From June 25-27 my mom and I took a trip to see Chicago. We had many big things planned and we had to make sure we had a way to get everywhere. Upon realizing that we can fly into O'hare and take a train pretty much everywhere in the city, including our Air BnB, we decided to get ourselves 3 day passes instead of renting a car
As weird as it might sound, Chicago's Rail system was a big highlight of the trip for me. The O'Hare station was on the Blue Line, which also happened to be where our Air Bnb was, so that was very convenient.
Our Air Bnb was in a neighboorhood called Bucktown. Our first stop was at Margie's Candy for lunch. My mom and I had Corned Beef Sandwiches, as well as what we both agreed, was one of the best Milkshakes we'd each had. If memory serves me correctly I had the Peanut Butter Milkshake and she had the Chocolate milkshake.
Bucktown itself was just a really interesting neighboorhood. If you ever find yourself I would definitely recommend Margie's, as well as a bar called O's Tap, a coffee house called Ipsento's Coffee, and also an amazing Hot Dog / Burger place called Redhot Ranch. There was also a really cool Art Mural that I couldn't help but take a picture of.
Bucktown itself was just a really interesting neighboorhood. If you ever find yourself I would definitely recommend Margie's, as well as a bar called O's Tap, a coffee house called Ipsento's Coffee, and also an amazing Hot Dog / Burger place called Redhot Ranch. There was also a really cool Art Mural that I couldn't help but take a picture of.
While in Margie's my mom and I decided on where we were going to go for Dinner. She shot down my first few suggestions but eventually, I landed on a restaurant called Spectrum Bar and Grill. Unbeknownst to me, until my mom pointed it out, Spectrum was a Greek Restaurant, in a neighborhood that is literally called "Greektown." My mom claimed she hadn't had good Greek food in so long and I was willing to give it a try. So after a little bit of relaxation in the Air Bnb, off we went!
While at Spectrum, my mom and I split a Souvlaki Pita Sandwich, and also each had a Greek beer called "Mythos" to go along with our respective halves of the sandwich. The food was very good, and I also liked some of the decorations they had on the walls. It was mainly Cubs decor but you would also see the odd Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls item.
From there it was time to head to Soldier Field to see The Rolling Stones concert. Our seats were way up high so we had to take a rest somewhere in the middle of the climb because it was just too much for us. Eventually, we got situated and were ready for some music
Opening for The Stones was Whiskey Myers, a Southern Rock band from Tyler, Tx. Not many in the crowd were familiar with them, myself included, but I found myself getting pretty into them. Songs such as "Stone" and "Gasoline" helped proved to me that they were a pretty good band who weren't too out of place after all. Plus I feel like very few Southern Rock Bands make it big nowadays so kudos to them for flying the flag.
The Rolling Stones took the stage and kicked off the show with "Jumpin' Jack Flash." I figured that song would have to be included in the setlist but I never would have guessed it would be the opener! The same could be said about "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) being the second song. It was a sign of things to come because the setlist was consistently good throughout the night.
Some absolute gems outside of the smash hits (You Can't Always Get What You Want, Sympathy for the Devil, Honky Tonk Women) in the middle of the setlists were acoustic performances of "Play With Fire" and "Sweet Virginia." Then they played "Slipping Away" and "Before They Make Me Run" which are two songs that feature Keith Richards on vocals.
Then to close out the night, they played all of the hits that the crowd had been anticipating all night. Once Keith handed the singing Duties back over to Mick, they jumped into "Miss You." After that song, my mom leaned over to make a remark to me saying that she was loving the setlist, and all she really needed was "Paint It Black" to truly be happy. Apparently, there was a mistake in reading the Setlist, because after the first few notes of "Midnight Rambler," Mick stopped the song and asked if they were in the wrong key. He then went over to Keith, put his arm around him and said to the crowd "it's only the second night, and it's only one f*** up. I think we're supposed to be doing 'Paint It Black!'"
