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DouglasE · 09-14-2004, 01:31 PM

For those familiar with my trip reports this will seem quite an abbreviated version. To be frank, I am just too busy to devote the time it would take to one of my traditional trip reports. 

Adventurer: Douglas
Place: Chicago, IL
Time: September 2, 2004 to September 7, 2004
Occasion: Labor Day weekend 

 Southwest Airlines has finally started service at Philadelphia International Airport. Yipeee! Long distance travel is finally affordable for me. I decided to visit some friends of mine that live in the Chicago area. As soon as I had made my decision to go over the Labor Day weekend I notified my friends and checked to see if they would be available. All said that it was a green light to go. As soon as they said that, I purchased my plane tickets online with Southwest Airlines. Money approaching Labor Day had gotten a bit tight so I didn't have as much play money as I would have liked. But I was still going on this trip. When I get a great idea in my head it's difficult for me to abandon it.


Thursday, September 2, 2004

A good portion of the day was spent working. 3 o'clock arrived and it was time to head to the train at Suburban Station to take me to the Airport. Earlier that morning I had printed out my boarding pass on my home computer. I did my best to travel light on this trip. I was taking one overnight bag and one smaller personal travel bag. This way I didn't have to check any luggage and could proceed directly to the security line for the terminal I was using. United States air travel forces you to arrive hours before your flight leaves. I was a dutiful traveler and ended up waiting and waiting and waiting. My one complaint about using Southwest is that since there are no assigned seats people queue up to get their best possible seat over an hour in advance. So my bony a** was sitting on the floor in the line for group A boarding, instead of sitting on the nice cushiony seats that the airport provides to await your plane's arrival.

My plane arrives on time and we board in a reasonable fashion. I get a window seat very close to the front of the plane. But now Philadelphia International totally rearranges where all the planes should arrive and depart. Consequently there ends up being a line of 20 planes all waiting to take off from the tarmac. We were an hour in the plane just sitting in the plane as it tooled around the airport. Finally, we take off.

I arrive at Midway Airport (Chicago) with no problems, but an hour late. Originally, my friend, Jeffrey, was supposed to meet me at the airport. But he had called me while I was still waiting for my plane at Philadelphia to let me know he would not be able to make it. No big deal. At the airport I picked up my Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) five day visitor pass. I took the orange line and then transferred to the Red line to eventually get off at the Thorndale El stop.

I walk to the nearest corner and phone Nathan. Nathan is Jeffrey's partner. Since I was planning on having Jeffrey meeting me at the airport I did not bring a map of their neighborhood with me. He did a great job at re-directing me and I arrived at their doorstep in no time. Jeffrey ran down and let me into their apartment building.

When I originally had made plans, I told Nathan that I would need them to let me know asap if the timing would be good because I wanted to get a good deal on a hotel. He said not to worry because he wouldn't hear of me staying anywhere else but at their place. Turned out to be wonderful, since I ended up travelling with less money than anticipated.

Once I plopped my bags down, I was given the grand tour. Their apartment is sooo nice. Nice and roomy for an apartment in the city, over 2000 square feet with a "porch area" and a deck on the back. Nathan was all excited about being a great host. It turns out the guys moved into the guest room and had me stay in their bedroom. (Why do you call it a guest room if your guest isn't going to stay there?) I knew better than to argue with Nathan about this. After the grand tour we all sat down in their living room for champagne and hors d'oeurves (?sp). We got caught up on things and discussed my ambitious plans for the next few days.

I used to live in Chicago. I lived further south in the city than these guys do. I lived four blocks from Lake Michigan and a few blocks from Wrigley Field. I was a very busy guy, still in "the closet". My goal for this trip was to be a typical tourist and see the stuff I never took the time to see and do. Also, some of the stuff on my itinerary didn't even exist when I last lived there. When I travel I have a tendency to jam pack my itinerary with all sorts of stuff. I just never know if I'll ever be back. I want to make the most of my time.

