Chicago Day 5: History Museum & Nightlife

Friday, September 29th we decided to explore the Chicago History Museum.

It was a 0.5 mile walk northeast, less than 10 minutes from where we were staying in Old Town by the Broken English Taco Bar and Orso's Italian Restaurant.

When we walked into the lobby of the Chicago History Museum, we noticed the floor was painted with a large map of the Chicago area. It reminded me of when we had toured the Boeing plant in Seattle and there was a satellite image of Boeing Factory underfoot. (See 8/5/14 post from our Seattle trip.) 

Just like we had done in Seattle, I took a photo of our feet in a ring on the map. In this case we centered around the Great Chicago Fire. John's pair of feet are missing from the photo. He was a bit under the weather that day with cold virus symptoms and had stayed back to catch up on a little rest. Clockwise around the red star representing the site of the Great Chicago Fire, on both sides of the Chicago River, from 3 o'clock, the shoes belong to Margaret, Frank, Sue, Joe, and me at high noon – surefooted proof we were there. 

Some places we'd been to or planned to go to were represented on the floor map. We'd had a Chicago Style pizza, we'd heard about dying the river green during our Architectural Cruise, we'd been to the top of the Sears tower, Frank and I had viewed Navy Pier from Lake Michigan, and the next day we were to visit Millennium Park with The Bean and the water spouting towers.

That day for lunch Joe had a Chicago-Style Hot Dog at the museum café. We had been on the Wrigley Field tour the previous day.

The lobby was equally impressive looking out from the second floor balcony. A huge mural on the wall in the background depicted old time Chicago. There was also a street sign mobile.

I especially wanted to capture Hermione street (in the center) for those Harry Potter fans. 

A question arises as to how Chicago got its name? The area was initially under the influence of native Americans until the French began to take control of it for the fur trade. Then the French and Indian war was lost to Great Britain. The English maintained control until the American Revolution when they relinquished power within the Great Lake region to "the colonists". The original Indian name, Checagou, has changed in spelling but the source meaning was the Indian name for some smelly leeks that grew along the banks of the Chicago River. So, translated, Chicago means stinky onion. That may be the etymology of its name, but during our visit, we found Chicago to be a very clean, friendly, inoffensive city.

For children to re-enact the spread of the fire, there was a table-top display depicting the extent of the Great Chicago Fire, which blazed from October 8th to 10th, 1871. In the following photo, north is to the right. The fire began at the upper left and jumped the river twice as it spread. The most popular explanation for the start was that Mrs O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. Although never proven, this theory caught favor because Mrs O'Leary and her family were Catholic immigrants, a minority not embraced at the time. Due to lack of evidence and because of defamation of the descendants' family name, the family and the cow were later exonerated of blame in 1997. An alternate theory for the start of the fire was that of a meteor shower. Four large fires took place, all on the same day, all on the shores of Lake Michigan. Whatever the source, dry conditions and winds spread the blaze.

Chicago was the birthplace of many inventions and businesses. As we learned on our river cruise, the thick, ubiquitous catalogs of the big mail order businesses or brick and mortar stores – Sears, Montgomery, Ward, JCPenny, et al. – were printed and distributed from Chicago. Common practices and stores in our daily lives today had their beginnings in Chicago. Two examples were Crate and Barrel and the contraceptive pill for women.

I found some displays in the Chicago History Museum to be bluntly honest, with no whitewashing. In particular, the exhibits of traitors and spies, racial and cultural biases, and political scandals were brutally revealed with some graphic images. I took very few photos of these exhibits and actually scurried though them, finding them depressing and somewhat disturbing. We saw the bed that President Lincoln had died in. It was somewhat small and, for those with an appetite for details, he had to be laid in it diagonally so he would fit.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, was a tribute to the photography of Vivian Maiers (1926-2009). She was a humble nanny who roamed the Chicago streets in her off duty hours taking portraits of people that caught her artistic eye. The candid shots of her subjects spoke to me. 