After that confusion, they jumped right into Paint It Black, giving my mom her wish, and THEN they finally played Midnight Rambler," in the correct key this time. The last 4 songs were "Start Me Up," "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," and of course, "(I Can't Get No Satisfaction)."
What amazed my mom and I is that despite his health problems as of late, Mick Jagger hadn't lost a step at all and was still his energetic, iconic self up on stage. He was dancing, moving his hands around, moving all across the stage, and displaying all sorts of energy that you probably wouldn't even expect from a 40-year-old man, nevermind a 75-year-old man. It kinda made me feel bad about myself because at times I felt like I was going to die while taking the mile walk back to Roosevelt Station after the show, which didn't take nearly as much effort.
The Rolling Stones took the stage and kicked off the show with "Jumpin' Jack Flash." I figured that song would have to be included in the setlist but I never would have guessed it would be the opener! The same could be said about "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) being the second song. It was a sign of things to come because the setlist was consistently good throughout the night.
Some absolute gems outside of the smash hits (You Can't Always Get What You Want, Sympathy for the Devil, Honky Tonk Women) in the middle of the setlists were acoustic performances of "Play With Fire" and "Sweet Virginia." Then they played "Slipping Away" and "Before They Make Me Run" which are two songs that feature Keith Richards on vocals.
Then to close out the night, they played all of the hits that the crowd had been anticipating all night. Once Keith handed the singing Duties back over to Mick, they jumped into "Miss You." After that song, my mom leaned over to make a remark to me saying that she was loving the setlist, and all she really needed was "Paint It Black" to truly be happy. Apparently, there was a mistake in reading the Setlist, because after the first few notes of "Midnight Rambler," Mick stopped the song and asked if they were in the wrong key. He then went over to Keith, put his arm around him and said to the crowd "it's only the second night, and it's only one f*** up. I think we're supposed to be doing 'Paint It Black!'"
After that confusion, they jumped right into Paint It Black, giving my mom her wish, and THEN they finally played Midnight Rambler," in the correct key this time. The last 4 songs were "Start Me Up," "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," and of course, "(I Can't Get No Satisfaction)."
What amazed my mom and I is that despite his health problems as of late, Mick Jagger hadn't lost a step at all and was still his energetic, iconic self up on stage. He was dancing, moving his hands around, moving all across the stage, and displaying all sorts of energy that you probably wouldn't even expect from a 40-year-old man, nevermind a 75-year-old man. It kinda made me feel bad about myself because at times I felt like I was going to die while taking the mile walk back to Roosevelt Station after the show, which didn't take nearly as much effort.
All in all, the Rolling Stones put on as fun of a show as I could ask for. After I missed their 2015 show in Atlanta, I wasn't sure I would get the chance to see them in my life. When the opportunity arose to travel to see them this summer, I knew I couldn't pass it up, and I knew it had to be Chicago.
As I touched on before, my mom and I were completely worn out after the show and the walk back to the train station. Which was a little bit unfortunate because down in the station, there was a guy with a guitar-playing Rolling Stones songs to all of the people on the platform. He was actually really good and he had quite a crowd of people around him. So kudos to Guitar Guy if he ever reads this blog.
The next morning, my mom and I both agreed there was very little chance that either of us was going to approach day 2 in Chicago with our usual energy, considering how tired we still were after night. That being said, it was still a great day.
After heading downtown and getting off the train we decided to get breakfast at this place called "Goddess and the BAKER." The highlights of Breakfast were the delicious Bagels, as well as the decor. In honor of Chicago's Pride Parade that weekend, the ceiling was decorated in with Balloons in order by the colors of the rainbow.
Following our delicious breakfast, we then went over to the riverwalk to admire its beauty. Literally called the "Chicago River," it flows for a little over 150 miles and empties into Lake Michigan. It is the same river that is dyed Green for Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade (Chicago really loves to throw Parades don't they?)
