Not quite a tourist in Chicago

Sept. 19-22, 2019

My three sisters (from oldest – Suzan, Mary, Kathleen) enjoy a now ten year annual tradition – “Sisters’ weekend” – each year in a different city (the weekend was expanded by popular demand to Thursday through Sunday several years ago). Chicago was the 10th anniversary of the event. I was the only newbie to the city, and since they had already done the “Bean” and most of the typical tourist sites, we checked out many alternative activities, making for a fun and less typical vacation. (And as an aside, the subtitle we gave our weekend was the northern Chicago cemetery tour.)

We Ubered from Midway to an AirBNB on the north side in a neighborhood between Wrigleyville and Andersonville (also between the St Boniface Catholic Cemetery and Graceland Cemetery), one block off of Clark. Clark conveniently runs all the way between Wrigley Stadium to Andersonville. We settled into the apartment, and discovered Mariano’s grocery store. It was lovely. They have a piano bar with a live pianist on a Thursday afternoon, so you can sip on a lovely sauvignon blanc as you shop. Kathleen and I stocked up on all the necessities – wine, cheese, fancy crackers, and breakfast stuff. We schlepped our groceries back the half mile to our home for the weekend and got ready for the evening.

The sisters and headed into town that evening for dinner for dinner at Trattoria No. 10 – next door to the Chase Auditorium. Trattoria is highly rated and rightly so. They provided a lovely meal and great service, and made sure we had plenty of time to get the less than a block to the “Wait, Wait- Don’t Tell Me” taping that evening. In July Kathleen had to pounce on the tickets as soon as the tickets became available – even then we sat 2 and 2 instead of together. There does not appear to be any truly bad seats in the theater. Our panel that night were Bobcat Goldthwait, Alonzo Bodden (whom John and I had seen at the Velveeta Room in Austin a few years ago), and Roxanne Roberts. After a night of laughs, we stopped and got pictures with most of the panel (Bobcat ducked out early, but Mary scored an autograph before he got away!).

Friday morning, Kathleen and I started the day with a run around the neighborhood, finishing at Ridman’s Coffee on Clark and Lawrence – it’s a pleasant, low key place that made a visitor feel welcome. On last year’s trip to Seattle, the sisters’ and I discovered the fun of making breakfast together. So after fortifying ourselves on avocado toast, eggs, yogurt and fruit, we headed up to Andersonville to check out a few shops before heading back, resting briefly, and then walked down to Wrigley stadium for a Cubs game.

I was excited to find Wrigley Field had vegetarian hot dogs! (Neither Mary nor I can eat beef or pork – mammalian meats cause us horrible abdominal pain). One thing that makes Cubs games among the best in the nation, yes, they have a great classic field steeped in history, but no other team’s fans does Take Me Out to the Ballgame with such gusto. Yes, I know everyone does it, but I had never seen so much enthusiasm for the old standard. (The guy dressed in the Harry Caray t-shirt and giant glasses “conducting” likely helps). The Cubs started the game well, but fell behind 2-1 to St. Louis in the 6th inning. We waited for the 7th inning stretch, but since we had other activities planned for the evening – we had to leave before the end of the game.

The red line “L”/ subway is convenient to the stadium, and goes directly downtown with a stop just a few blocks from the river boat tours. We did not make it in time for the very famous “Architecture Tour” but did make it in time for a Lake and River tour through Mercury Tours.

The sisters who had taken the architecture tour in the past liked this one as well, less on the river – not as much of the older architecture, but the lake gave us a view – near sunset, of the entire skyline. The building that struck me is also one of the newest to the skyline – the Vista Tower, its undulating blue/ green glass creates a riverside masterpiece of architecture. The open areas near the top are a way to deal with the high winds that cause stress on the building.

Our tour guide was entertaining, and in down-times would jam to the 80’s soundtrack being played in the background. We grabbed a quick dinner at O’Brien’s Riverwalk Cafe, and then headed back up the red line and back to the apartment.

Saturday, Kathleen and I jogged up to Andersonville and its surroundings. We discovered the Rosehill Cemetery – where both the founders of Sears and Montgomery Wards are laid to rest. We ran back before any serious rain, with another stop at Ridman’s and “home” for breakfast and an Uber ride up to the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe. (It was less expensive to Uber both ways than to get a Zip Car- and we didn’t have to debate over who would have to drive in rain in an unfamiliar city, also the Botanic Gardens charges $20 for parking, and free entry). The Botanic Gardens were hosting their annual American Craft Exposition where Zan Barnes of Riverwood Pottery (Suzan’s God-daughter – so I guess that makes her my God-niece?) was accepted to show. Zan does soda fired pottery embossed with nature inspired designs (http://www.zanbarnes.com/ ). In between rain showers we walked around some of the gardens – the waterfall garden area was particularly beautiful with wonderful views of the property.

We took it easy that evening and ordered in Deep Dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s and watched two of Alonzo Bodden’s specials on Amazon Prime. Personally I thought the older one he taped in 2016 was funnier, but I was also sleepy on the later one. An aside on deep dish pizza – I’ve been to many places that claim a Chicago style – but the middle crust is consistently goopy. The Lou Malnati’s was crisp. According to an Uber driver it’s due to the water out of Lake Michigan.

Sunday, Kathleen and I ran the mile to the waterfront, and saw a 20-mile race in progress where folks were training for the Chicago Marathon. A slight uphill run back, Ridman’s and avocado toast before Kathleen and I had to get back to the airport. Mary and Suz were staying until early evening so they stored their luggage and spent the day at the Art Institute of Chicago.

When travelling, try to catch local events and activities. Don’t be afraid to try public transportation (on the red line, there was a guy on the phone who was very confused, and several locals piped up and let him know where he needed to get off (literally, not figuratively) and get him in the right direction). Chicagoans have their opinions about everything – from where to get a pizza and what to put on a hot dog, but were friendly and often helpful. Enjoy your next visit, and have fun checking out some of the less common sites.