October 7 – 10, 2016.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport was not the HUB I was expecting. It is really quite “doable”. From the United airlines terminal, it was a short walk to the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority).
The “Deal of the Day / Weekend” … A three day CTA pass for $20 … It is actually a 36 hour pass. We purchased it at the airport on Friday afternoon when we arrived in Chicago and were still able to use it Monday morning to take the Blue Line back to O’Hare. It works on all CTA trains and buses (we used both multiple times).
I’ve rode the T in Boston, the Subway in New York City and now the CTA in Chicago, lucky me ?? Squeezing onto the standing room only train, with a backpack, rolling luggage and camera bag was not easy. It needed to be done quickly. The train doors do NOT stay open long. The terms shake, rattle and roll took on a new meaning. There was no need for an announcement to hold on tight. However, there was an announcement that no soliciting or gambling would be tolerated. Public transportation can be very convenient, but often leaves a lot to be desired.
At the first stop a seat opened up and I was given the opportunity to sit next to Ron. No, we did not introduce ourselves. I found out Ron’s name when he yelled into his phone “Did someone from this number just call Ron?” This was said while he was wiping dripping sweat from his forehead with a rag. Ron was dressed in filthy, filthy, filthy red, white and blue parachute pants with a matching balloon sleeve top. He had a satchel on his lap that was filled with about twenty Ziplock sandwich bags containing a variety of “meds”, hand sanitizer’s, lotions and dust filter masks. I had the opportunity to view this eclectic display as he was “feverishly” searching for his … FLOSS! As he sat next to me flossing, my thought was, it would be nice if the CTA added no personal grooming, to the no soliciting or gambling announcement.
When Richie qualified for the Chicago Marathon and began searching for hotels, he was finding prices per night in the $300 and up range. He started looking at Air B and B’s. They are kind of the New Age B and B, like Uber is the the New Age Taxi service. You can stay in someone’s home for a lot less than a hotel. There’s an on line interview process and feedback is the deal maker or breaker.
When Richie asked me how I felt about trying an Air B and B, I said “why not”, another adventure. I imagined June Cleaver meeting us at the door with a pitcher of lemonade and fresh baked cookies. We’d get to meet the “Beav” and maybe Eddie Haskell would stop by for a quick hello. Not quite! Our “Home away from Home” for three nights was a bedroom, one of three, in a third floor walk up, in a high rise. There was a lock box to get our keys. We were greeted at the door with post it notes, starting with Please, take off your shoes. No June, No Beav! What was important, it was neat, clean and in a safe area. South Miller Street is tucked between the UIC campus and Little Italy section. It was a very short walk through the campus to the CTA Blue Line train. It was a bit noisy on Friday and Saturday night, because most of our neighbor’s seemed to be college students. The host had provided a variety of “make your own” breakfast foods. Sharing the kitchen and living area gave us the opportunity to meet some of the other guests. Two of the other men were also running the marathon, Richie enjoyed meeting and talking with them. For a lot more reasons than just the $100 a night vs $300, it was a good choice.
The first thing on our list of things to do was visit the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Richie’s choice.
We were only going to have two full days in the City and most of our time spent would be marathon related, so we both chose one thing that we really wanted to see or do. The museum was a bit pricey. The $18 (adult) admission did not include all of the exhibits, there were “add ons'” that cost $12 per adult.
U – 505 Submarine exhibit was free, but the On Board Tour was an additional $12 per adult. We were both glad that we went for the full experience, it was fascinating and very informative.
Numbers in Nature … A Mirror Maze
A FREE ticket was required to enter this exhibit. It was one that I would not have minded paying extra for. We had such a good time navigating the maze that we did it twice.
We paid an additional $12 each fee for the Old Ben Coal Mine Tour. The only thing that made me glad that we did the tour was our tour guide. She was very animated and funny.
My choice of “to do’s” was the FREE Public Art Loop. There were over 21 pieces on the route. Time and exhaustion did not allow us to see them all, but we enjoyed what we saw. My favorites were the untitled Picasso sculpture, Joan Miro’s Chicago and Agora, a collection of over 100 headless sculptures meandering in Grant Park. To finish the tour would be a reason to visit Chicago again.
untitled, Picasso
Marathon morning started at 5:00 a.m. Richie and I were parting ways at 6:00 a.m. close to the starting line. Spectators were not allowed close to the start or finish lines, security was very tight. I was to make my way alone, in the dark, to mile marker one. I was a little apprehensive. I had two options, walk the mile or so or take the CTA red line. I chose the train. While waiting for it to arrive, I started a “marathon” conversation with two fellow spectators, Linda (Mother) and Megan (Daughter), that I was standing near. They invited me to join them for breakfast at mile marker one. We found that their runner, Mckayla and my Richie had a lot in common, running wise. They both ran 8 minute miles and had planned to finish in approximately 3 hours and a half. Linda invited me to join them on their spectator adventure. Megan had downloaded the marathon spectator app. She added Richie’s name, so that we could follow both him and Mckayla along the route. The information that the app provided was amazing. It followed where they were, their pace and running times. Megan had us hopping on and off the train and weaving our way along the route, to spectator viewing areas. We were able to see both runners five times. You should have seen Richie’s face the first time he saw the three of us cheering him on 🙂 It was priceless! Linda and Megan made my marathon adventure as good as it could get. I met new friends, got to enjoy the day worry free and best of all see Richie more times along the route then at any other marathons to date. I now have a goal to learn to navigate like Megan 🙂
The Chinatown section of the race at mile marker 21 was my favorite.
Another great finish for Richie. State number 24!
After a quick trip back to the Air B and B, for showers, we were headed to Gino’s East (500 N LaSalle St,) home of the famous Chicago Style pizza. Pricey, Pricey, Pricey, BUT Delicious, Delicious, Delicious. A friend of mine told me it was the best place to get true authentic Chicago Style Pizza and we were both glad that we went out of our way to get there. We were warned by the waiter that it takes 45 minutes to an hour to bake the golden crust to perfection. No problem, Sundays specials are $5 pints and free pub chips with each pint.
Another restaurant that we tried that deserves honorable mention is Chilango Mexican Street Food (1437 W Taylor St in Little Italy). Best Empanada’s we ever had and ditto for Richie on the Burrito’s. They were also very reasonably priced.
Monday morning came much to quickly. It was time to head back to O’Hare. After one last shake, rattle and roll ride on the CTA Blue Line train, my first stop at the airport was the ladies room. As I walked in I noticed a woman standing with one bare foot in a sink. I believe she was “bathing”. While I was in a stall she serenaded me with a beautiful rendition of the song “Africa”. When I came out, as she was washing the other foot and I was washing my hands, she told me she was from Uganda. I told her that if I was a Talent Scout, this would have been her “Marilyn Monroe Moment”. You never know when or where you are going to have the strangest or most interesting experiences 🙂
This was a start to finish fun filled adventure.