Tuesday, August 13

No birding this past weekend, we did the Windy City. Molly and Lindsay wanted to do Chicago for vacation this summer. So to Da Loop we traveled. We went Friday evening and stayed through Monday morning. Within about 30 minutes of arrival Molly and Lindsay ran into one of their classmates.

The big city in black and white.

We had to drive. Not for the faint-of-heart. The cabbies can’t communicate in English so they use their horns. One long blast means they think you’re a jackass, two long blasts means they hate you and three long blasts mean they will kill you if you get out of the car. Delaying a few seconds to read a street sign rates a long blast. Waiting for pedestrians to clear the intersection during a turn arrow rates the death penalty. There are no short blasts. Or reasons to ever get out of the car.

We stayed right downtown, something that costs close to the GNP of a third world country. It was fun though, being right in the middle of things. There are not too many large cities I like, but Chicago is one of them. Seattle is probably my favorite but Chicago is right behind it. There’s an edge to it that I just like. It’s gritty, it’s tough, and it’s great.

Not one, but four photographers for the blessed nuptials. Right in the middle of State Street no less. Never mind the cabbies trying to knock you off for sport. This takes some chutzpah.

Where else are you going to find the Acme Hotel? Right out of the Road Runner cartoons.

Downtown Chicago has a compactness that you don’t find in the burbs where we live. We parked the car Friday night and didn’t use it until we left Monday. Major attractions and everything we wanted to do were in walking distance. Central Camera, a great camera store founded in 1899, just a few blocks from Millennium Park and The Bean. I have to drive 25 minutes to get to the mediocre camera store we have here. The best way to describe Central Camera is a hardware store for photographers. There is no self service. Just one long narrow passageway lined with counters, shelves and drawers. Everything is tucked away in rows of drawers and bins and the staff knows where everything is stashed. Kind of like Kliendorfer’s Hardware in Bloomington, minus the veil of cigarette smoke. And like Kliendorfer’s they have just about everything imaginable, including film, darkroom enlargers, papers, and chemicals.

Central photo, founded in 1899. This may be where Mathew Brady and Edward Curtis got their supplies.

The Bean.

So we saw the sights, wandered the city, and generally hung out. Used the subway to see my nephew Zack and his wife Nikki but could have walked the two miles if we had to. Always good to see family. They took us to a restaurant specializing in waffles. I had pork meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce served over a cheese waffle. No scrapple, but hey, who can complain about waffles with a meatball topping?