City of the Big Shoulders

1. Hard Rock Hotel, the Elvis floor, 2. Menu @ one sixtyblue, 3. Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 4. Reunion!, 5. View of Chicago from Evanston, 6. The Threadless retail store, 7. Billy Goat Tavern, 8. Line outside the Art Institute of Chicago, 9. Entrance to the Seminary Co-Op

Every year we tell ourselves we need to go somewhere warmer than Ann Arbor for winter break, and every year, we end up going somewhere as cold, if not colder- New York, Boston, Chicago. We should be going to Cancun, Aruba, the Bahamas!... But no, always somewhere where we have to lug out winter boots and coats with us. Not that we ever not have fun of course, but it's just that much harder to enjoy the sights and sounds of a city when you can't feel your fingers...

But as always, Chicago was a blast! We do love the place :) Every time we visit, we find one more thing about it that makes us fall in love more- the people, the buzz, the architecture, the diversity, the food, the history- just how very rich and vibrant it is without being completely overwhelming and claustrophobic.

Highlights of our trip:
1. Note to Hard Rock Hotel Chicago: I get the whole rock-and-roll aesthetic you're aiming for in your rooms, but your monochromatic color scheme is just not inviting and having Robert Plant stare at me as I get ready in the morning is weird. Also, I've got two words for you: more lights.

2. Chicago Restaurant Week rocks! We had a most lovely meal at one sixtyblue- the food was delicious- interesting without being pretentious, and the service was thoughtful, not ingratiating. It's been a while since Jude and I indulged in a decadently long, slow meal without thinking about work so we both appreciated the whole wine-and-dine experience very much.

3. Meeting up with my friend, Diane after 15 years! Now husbands in tow, no less... :) We had a wonderful time catching up and filling each other in on 15 years worth of not being on the same continent. We've both matured since that teary goodbye at the airport those many years ago of course, but I think seeing each other again brought out the giggly schoolgirls in us that we thankfully never fully outgrow :)

4. Our friend, Eytan was most kind to take us around Evanston and the Northwestern campus. Jude and I have seen most of downtown Chicago, so it was nice to explore something different. Evanston reminds me a little of Ann Arbor, although maybe a little less organic-foods-only and soy-latte drinking, but the same students-everywhere with interesting coffeeshops vibe.

5. Speaking of college campuses, we discovered our bookstore mecca- the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore at the University of Chicago. Touted as one of the best academic bookstores in the country, it did not disappoint. Thank goodness we got there with only two hours left to closing or someone might have had to physically remove us from the premises. We walked in, saw the awesome labyrinth of shelves after shelves of glorious books and said to ourselves, "Ok, maybe this might not have been such a good idea... What's our credit limit again?" Whittling down the dozen or more books we had picked out to a manageable (and affordable) few was an excruciating process of existential proportions...

6. Having a double cheeseburger at the Billy Goat Tavern. Made famous by the classic "Cheezeborger! Cheezeborger!" SNL skit, this legendary hole-in-the-wall serves a straightforward cheeseburger, Coke- not Pepsi, and chips- no fries. There is absolutely nothing fancy at all about this place, Jude and I were easily the youngest people in there that night, and the cheeseburgers, while very good, weren't the best I've had- or will have- in my lifetime. But there was something strangely comforting about a place like that- unpretentious, homegrown and very real, especially for something smack in the middle of glitzy touristy Chicago. Biting into that simple cheeseburger conjured up the memory of my first hamburger those many, many years ago- it was an almost visceral, elemental experience. The Billy Goat is that kind of a place :)

7. Popping by the Threadless retail store in Lincoln Park. It's surprisingly small actually and not a huge collection of tees. But just the set-up was interesting, and the fact that they showcase each t-shirt using a swanky computer monitor. I was particularly happy with the one I bought- it's hot off the press so if you're an eighties/John Cusack fan, you must get it!

[click to compare with original]

8. Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. We never tire of this grand dame- there's always some interesting exhibition or visiting collection that's being featured and even if there isn't, the permanent collection is always worth that repeated viewing. Luckily for us, they were hosting a special Edward Hopper exhibition and that itself was worth the trip. It's always both humbling and inspiring to be in the presence of great art, and it was hard in that two hours to not be caught up in the rapture of all that is stunning about Hopper's quiet vision. A bonus was catching a lecture by photographer-artist, Ed Ruscha. I hadn't heard of him until then, but it turned out to be a real joy to hear him speak- he was funny, irreverent, and sparklingly intelligent. Apart from wanting to buy his prints, Jude has now put him on his list of "People I'd Love to Have Dinner With." :)

New York is one of the capitals of the world and Los Angeles is a constellation of plastic, San Francisco is a lady, Boston has become Urban Renewal, Philadelphia and Baltimore and Washington wink like dull diamonds in the smog of Eastern Megalopolis, and New Orleans is unremarkable past the French Quarter. Detroit is a one-trade town, Pittsburgh has lost its golden triangle, St. Louis has become the golden arch of the corporation, and nights in Kansas City close early. The oil depletion allowance makes Houston and Dallas naught but checkerboards for this sort of game. But Chicago is a great American city. Perhaps it is the last of the great American cities.
-Norman Mailer, Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968)