Saturday, August 3rd, 2013
We had to pay a number of tolls as we reached Winnetka, IL to check out the house from “Home Alone.” There were signs to stay off the property, so I suppose the current owners of the house get frequent visitors. We honored their wishes, but couldn’t resist a cheesy photo op before heading into Chicago.
We left the suburbs for the Windy City, and first checked out the free Lincoln Park Zoo before wandering around Lincoln Park where there was a Farmer’s Market taking place.
We headed back towards the van and grabbed a very filling and tasty lunch at “Nine Classic Thai Cuisine.” After we fed the meter, we wandered over to Wrigley Field. A baseball game was about to start and we wanted to join in, but tickets were out of our price range. So instead, we checked out some of the nearby shops before returning to the van to feed the meter again.
From there, we hailed a cab and headed to Willis Tower (formerly known as, “Sears Tower”) to check out the Skydeck. There was a 3-hour wait to the top, and since the meter for parking had a 3-hour limit, we wouldn’t have enough time to wait in line, check out the Skydeck, then return to the van to pay the meter again. We called it a loss and decided to return first thing in the morning. Instead we enjoyed the sights of the city during our walk back to the van.
Lollapalooza was going down so we had to walk past a lot of sticky, flamboyant, and occasionally, douchbaggy 20-somethings where ever we went. We walked along one of the beaches of Lake Michigan, which my brain struggled to process. It was weird to see a beach in a land-locked state with skyscrapers towering the landscape behind it.
We paid the meter one last time before heading back out to get coffee at “Dollop Coffee Co.,” then returned to the van, hoping not to be discovered overnight. We were successful in our discretion, but made the mistake of parking outside a bar.
The bar stayed open well passed 3:30 am, and the neighborhood was wide awake throughout the night and into the early morning. And so was I! There were people constantly walking around our van reading all the stickers, cars were honking, stereo systems were pumping, motorcycles were rumbling, sirens were wailing, drunks were yelling, and to top it off, a schizophrenic man kept screaming, “Oh my, my!” repeatedly as he peddled up and down the sidewalk.
Jump Back to Part 77: Witches, Scrap Metal & Urban Farming
Jump Ahead to Part 79: The Skydeck, Modern Art & the Bean
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Start Over at Part 01: The Blue Bubble, Freebies & A Rude Awakening
Stubbs Rambles On 