Her capture of the quiet coping of this little boy tugged at my heartstrings a bit. Something in the train station must have been way too loud for this little boy, but it looks like he was brave and did not act out. Maybe that interpretation is purely a figment of my imagination but this photo sure told a story to me. It may tell a different story to others. But there is no denying it elicits a response in the viewer.

The hat, the white gloves, the dress style, the clip on earrings and the beads on this woman struck a responsive chord with me for my mom's era. 

Eighteen rolls of the film of Vivian Maier had been developed, enlarged, printed the size of a wall paper border, and mounted mid-height on the surrounding walls of the room featuring her portraits. Personally, this exhibit was my favorite takeaway from the museum visit.

We walked home, quite content with what we had seen and learned. That night we ate in, relaxing and feasting on an accumulation of leftovers from our delicious but oversize-portioned meals out from earlier in the week. There may have even been a couple games of Sequence and Splendor in the evening before heading off to bed. John & Sue and Joe & Margaret drifted off to sleep soon as far as I could tell but Frank and I did not. As far as I could surmise, here we were, five days into the trip, and the California two hour time difference was still affecting our sleep patterns.

That delay in entering dreamland was unfortunate for Frank and me. We learned, the raucous way, that the Old Town region of Chicago, with its dense smattering of upscale restaurants and informal friendly bars was a hot spot, a real happening scene – my choice of words is dating me here – for the night life of men and women one-third to one-half our age. The sounds of honking car horns, screeching brakes, yells, cat calls, shrill whistles, jocular insults, and drunken dares pierced the serenity of previous weekday nights. I sure do not remember celebrating Friday nights that loudly and exuberantly when I was in my twenties! When I was in my thirties, I may have been awake at night due to noise, but at that point is was from a baby wailing in the wee hours. I learned later, from an Uber driver, that the liquor license for Old Town ran until 2:00 am on Friday nights, till 3:00 am on Saturday nights. It was amazing though. Boisterous and noisy as it all was, like the off button on a TV, the cacophony turned off when the flow of alcohol did. People went home; we slept. The next night, Saturday, did not bother me. It was a combination of being wise enough to fall asleep sooner and being tired enough this time, that Frank and I were able to doze through it all.

Chicago Day 4: Wrigley Field & Lake Cruise

Wrigley Field
Thursday, September 28th, we decided to take a tour of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. It was four stops north on the Red Line and we would get off at Addison. Clark/Division and the stop stop were subway and then the train rose above ground to become the Chicago "L", short for elevated. See the While You Were Sleeping movie poster in my 10/15/17 post.

As were standing by the subway tracks at Clark/Division, ready to start our day trip, I noticed the train status marquis flashing a message that the fire department had closed the stop at Addison due to an emergency. We were faced with a quandary. Should we get off at Belmont, the stop before Addison or stay on and get off at Belmont, the stop beyond? Which was closer? We did not know the station locations to determine the best option. What was the actual walking distance between stations? We later learned they were very close.

We were told that shuttle service would be provided, but we did not know what that meant or how to access it. We decided to divide and conquer.  Somebody had to be there early enough to pick up the will call tickets we had purchased by phone. John & Sue got off at the stop before and walked to the Addison stop. They walked the distance quickly and got our tickets, no problem.

Joe & Margaret and Franks & I got off at Belmont and tried the shuttle option. It turns out the shuttle was a bus, deployed into special service. But would it get us to Wrigley field soon enough? 

Once near the Addison stop, the shuttle bus could not go past the police and fire blockade so the driver let us off to walk a couple blocks on our own. Would we get there before the tour started?

Margaret, who is the fastest fingered among us on her smart phone, learned that there was an undetermined white powder on the tracks and so, to be safe in case it was toxic, the station had been closed. Trains still went through it, but did not stop for people to get on or off. Doesn't that mean the trains were spreading that white powder as they passed through it?  Maybe not. We did not know exactly where it was dispersed. Anyway it did not matter. The white powder turned out to be harmless baby powder.

