SporkSports - Trip to Chicago, May 2002

(5-31-08)

In late May of 2002 I took a weekend trip to Chicago to visit a good friend of mine, Lori, and to see what this big city that I hear so much about is like. If I learned any one thing for sure, it's that a weekend is no where near enough time to see any place as big as Chicago, especially during the busy late spring/early summer tourist rush! It was largely as I expected though - pretty cool, although a lot more dense and old than I had realized.

Out here in the west, everything looks brand new because, well, it probably is! I live in a house that's 7 years old, and that's easily considered a used house by Arizona standards. No one would even call it near-new really, even though it should probably qualify as such by standards elsewhere. I work in a building that was built in the late 60's or early 70's and that's almost pre-history for Arizona! In Chicago however, it's very common for many of the buildings to be 20, 30, or even 50 or 100 years old! That's just crazy. The other thing that's very unique is that almost every building and every block looks different. Sometimes people make fun of Arizona for it all looking exactly the same and every house either having brown shingles or pink tile roofs. It's true though! Most all of Phoenix is extremely uniform, so it was kind of neat seeing some place that was so different.

Finally, and I think this is the part that would make me most unable to ever really live in Chicago is the fact that it's really dense and the density almost never seems to end. I guess I'm just spoiled by the wide open spaces and extreme low density of the suburbs of the Phoenix east valley. Chicago seems like it's all buildings for just miles and miles - no houses or wide open spaces besides the parks. It's quite different and not really my style but obviously tons of people like it based on the fact there's only about a zillion and a half people living there.

All in all, it was a fun little trip and I got to spend some quality time with a much-missed friend of mine. Although she may have felt that my trip wasn't so great since I didn't fall in love with the city, my only real goal for the trip was to spend some time with her just chatting and hanging out. On that count, the trip was a complete success.

May 25th, 2002, Lori's cat, KK comes out of hiding to say hello
May 26th, We head out into the city for a nice walk
May 26th, Protesters! I don't know what they're protesting, but I don't think I've seen protesters in real life in years and years, so I had to take a picture.

May 26th, Walking through Lincoln Park, we come upon a tree growing out of the ground sideways. Now that's perseverance.
May 26th, Lori relaxing on one of the park benches. The weather could not have been more perfect for a walk in the park.
May 26th, Lori points out where we're supposed to be headed while I make jokes about Cheetos or something.

May 26th, Lori picks an interesting view of me leaning against a tree.
May 26th, A view over one of the lakes in Lincoln Park.
May 26th, For whatever reason this cracks me up. Hey, I'm easily amused.

May 26th, A squirrel comes over to see if we've got any food for him.
May 26th, Lori sneaks a few pictures while I'm caught off guard.
May 26th, Back home, KK is eager to hear all about our day out.

May 27th, I wake up early, head into the living room and find Lori still sleeping under a blanket and KK comfortable perched atop her.
May 27th, Being a big fan of water and greenery, I elect to head back to Lincoln Park for my final day and we rent a paddleboat at one of the lakes. This is a view of the Hancock Center from the lake.
May 27th, Another nice view of the park from the lake.

May 27th, I make my best attempt to get a picture of the two of us near a little tree covered island in the middle of the lake. Dig those high fashion life jackets!
May 27th, It's me, sporting my highly ergonomic, high visability flotation device.
May 27th, My friend Lori with the Hancock Center and a bird in flight in the background.

May 27th, The Sears Tower and Harold Washington Library, as seen from the "L", or elevated train on the way to the airport for my trip home.
May 27th, One last view of the city while on my way to Midway airport.

Page Created: 6-28-02
p.s. Big thanks again to Lori for having me as a guest at her apartment, putting up with me, and just being and all around good friend.

May 25th, 2002, Lori's cat, KK comes out of hiding to say hello	May 26th, We head out into the city for a nice walk	May 26th, Protesters! I don't know what they're protesting, but I don't think I've seen protesters in real life in years and years, so I had to take a picture.
May 26th, Walking through Lincoln Park, we come upon a tree growing out of the ground sideways. Now that's perseverance.	May 26th, Lori relaxing on one of the park benches. The weather could not have been more perfect for a walk in the park.	May 26th, Lori points out where we're supposed to be headed while I make jokes about Cheetos or something.
May 26th, Lori picks an interesting view of me leaning against a tree.	May 26th, A view over one of the lakes in Lincoln Park.	May 26th, For whatever reason this cracks me up. Hey, I'm easily amused.
May 26th, A squirrel comes over to see if we've got any food for him.	May 26th, Lori sneaks a few pictures while I'm caught off guard.	May 26th, Back home, KK is eager to hear all about our day out.
May 27th, I wake up early, head into the living room and find Lori still sleeping under a blanket and KK comfortable perched atop her.	May 27th, Being a big fan of water and greenery, I elect to head back to Lincoln Park for my final day and we rent a paddleboat at one of the lakes. This is a view of the Hancock Center from the lake.	May 27th, Another nice view of the park from the lake.
May 27th, I make my best attempt to get a picture of the two of us near a little tree covered island in the middle of the lake. Dig those high fashion life jackets!	May 27th, It's me, sporting my highly ergonomic, high visability flotation device.	May 27th, My friend Lori with the Hancock Center and a bird in flight in the background.
May 27th, The Sears Tower and Harold Washington Library, as seen from the "L", or elevated train on the way to the airport for my trip home.		May 27th, One last view of the city while on my way to Midway airport.