Chi Town Adventures

Cars cutting in and out around me at 70 mph, I've arrived in the big city! The driving might have been easier if I hadn't been trying to photograph the skyline while changing lanes and dodging other drivers. The things I do for my art.

I even found my hotel on the second try. I'm glad I remember Chicago from way back when I used to live here, shortly after Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked the lantern over... Most importantly, I found a parking spot for my car where it will remain until I leave. It will be two days of buses and trains for me. On my very first ride back in the city we were packed in like cockroaches and I got to stand next to a homeless person who reeked of stale urine, lots and lots of stale urine. Ah, the joys of city living.

I walked around some of my old haunts and stumbled across one of those "Taste of" street events which included some very fine restaurants. I had been looking for someplace to eat but wasn't inspired, then I found the Halsted Tastes Better fair and got to sample a variety of great dishes. Perfect!!

The evening culminated in Waiter Races where waiters had to run to a table with wine bottles, open the bottles, pour a glass of wine, then race back with the full glass on a tray. They were all so nervous that they were totally incompetent. Not one waiter in the first heat managed to open their bottle, they all broke the corks. In the second heat the two waiters who did open their bottles both managed to drop their glasses on the way back. The third and fourth heats learned from the others' mistakes and managed to slow down a little.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back in Chicago - in the summertime. I had forgotten what a beautiful and clean city this is; it puts Honolulu to shame. I wonder what kind of trouble I can get into tomorrow?