Joe & Margaret and Frank and I did make it to the ball park doors in the nick of time, as the tour was starting.

We  were initially seated along the first base line in the lower deck and told a bit about the park's history. 

Then we climbed up higher into the bleachers beyond right field and got a different perspective. I digress, but right field brings to mind a favorite Peter, Paul, and Mary Song of mine that I would like to share. Enjoy Right Field on this YouTube link. The chorus goes

     Right field, it's easy, you know.

     You can be awkward and you can be slow

     That's why I'm here in right field

     Just watching the dandelions grow

From our perch in the bleachers we learned a peaked top needed to be retrofitted to the outfield wall in front of rising stadium seats to prevent bleacher bums from racing along it between innings. Off to our right was the original score board, manually updated during the games. The area behind was unheated and poorly lit and working the scoreboard was not a pleasant job. Only men worked the scoreboard. Women were excluded not for sexist reasons but a rather a practical one. The extent of the bathroom facilities was a funnel and a long tube down to a ground level repository for the men to – uh, relieve themselves. After our short time sitting in the bleachers, we climbed yet higher and circumnavigated the field a bit more to sit in the press box elevated and behind the home plate area where the reporters were housed to watch and report on the game progress. After the press box, we walked back down to field level and were actually allowed to step out onto the perimeter of the field. We sat in the dugout and had our photo taken.

We then wandered the area around home plate and amused ourselves taking a group and then some  individual photos. Here is all six of us. We discussed coming up for a name for ourselves, but no satisfactory creative proposals were introduced. The MIT six was the best, painfully boring contender, and therefore it too was rejected. Oh, well. We remain nameless. Maybe by next year someone will be inspired. Come on guys – let that logical left brain rest. This is a creative right brain activity!

The folks within are traveling group are John & Sue,  Joe & Margaret, Frank (& me, the photographer, not shown).

The Addison red line stop had reopened by the time our tour ending and we were to leave. The mysterious, potentially toxic white powder on the tracks turned out to be baby powder. We boarded the "L" at Addison and would take it about six stops south to Grand.  This is my final glimpse of the stadium from the "L". The white metal superstructure is in the background and a classic brownstone building in the same neighborhood is at eye level, viewed from our Addison Chicago "L" platform, the better to be admired.

I have a fondness for any reference to the Chicago "L" because I love the movie While You Were Sleeping where Lucy dramatically and bravely rescues an unconscious Peter from the train tracks, then falls in love with his brother Jack while Peter is in a coma. In fact last night, because I was not sleeping, I watched the movie again. I still love it. We have it on VHS and fortunately we still own a VHS player. 

Lake Cruise

After our Wrigley Field tour,  John & Sue and Joe & Margaret went on the the Field Museum, which Frank and I elected to skip. The running joke during our trip was that Frank was not really interested in seeing any "dead dinosaurs" – as if there are any other kind. Frank and I instead chose to take another boat cruise, this time one that went out onto Lake Michigan so we could see the Chicago skyline from another perspective and because I wanted to experience passing through the locks between the mouth of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Frank & I took the Red Line back down south to the Grand Avenue stop.

Then we would walk a few blocks east on Grand Avenue and then south on Michigan Avenue to reach the Wendella boat dock area. That was the plan anyway. We were unaware that in this portion of Chicago the streets have two levels. A one mile stretch of upper Michigan Avenue reaching south to the Chicago River is home to Magnificent Mile which houses a collection of upscale shops much like Rodeo Drive does in Beverly Hills, CA. We walked lower Michigan Avenue, thus missing the luxury shops. Oh, well, I would not have bought anything anyway but I would  have liked to have checked Magnificent Mile off my list of accomplishments for the Chicago visit.

This canine greeted us at the ticket area for the Wendella lake and boat tours. I understand that in the month before our visit, these artistically painted dogs had been scattered around the city as a tribute to the K-9 corps.