We finally decide that since it was 2 am Philadelphia time, I should go to sleep.

**chezp** · 09-14-2004, 01:34 PM

Great start Douglas - can't wait to read more. I also use the "I might never go back" method on all my trips - except the Disney ones of course!

my2girls · 09-14-2004, 02:17 PM

Great start Douglas! Can't wait to read more and hear your thoughts on Chicago. I don't live that far away.

Kristine

DouglasE · 09-14-2004, 02:25 PM

Friday, September 3, 2004 

How can you tell if I'm on vacation? I hardly get any sleep. The adrenaline must really be pumping because I was up around 7 am Chicago time. Ugh! The good news is that it gave Nathan, Jeffrey, and myself all plenty of time to get ready in the morning. Jeffrey is unemployed at the moment and is actively looking for work. Today he has an interview first thing in the morning. Since we were all up and ready to go so early in the morning, Nathan and I realize we have plenty of time to go with my original plans for the day.

While Jeffrey is on his interview, Nathan and I go downtown and experience the first of two Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) tours. Before we head to the Santa Fe building which houses the CAF headquarters and gift shop, we stop in at an Au Bon Pain to pick up a little pick me up to nibble on. I had selected "Historic Skyscrapers: 1850-1934" and "Modern Skyscrapers: 1950-present". The Chicago Architecture Foundation presents guided walking tours given by volunteer docents. I like to learn something about what I'm seeing. Each tour was $12, but we got a discount since we were going on two and went on both for $20.

CAF provides 70 different tours by bike, boat, and on foot including the popular architecture river cruises. A river cruise is great to give you an overall look at the city, but since I had already lived there I wanted a more in depth look at the city that only a walking tour can provide.

Our first tour of historic skyscrapers was two hours in length. Once finished we were famished. We grabbed a great little lunch at the Corner Bakery. I had an incredibly tasty panini. The Corner Bakery is right next to the Santa Fe Building where we ended our tour. While there, Jeffrey called me. We directed him to join us and the three of us went on the Modern Skyscraper tour.

One final note. I just got done attaching a series of pictures to this report. I am very disappointed. Somehow the images have degraded so that now they are all fuzzy. On my computer they are significantly sharper and clear. So disappointing. At the end of this report I'll post a link to all my pictures that I took so you can get a better set of images.

Our first stop on the historic tour: Art Institute of Chicago

Classic setback design to allow more light into the city canyon

The shimmering lobby of the LaSalle National Bank also known as the Field Building with classic Art Deco design. Marble surfaces and white bronze bridges with their mirrored underbellies. Jazz Age style at its best.

Chicago Board of Trade exterior

My historic skyscraper tour guide, Paula and I

**Colexis Mom** · 09-14-2004, 02:25 PM

Great start Douglas! It sounds like quite a nice apartment that the guys have! Hurry back with more

**chezp** · 09-14-2004, 05:00 PM

Those tours you took sound great and I love the photos - it's great to see the different examples of skyscrapers. More please!

simbarel · 09-14-2004, 07:08 PM

Oh please...have you seen the ph-uzzy-otos in my Las Vegas TR, your photos are beautiful! That's so cool that you chose to do historical/tourist stuff...I love taking city tours even in my own hometown, but Wally makes this front like he has to be so cool in foreign cities and it's like pulling teeth to get him on one. Looking forward to more!

**Colexis Mom** · 09-15-2004, 09:38 AM

Douglas I don't think the pictures are bad at all! Keep them coming

MinnieMary · 09-15-2004, 10:23 AM

Hey Douglas, we did the Historic Skyscraper tour about 10 years ago. I really enjoyed it except it was unexpectedly cold the day we did it and I was only dressed in a denim skirt and t-shirt with a light jacket. This attire would normally have been OK for May, but it was 45 degrees and drizzly.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

GoofyMom · 09-15-2004, 02:25 PM

Your photos look fine to me.

