Experiencing the Loop....

My weekend in Chicago started Friday morning when I ended up leaving St. Paul around 6:30 in the morning. I made it to the Chicago area around 1:15 in the afternoon. I got there in the afternoon so I could visit a couple of Lasallian high schools in the western suburbs, Montini and St. Joseph. I got tours of both school. Montini is known for having one of the best Math teams in the state, and St Joe’s has a program where every student ‘leases’ a laptop and has a student group that fixes/maintains them.

Friday evening I stayed with the Christian Brothers community in the Chicago community of Bronzeville on the southside. They were the same brothers who let stay with them on my way down to Cincinnati in November. That night, around 7:30, four of us went to the John Hancock Building.

On the 96^th floor they have the Signature Lounge. Br. Kevin recommended it as one of the best (and cheapest) ways to see the city. Instead of paying $15+ to get to the observation deck of the Hancock or Sears/Willis Tower, at the Signature Lounge you can get to the floor for free and are able to buy a drink and enjoy the scene. I enjoyed a hot chocolate above the city.

Saturday morning I caught up with a professor of mine from CBU. Br. Armand taught me New Testament in Memphis, but he is now working at Lewis University (another Lasallian College) just outside Chicago.

Upon the recommendation of the Brothers we went to a local restaurant, Bridgeport, where everyone is affectionately called “hun” and the place is old enough where you have to hold on your coffee cup to keep it from sliding off the slanted table. But it all added to the great local atmosphere and the food, though simple, was good.

For lunch, Br. Kevin took me out for a Chicago hotdog at Ken-Tone’s on edge of Chinatown. As expected, there was no ketchup; but it did come with tomato, pickle, relish, mustard and onions.

After lunch I went to pick up Jimmy from his med school interview. We then we to meet Br. Frank, who had us over to his place on the westside for drinks and conversation. Br. Frank is the head brother for the Brothers in the Midwest district (from Memphis to Minnesota). So it was nice to be able to catch up with him, share stories and hear about the progress/status of various schools in the district.

For dinner, Jimmy and I met up with some of his friends from Stanford. We went out to dinner at the House of Blues because they had a good coupon deal. Afterwards, the group of us went to the Signature Lounge…Yet again I had a hot chocolate.

Sunday…

After having some breakfast with the Brothers, Jimmy and I went to the local parish, St James, with some a couple of the Brothers. After Church, Jimmy and I took the L Train to the Loop. At the recommendation of some of the Brothers, our first stop was the Chicago Cultural Center. With wonderful architecture, it was the former central library, but now it is a visitor center/museum. We started there because they have a room dedicated to maps, brochures and other tourist information. From there we walked north on Michigan on the Magnificent Mile. A number of famous buildings, like Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower is located there, along with a number of shopping stores. While we went into a few of the stores, we didn’t buy anything. After swinging by Holy Name Cathedral to check it out, we jumped on the red L at Chicago and State and to go to Cermak/Chinatown. Yes, if you are paying attention, we ended up in Chinatown around 2 in the afternoon on Chinese New Year. We got there at the tail end of the celebration that was happening in the street. For fun, we pushed through crowds and walked around for a few blocks. Somewhat ironically, it seemed like there were more non-Asians than Asians at this festival on Cermak and Wentworth. While we had packed PBJ for lunch, we tried to find a restaurant for alittle Chinese food for take-out, however, every where was packed.

From Chinatown, we walked east Cermak to McCormick Place. Again we met up with Jimmy’s friends from Standord and went to the Chicago Auto Show, which is the largest auto show in North America. Yes, we spent part of our Valentines Day at the Auto Show, and it was some of the best $11 spent in Chicago. They claim there is about 1,000 vehicles on display.

February 14^th is also Grandpa Guro’s memorial day, so this picture was in his memory.

After spending a few hours at the car show, Jimmy and I went back to the Brother’s house. There we met up with Br. Ray. The three of us went to Connie’s Pizza to get a Chicago deep dish pizza. The pizza was great! We had half as a meat mix, and half of a combination. And we had a great conversation with Br. Ray. It was evident he was a teacher at heart, for even over dinner he was dispensing great words of wisdom and life lessons. One thing he taught us was that we have to be WHO we are. It would be sad to get to the end of our lives and not have been able to be who we are. He also told us that he was in “retirement” and not “re-die-rement” (referring to being just as active mentally and physically as before, but being able to do the things that he truly enjoys).

Finally on Sunday, after having breakfast again with the Brothers, I took Jimmy to the airport. And I decided to make a touristy stop on the way out of the city. I went to stop by the Winslow’s house (the house used in the opening shots of Family Matters). It appears that there has been some rebuilding in the neighborhood since the show aired, but it’s obviously the house they used. My last stop on the way out of town was to pick up another Chicago hotdog from Superdawg.

Tidbit by Thomas: I learned there is no such thing as a "downtown Chicago," apparently. Rather it's the Chicago "Loop." The L-Trains encircle what would be the 'downtown' area and thus the trains form a loop around the area. (I hope Lily is proud of me for learning the lingo...)