into the loop to look at one last piece of architecture and make one last stop at a chicago "must": garrett's popcorn. in the loop, on adams&lasalle, stands
the rookery. a magnificent structure designed by john root & daniel burnham, used as the headquarters for the 1893 fair design team, and remodeled by frank lloyd wright. i watched many people just pass it by, but my dad.. my dad, was in awe of it. you could see the way he looked at it that he completely appreciated all the effort, skill, and passion that went into creating that masterpiece. inside, was breathtaking. every detail was attended to. the lightbulbs, the small tile flooring, the engraving in the wall that indicates where the vault is. the staircase. i will return with a suitable camera to attemp to capture the beauty, but all who visit chicago should stop for just a few moments to take it in.
and now this has become a long blog. if you read til the end and are still interested, i will continue into the weekend with part 2 later.
=)