From there we did some sightseeing on The Magnificent Mile before stopping in at Water Tower Place Mall to check out the Chicago Sports Museum, Harry Caray's Restaurant, and The Lego Store they had there.
Throughout the trip, I used Google Maps walking directions to get around the city, and there were sometimes where my mom and I were sent in some weird directions. This was one of those times because we ended up going around the entire block before fiding the mall. I suppose it wasn't the worst thing because some of the architecture was absolutely breathtaking and well worth the extra steps.
The Sports Museum had many interesting exhibits in it. There was a room that involved trying on Shaq's shoes, a replica of William "Refrigerator" Perry's Superbowl ring, as well as seeing how your wingspan compared to Scottie Pippen's.
There were lots of assorted artifacts and photo ops celebrating all of Chicago's sports teams, even though ones like the Chicago Sting who won the 1981 and 1984 Soccer Bowls, one of which was on Display. I suppose my two favorite parts of the Museum were the celebration of the Cubs 2016 World Series win, as well as a whole wall telling the story of various Curses and Superstitions, the latter of which was not just specific to Chicago, or even specific to America. There were even superstitions of English Soccer teams that were given nods by the exhibit.
After the Museum we decided to take a break and visit Harry Caray's restaurant that was connected to the Museum,. For those that don't know Harry Caray was a legendary broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs and was also portrayed by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live back in the '90s. I decided to take a picture with his bust while trying my best to match his facial expression. Maybe if my glasses were slightly bigger I felt like you wouldn't have been able to tell us apart.
Speaking of the Cubs, I also went to a game at Wrigley Field when I was in Chicago. How's that for a transition?
After strolling the outside of the Wrigley, my mom and I decided on a pre-game meal at Maddon's Post across the street. We even had one of my friends who moved to Chicago from Atlanta a few years ago. While there I decided to eat the "City Chicken" (which was actually pork, some pretty amazing pork to be fair), and also had a beer called "Try Not To Suck" which apparently drew inspiration from a quote that Cubs manager Joe Maddon made in a press conference one time.
Being in a place like Wrigley Field, which has been around since 1914 was surreal to me because up until that point the oldest Baseball park I had been to (if you want to call it that) was RFK Stadium, which was only built in 1961.
On that particular night, the Cubs were playing the Atlanta Braves in a matchup between 2 first place Baseball teams, and you could tell by the size of the crowd. The game itself got off to a thrilling start as Braves leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr was walked, and then managed to score during the next at-bat due to a throwing error by catcher Wilson Contreras, and then a low pitch that got right by Contreras to the backstop. I know every player has a bad day but I was expecting to see a little bit more when seeing an All-Star Catcher like that in person
Things went from bad to worse for the Cubs as Brian McCann hit a solo home run in the 2nd Inning, and then Nick Markakis, who is still my favorite player in MLB after all of his time with the Baltimore Orioles, hit a three-run homer in the third Inning.
In the 4th inning, a somewhat lengthy rain delay happened. Eventually, the game re-started and my mom and I stayed for an extra-inning or so but then decided that we had both seen enough and returned to the Air Bnb. I took it upon myself to try to experience the nightlife that Bucktown had to offer, and then eventually went to bed.
This trip had just about all I could ask for and more. Chicago is an amazing city and I'm glad I got to experience it as much as I did. I will be returning in September for Riot Fest, so maybe this won't be the last time I blog about Chicago.
As I touched on before, my mom and I were completely worn out after the show and the walk back to the train station. Which was a little bit unfortunate because down in the station, there was a guy with a guitar-playing Rolling Stones songs to all of the people on the platform. He was actually really good and he had quite a crowd of people around him. So kudos to Guitar Guy if he ever reads this blog.
The next morning, my mom and I both agreed there was very little chance that either of us was going to approach day 2 in Chicago with our usual energy, considering how tired we still were after night. That being said, it was still a great day.
