ok, in chicago, it's a different story. independence day is more of a week here, starting the friday before the 4th and ending the sunday after. why, you ask? lemme tell you:
the famous taste of chicago started friday before the 4th and it took up about 8 city blocks including buckingham fountain and the grant park music shell. restaurants from all over the city set up mini kitchens and were cranking out food for literally millions of people. there was a ferris wheel, cooking demonstrations, huge chess sets, and and, should you desire, a station where you could test yourself for adult adhd.
entrance to the taste
after the race
buckingham fountain
they also had 4 stages where live bands played pretty much all day long, with some popular acts headlining the shows at night. fo free.
on first sunday the city had a 5k/10k "race to the taste". i totally did it so i wouldn't feel as guilty for going to eat all the delicious food afterwards. after the race, we tried some of the foods available to tickle the palet. here were my favorites:
- bolat african cuisine (jerk chicken, spicy rice & beans, plantains)
- soul vegeterian east (vegan sweet potato pie)
- chicago joe's (calamari)
- polka sausage & deli (pierogies with sour cream)
- aunt diana's candy makers (frozen chocolate bananas!)
- fireplace inn (bbq meatballs)
- lagniappe-creole cajun joynt (beignets)
- lou malnati's pizzeria (uh..deep dish)
- star of siam (pot stickers)
- c'est si bon (cajun chicken tenders & hone biscuit)
lest you think me a pig eating all that at once, i will have you know that i went to the taste on 4 separate occasions. it was actually a few blocks from my office, so i went for lunch one day. long lunch.
some of the (free!) concerts we watched were josh kelly
, plain white t's, ryan shaw, and joss stone 
(love her!). we missed chaka khan, stevie wonder, bonnie raitt, dave barnes, broadway in chicago, old 97's, and about a half-dozen others. i can honestly say, there was too much to do.
hi!
other than the taste, there were street performers and shopping sales galore. fireworks on july 3rd (they want people to stay up late and not feel bad because they have the 4th off from work) which lasted for about 30 minutes. the most amazing show i've seen to date. there were over 1 million people at grant park to watch the fireworks. the crowd was so big, that the people spilled off of the sidewalks into the streets and they shut michigan avenue down. literally wall-to-wall people on the streets.
michigan avenue
pritzker pavilion
after the fireworks show
the extremely unfortunate thing was that there were 4 gang-related shootings downtown as everyone was leaving the fireworks. we heard them but didn't realize that was gunshots we were hearing. a tad unsettling.
on the actual day of the 4th i slept in. and slept in good. i think i got up after 12pm. then margaret and i did some sightseeing since it was her last weekend here. we went to the sears tower, marina city (aka corn cob buildings), state street shopping, and a walk along the chicago river.
wrigley building, tribune building, chicago river
marina city
then we went to a friend's rooftop condo for a cookout and again more fireworks. this time however, you could look 180 degrees around the rooftop and see a dozen or so fireworks displays from all the neighborhoods. it was unlike anything i had seen!
and how does wisconsin fit in? on the 5th we trekked (well, drove) to milwaukee, wi for the biggest outdoor music festival in america: summerfest. it was kind of odd, all the people we saw, though it made for good people-watching. the main reason we went was to see steve winwood and tom petty & the heartbreakers in concert. it was sooo good! they played all my favorite songs and some new ones; tom petty kept saying "you guys are so amazing" (in his stoner type voice).
my neighborhood
at alison's boyfriend jeff's house on the northside
sarah, jessica, and jeff
jessica and me at the tom petty concert
when margaret told one of her friends back in alabama that she went to see tom petty in wisconsin, her friend said "what's wisconsin?" no lie. a tribute to the school system.
oh, i almost forgot to tell you. the last and most important difference between an atlanta 4th and a chicago 4th. it was in the 60s. i wore pants and a jacket! but...no mosquitos. no humidity.
:)
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