Please don't make us wait too long for the next installment!

luvnwdwgal · 09-15-2004, 02:30 PM

Great pics!

JoanW · 09-15-2004, 04:19 PM

Hurry, I need a Douglas report fix! And I've never been to Chicago, and am dying to go, so I am devouring your report.

DouglasE · 09-15-2004, 08:04 PM

Friday, September, 3, 2004 

 Nathan, Jeffrey, and I met our Modern Skyscrapers guide. As expected, the volunteer docent guide who conducts the tour makes the difference in your experience. Our guide this time round is an actual working architect named David. In fact, David, helped design this tour himself. The Modern skyscraper tour was my favorite of the two. David did an excellent job at weaving themes throughout the commentary. He obviously has a passion for architecture and Chicago is definitely the place to be for that. I would highly recommend taking at least one of the Chicago Architecture Foundation tours when you visit the city. It makes a world of a difference. Even weeks later I'm looking at the architecture around me here in Philadelphia in a new way.

Classic modern design of the Inland Steel Building illustrating Mies van der Rohe's dictum "less is more".

Postmodernism throws a curve into things

Helmut Jahn's Interior of the State of Illinois Building created a streetscape on the inside

Asymetry enters the picture

GoofyMom · 09-15-2004, 08:48 PM

I'm glad you enjoyed your tours! It sounds like David was the perfect guide!!

DouglasE · 09-15-2004, 09:01 PM

Friday, September, 3, 2004 

 Following the tour, the three of us went to the W hotel for a little cocktail and a brief rest. We headed back to Nathan and Jeffrey's place. Next up was dinner out. We had dinner at the Gennessee Depot. The Gennessee Depot is classic Chicago midwestern comfort food. The service is very friendly and treat you like family. The restaurant is located in the BoysTown neighborhood (or Wrigleyville as I used to call it in my other life). Not only was I treated like family but "family" are a mainstay of its patronage. Comfort food is its other mainstay. Attention Atkins dieters: stay away!!! I had salmon with liguini and capers in a butter sauce. This was the most unique item that that place offered. It's more of a pot roast and potatoes type of a place. While I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, I suspect they did not handle the salmon all that well. I'm pretty sure I experienced mild food poisoning later this evening. While at dinner I got a phone call from my friend Jerry that I had met in Orlando who lives in the far western suburbs of Chicago. We had already planned to get together on Friday night. He was already at the bar "Sidetrack" on N. Halstead Street with a group of friends.

Sidetrack had recently had a renovation done and it showed. There are several levels and bars at each level. On the top is a rooftop deck. Aaaah! Fresh air! It took forever for me to find Jerry. It was like a Verizon wireless commercial with the phone tag trying to locate him in the big complex. Finally, I find him and it's a good reunion. Nathan and Jeffrey hang out long enough for me to get settled in and then head back home. It's been a long day for both of them.

Jerry introduces me to his three friends Paul, Nick, and Rene. All three are very good looking men. All three were very warm and welcoming. In fact Rene was very welcoming. At the time, I didn't want to come off as the dorky tourist taking pictures. I wish I had. I would really like to have pictures of these guys. After spending a good amount of time at "Sidetrack" we went across the street to a dance bar called "Roscoe's". Roscoe's clientele is a bit younger. But I was having fun despite the trips to the bathroom needed by the food poisoning . Nick and I intended on taking a spin around the dancefloor but either I was in the men's room or he was. Soon we all had enough to drink and it was getting late. Rene had left about a half hour before the rest of us. Soon after we all decide it's time to call it a night. Nick and Jerry walk me over to the El Station. While it would have been great to take advantage of Nick's offer to crash with him, I knew he had so much to drink he would have just fallen asleep on me . I made it back to Nathan and Jeffrey's no problem. It meant so much to me that Jerry and his friends made me feel like one of the gang.

Jeffrey having cocktails at the W

Shocking news!

Waiting for the El.