Salute to Chicago

Now this could only happen to a guy like me

And only happen in a town like this

So may I say to each of you most gratefully

As I throw each one of you a kiss

This is my kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of people too

People who smile at you

And each time I roam, Chicago is

Calling me home, Chicago is

Why I just brim like a cload

It’s my kind of town

My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of razzmatazz

And it has, all that jazz

And each time I leave, Chicago is

Tuggin my sleeve, Chicago is

The Wrigley Building, Chicago is

The Union Stockyard, Chicago is

One town that won’t let you down

It’s my kind of town

-- Frank Sinatra, "My Kind of Town"

Chicago: Day One (a Flickr photoset with 58 photos)

Chicago: Day Two (a Flickr photoset with 27 photos)

A little over a year ago, Zach, one of my close friends in high school, got married. The wedding was held in the small town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, a four hour drive from Chicago.

The members of my high school "clique" had all gone their seperate ways; Zach was living in rural Wisconsin, Paul was living in Chicago, Steve was living in Atlanta, Jay was living in Phoenix, Michael was living in San Francisco, and I was living in L.A. Zach was the first to get hitched, so we all thought his wedding would be a great opportunity to reunite and have some fun. Steve was the only guy who didn't end up making it.

Since Paul lived in Chicago, Jay, Michael, and I decided to fly in and spend a little time in the Windy City before heading out to Wisconsin. I arrived a day earlier than the other guys to ensure I had a day to explore Chicago on my own and see things the others might not be interested in (read: stores and malls).

I arrived at Midway Airport on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 27, 2004. I was impressed that Chicago's famous "L" (short for "elevated") rail transit system ties directly into Midway (as it also does O'Hare) because L.A.'s Metro Rail stops a couple miles sort of LAX, forcing you to take a shuttle. I took the Orange Line into the Loop and transferred onto the Red Line, arriving in the Wrigleyville neighborhood, where I met Paul and had dinner. After dinner, Paul drove me around Chicago since he knew I was excited to be there for the first time. We ended the night getting caught up and recounting our (mis)adventures during high school.

The next morning, I was pleased to find that "The Price is Right" was not only on at the same time in Chicago (10:00 a.m.) but that it was also on the same channel (2). After watching "TPIR" and browsing the day's edition of the Chicago Tribune, I walked a few blocks to the California Avenue Blue Line station and rode to the Chicago Avenue station. I walked east down Chicago Avenue until I reached Michigan Avenue.

"The Magnificent Mile" of Michigan Avenue is home to Chicago's historic Water Tower (inexplicably spared by the 1871 fire that consumed most of the city), the John Hancock Center (a mixed-use tower that is a city onto itself), Water Tower Place (the country's most successful vertical mall), and a collection of prestigious stores known around the world. Where Michigan Avenue meets the Chicago River, it is flanked by the distinctive Wrigley Building on its west and the equally distinctive Chicago Tribune Building on its east.

After exploring (and documenting) "The Magnificent Mile," I headed over to State Street, the city's less prestigious but still impressive shopping district, home to the flagship stores of Chicago retailing legends Marshall Field's and Carson Pirie Scott. From there, I explored the rest of The Loop, ending up near the Sears Tower. I would have liked to visit the observation deck of what was once the tallest building in the world, but it was getting late in the afternoon and I would've had to wait at least an hour in line.

Paul knew how badly I wanted to visit Woodfield, a super-regional mall out in the suburbs, and luckily he worked nearby. The night before, he helped me find a way to get out to Woodfield: take the Blue Line out from the Loop to the Cumberland Avenue station and transfer to a PACE bus that would drop me off at the mall. More on my pilgrimage to Woodfield can be seen here.

I met Paul at Woodfield and we went back to Chicago to have dinner. A couple hours later, we picked up Jay at O'Hare, and a few hours after that we picked up Michael at Midway. We stopped at a bar on the way back from Midway, and I still don't know what impressed me most: that Chicago has bars open at 3:00 a.m., that you can smoke in bars in Chicago, or that there were a lot of people at this particular bar at 3:00 a.m. on a Thursday. Chicago knows how to party.

On Thursday afternoon, Jay, Michael, and I returned to The Loop by way of the Blue Line. The three of us checked out "The Magnificent Mile," shopped at H&M, had lunch at Water Tower Place, and visited the observation deck at the John Hancock Center (known affectionately to Chicagoans as "Big John"). Although the Hancock is not as tall as Sears Tower, Paul said it had a better view, and the line was shorter than that at Sears Tower. We then hopped on the Red Line, stopped to check out Wrigley Stadium and Wrigleyville, then moved north to the campus of Loyola University of Chicago, Paul's alma mater, where he picked us up.

Paul drove us back into The Loop, where we visited Millenium Park and Buckingham Square Fountain before having a big sushi dinner. After dinner, we went bar-hopping late into the night and were pleased to rediscover the camaraderie we had all enjoyed during our time at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix. We may have been living different lives in different parts of the country, but that didn't mean we were fundamentally different people than we once were.

Friday morning we all woke up nice and hungover and piled into Paul's car for our drive out to Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

I will share the second half of my trip to the Midwest in a future post.

I absolutely loved Chicago and would entertain the idea of moving there if it were not for one key issue: the weather. On the two days I was out exploring the city, Chicago was experiencing L.A.-like weather, not too warm or humid. I know must summer days aren't like that, and we all know what Chicago is like in the winter (cold, windy, snowy). I do plan on returning, though -- Chicago has a special place in the heart of urban planners, as it was home to Daniel Burnham (arguably the father of urban planning as we know it) and remains as one of our nation's greatest cities.

Chicago planted "the travel bug" within me, as I left wanting to explore more of the United States and its cities. Had I not gone to Chicago, I probably wouldn't have been ambitious enough to take a trip to New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. earlier this year. I'll get around to telling you more about that trip later.

I made sure to take lots of photographs in Chicago and you can see 85 of them (excluding the Woodfield pictures) at my space on Flickr. Allow me to share some of them here as well:

Now that's what I call a sign -- remember the opening credits of the TGIF classic "Perfect Strangers"? Don't front, I know you watched it too.

Speaking of Chicago landmarks featured in the opening credits of TV shows, here's Buckingham Square Fountain, as seen on "Married...With Children." From L to R: Jay, Paul, yours truly, and Michael, all proudly not married with children.

Michael and I pose in Millenium Park, ecstatic to be in front of the skyscraper prominently featured in one of our all time favorite '80's movies, "Adventures in Babysitting." That's where Thor lives!

Looking up at the Sears Tower, a monument to engineering and capitalism that is ironically no longer headquarters for Sears Roebuck & Co.

Looking up at the John Hancock Center, which includes stores, restaurants, offices, condos, and a hotel and rivals Sears Tower as Chicago's "definitive" skyscraper.

Obligatory street sign photo.

Obligatory mall photo.

Intersection of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. The Wrigley Building is at the left, and the Chicago Tribune Building is at the right.

Marshall Field's flagship store on State Street. If the name above the door changes to Macy's, a of Chicagoans are goning to be pissed. If you don't know about the drama concerning Field's future, read this, this, this, this, and this.

Carson Pirie Scott's flagship store, also on State Street.

The view north from the observation deck at "Big John," showing North Lake Shore Drive (or, as Paul calls it, LSD).

The view south from the observation deck at "Big John," showing The Loop. Amoco Tower at left, Sears Tower at right.

Chicago: Day One (a Flickr photoset with 58 photos)

Chicago: Day Two (a Flickr photoset with 27 photos)