We purchased out two tickets for the 2:00 P.M. tour and waited in the boarding area for our boat to arrive.

A tour map illustrated boat route and what we would be seeing. The tour did duplicate a portion of the First Lady tour of the architecture, but it had a wider scope that including passage through the  locks and an excursion around Navy Pier and out to the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

The guide on the Wendella boat tour mentioned the dying of the Chicago River for special events. Here are two fun photos I snagged from Wikipedia about when the Chicago River was dyed green during the 2005 Saint Patrick's day celebration and dyed blue during the 2016 Chicago Cubs celebration.

After the river portion of the cruise, our boat made its way through the locks and out onto the lake.  The building associated with lock operations is shaped like the prow of a boat.

Flying high above it is the US flag and beneath the US flag, the flag of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who are responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of the locks.  One of the mission areas of the USACE is water resources; the Civil Works portion of the USACE  is involved in projects that provide coastal protection, flood protection, hydropower, navigable water, ports, recreational opportunities, and water supply. 

The flag bears the USACE logo of a white castle on a red background. The United States Army Corps of Engineers was founded  back in the time of the American Revolution. The castle is reputed to be  modeled after the castle architectural style of one of the barracks at West Point.

As we pause in the locks for equilibrating water levels, Frank took a picture of me with the Chicago Lighthouse in the background. That would be the farthest point out in our lake path.

The gates on the river side of the locks are closing here as our boat is being tethered within the lock.

Looking out at the gates as they are opening on the lake side of the lock, the water level difference between the lake and the river is evident by the central waterfall segment as the higher level lake water pours in. Again, there is the Chicago Harbor Light off on the horizon.

Initially tethered to the side of the lock, the rope is taut as the boat resists the oncoming flow of lake water.

As the current subsides the rope tension is eased and a crew member with a handy hook tool and a deft hand releases the tethering line.

Once the water level in the lock has risen as high as the lake, the gates are opened for the boat passage.

We passed by Navy Pier off to the portside of the boat. Though reputed by Wikipedia to be "one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwest and Chicago's number one tourist attraction" we never went there, only viewed it from afar.

Here is one of our expansive views of the Chicago skyline from out on Lake Michigan. I think some of the boat passengers thought that ongoing sailboat race obscured their photo opportunity. I think it made our tour unique. I also love how it seems from this perspective that the sailboats are  of comparable heights as the skyscrapers.

We passed very close to the Chicago Harbor Light. It was constructed in 1893 for the Chicago Expo and was moved to its present location in 1919. The base of the lighthouse is surrounded by large stone rubble. I learned a new term for that; it is called riprap.

We never did hear the horn blow, but we were duly warned.

On our return trip back along the river, we passed under the bridge for LaSalle Street and the clock tower of the red brick City of Chicago Central Office Building, a seven- story historic landmark built in 1914.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern, a little hole in the wall type place on Lower Michigan Avenue. Their menu is brief with no frills. I had a plain old hamburger and Frank had a plain old hot fog.

Their bathroom labeling was amusing, too.

On our way out we were handed two paper caps, the flat paper kind that a short order cook unfolds and places on his head. The tavern hands these out instead of business cards.

In wasn't until much later that I learned that this modest little tavern, hidden within the bowels of the Lower Michigan Avenue superstructure, was quite famous. Per the applicable Wikipedia article:

The tavern is also known for its involvement in the Curse of the Billy Goat (also known as the Cubs Curse). Owner Sianis brought his pet goat, a tavern mascot, to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, a home game at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Tigers. Despite paid-for box seat tickets, Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley allegedly ejected Sianis and goat due to the latter's odor. Supposedly, Sianis placed a curse on the team that they would never win another World Series championship. After an extensive dry spell, they eventually won the 2016 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.

That evening we ate in. What do you think we had? A Chicago pizza! Aah, tasted good. We followed it up with a few rousing games of Sequence and some good old conversation.