Ephemerratic | Chicago has no edge

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Chicago has no edge

By Lauren Girardin

Thurs, July 17, 2008

Painting interrupted | Photo by Lauren Girardin

Fanny packs. Shorts riding up in the crotch. Socks with sandals, or worse, black socks with sandals. Cameras hang from necks. McDonald's sausage muffin breakfast with a diet Coke. Disposable rain ponchos. Maps in back pockets. Wallets in back pockets. Hungry for dinner at 5 pm. Hit the buffet. Afraid of strangers. Safety in numbers. Shout at a clerk that doesn't speak English. Shout louder.

These tourists must come from somewhere. They don't just materialize from the ether to stand between you and a painting you're admiring just to take a low-resolution camera phone photo. They don't live in limbo on their tour buses, forever following their printed itinerary from site to site, never going home.

They come from the Midwestern U.S. of A. And they're everywhere in Chicago.

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Chicago is nice | Photo by Lauren Girardin

But in Chicago, these are not tourists. They live here. Work here. It's their capital city, their metropolis.

Chicago was designed, not grown.

Frank Lloyd Wright developed his prairie architectural style in Chicago, designing broad, horizontal buildings that would stretch and meld with the expansive Midwestern horizon. Later, modern architects would turn Wright's rectangles on their short end, erecting skyscrapers to break up the monotony of the open country.

Running at Crown Fountain | Photo by Lauren Girardin

After four and a half pleasant days walking nice neighborhoods, nice parks, and nice museums all we could think was "golly, it's so nice here."

Our friend Pierre warned us, "Chicago, it has no edge." Matthew, one of our Chicago couchsurfing hosts jokingly told us “the meanest people in the Midwest live in Chicago."

Same difference. Very, very nice.

What we saw:

(we will add links to things soon)

Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field – The ticket resellers are ruining the game, we got lucky and scored $20 tickets: YEH
Wicker Park neighborhood – Has jumped the shark: NAH
Andersonville neighborhood – Seems very gay if you're not from San Francisco: YEH
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind - A Neo-Futurist production that Lauren first saw when it was based in Manhattan in the 90s. Lauren has gotten older, but the audience has stayed the same age: YEH
Roots & Folk Festival – Another nice time: MEH
Millenium Park – Chicago has accessorized itself with the outstanding outdoor public art: YEH
Women & Children First Bookshop - A lesbian-owned store in Andersonville was playing Indigo Girls when we walked in. Nice place: YEH
Frank Lloyd Wright Tour in Oak Park – The house and studio guided tour is informative, but don't bother with the audio tour: YEH
The Art Institute – Fabulous collection. Takes hours: YEH

Where we ate and drank:

Maggiano's – Lauren's dad's favorite Chi-town American Italian restaurant: YEH
Bar Louie – served our beer in plastic cups but still charged $6 each: MEH
Wrigley Field's chicago dogs – still don't understand the relish: MEH
The Smoke Daddy – fairly good BBQ and outdoor dining: YEH
No Friction Cafe – acidic coffee and bagel: NAH
M. Henry's – couchsurfing host Matthew's a professed foodie and he took us here, our best Chicago meal: YEH!!
Gino's East – got the Gino's classic and veggie Chicago deep dish pizza, the line moved fast, the pizza was tasty, the 312 beer was Bud (no matter what the waitress says): YEH
Papaspiros – mediocre Greek food in Oak Park, the spanakopita was savory goodness, but the shrimp in the shrimp saganaki had huge gross veins and no flavor: NAH
Hopleaf – the beer selection was outstanding, the food one-note, the fries were great: YEH
Russian Tea Cafe – surprisingly good considering it is surrounded by tourist attractions: YEH