After heading downtown and getting off the train we decided to get breakfast at this place called "Goddess and the BAKER." The highlights of Breakfast were the delicious Bagels, as well as the decor. In honor of Chicago's Pride Parade that weekend, the ceiling was decorated in with Balloons in order by the colors of the rainbow.
Following our delicious breakfast, we then went over to the riverwalk to admire its beauty. Literally called the "Chicago River," it flows for a little over 150 miles and empties into Lake Michigan. It is the same river that is dyed Green for Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade (Chicago really loves to throw Parades don't they?)
From there we did some sightseeing on The Magnificent Mile before stopping in at Water Tower Place Mall to check out the Chicago Sports Museum, Harry Caray's Restaurant, and The Lego Store they had there.
Throughout the trip, I used Google Maps walking directions to get around the city, and there were sometimes where my mom and I were sent in some weird directions. This was one of those times because we ended up going around the entire block before fiding the mall. I suppose it wasn't the worst thing because some of the architecture was absolutely breathtaking and well worth the extra steps.
The Sports Museum had many interesting exhibits in it. There was a room that involved trying on Shaq's shoes, a replica of William "Refrigerator" Perry's Superbowl ring, as well as seeing how your wingspan compared to Scottie Pippen's.
There were lots of assorted artifacts and photo ops celebrating all of Chicago's sports teams, even though ones like the Chicago Sting who won the 1981 and 1984 Soccer Bowls, one of which was on Display. I suppose my two favorite parts of the Museum were the celebration of the Cubs 2016 World Series win, as well as a whole wall telling the story of various Curses and Superstitions, the latter of which was not just specific to Chicago, or even specific to America. There were even superstitions of English Soccer teams that were given nods by the exhibit.
After the Museum we decided to take a break and visit Harry Caray's restaurant that was connected to the Museum,. For those that don't know Harry Caray was a legendary broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs and was also portrayed by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live back in the '90s. I decided to take a picture with his bust while trying my best to match his facial expression. Maybe if my glasses were slightly bigger I felt like you wouldn't have been able to tell us apart.
Speaking of the Cubs, I also went to a game at Wrigley Field when I was in Chicago. How's that for a transition?
After strolling the outside of the Wrigley, my mom and I decided on a pre-game meal at Maddon's Post across the street. We even had one of my friends who moved to Chicago from Atlanta a few years ago. While there I decided to eat the "City Chicken" (which was actually pork, some pretty amazing pork to be fair), and also had a beer called "Try Not To Suck" which apparently drew inspiration from a quote that Cubs manager Joe Maddon made in a press conference one time.
Being in a place like Wrigley Field, which has been around since 1914 was surreal to me because up until that point the oldest Baseball park I had been to (if you want to call it that) was RFK Stadium, which was only built in 1961.
On that particular night, the Cubs were playing the Atlanta Braves in a matchup between 2 first place Baseball teams, and you could tell by the size of the crowd. The game itself got off to a thrilling start as Braves leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr was walked, and then managed to score during the next at-bat due to a throwing error by catcher Wilson Contreras, and then a low pitch that got right by Contreras to the backstop. I know every player has a bad day but I was expecting to see a little bit more when seeing an All-Star Catcher like that in person
Things went from bad to worse for the Cubs as Brian McCann hit a solo home run in the 2nd Inning, and then Nick Markakis, who is still my favorite player in MLB after all of his time with the Baltimore Orioles, hit a three-run homer in the third Inning.
In the 4th inning, a somewhat lengthy rain delay happened. Eventually, the game re-started and my mom and I stayed for an extra-inning or so but then decided that we had both seen enough and returned to the Air Bnb. I took it upon myself to try to experience the nightlife that Bucktown had to offer, and then eventually went to bed.
This trip had just about all I could ask for and more. Chicago is an amazing city and I'm glad I got to experience it as much as I did. I will be returning in September for Riot Fest, so maybe this won't be the last time I blog about Chicago.
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