Trish & Anne RV Adventures

On Wednesday, May 6, we packed up and headed to Chicago. Well, actually to the Adeline Jay Geo Karis Illinois Beach State Park about forty miles north of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan. But our first stop was at my cousin Joey and Sally’s new home in Highland Park. They moved to the area from Pennsylvania to be close to their son Jared and his family. (You may remember from my earlier posts that we stopped at their house or met them for lunch almost every time we were near them.) Because we were headed to the north side of the city, we took one of the outer highways – avoiding much of the hassle of driving through the city. Sally and Joey moved this jade plant from Pennsylvania – it is an offspring of the jades that my dad grew. Many of my brothers, sisters and cousins have managed to maintain them – but not us – we have no good windowsills or light in our house. Joey let us borrow his pick-up truck, so we could more easily get back and forth from the campground to their house, which was almost 20 miles away. So we were off to set-up camp. And we found out that we had a curfew – they lock the gate and you can’t get into the park after 10 PM.

On Thursday morning we made our coffee and tea at the RV, and then took off to Joey and Sally’s for a wonderful brunch spread that Sally put out – quiche, fruit, bagels and more. Then we went to the Chicago Botanic Garden – which is not in Chicago, but in the town next to Highland Park. There are 385 acres with lots of gardens and several greenhouses. It was a cloudy day and we had some showers, but we did enjoy ourselves. There were about 30 bonsai in one of the courtyards – I loved the sign that said, “Bonsai is a noun and a verb? Our curator says yes! Bonsai work is active and intentional. The trees grow continually, and our labor is never done. Caring for the collection is a year-round job involving horticulture, technical skills, and artistry.” I’m sure our friend Dave would agree!

There were several patches of tulips – with all sorts of colors.

In the greenhouse – Joey and Sally, and Trish and me

Some of the cacti were blooming. And that jade plant is the size that some of my dad’s were.

Some interesting plants and some views of the English walled garden.

On Thursday evening, we went to Joey and Sally’s son’s house. We hadn’t seen Jared and Keren since their wedding and now they have three beautiful kids! Henry and Paige were having their 11th birthday when we were there, and the youngest is Sophie. (Sorry I didn’t get a picture of Henry, he had to go to soccer practice. And because of our curfew we couldn’t stay until he got back.) Jared made us burgers for dinner and we had a nice visit. Paige played the cello for us – I understand that when they were handing our instruments, she said she wanted the biggest one – no marching band for her.

On Friday, we went to Fort Sheridan. It is now a residential area, but was originally an Army base. It was opened in 1887 on over 600 acres and named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his services to Chicago – after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 he coordinated the relief efforts. The fort was decommissioned in the 1990’s and many of the original barracks and houses have been converted to residential property.

Part of the property was kept as the Fort Sheridan Preserve. We took a walk, saw some birds, and got to see Lake Michigan. That’s an Eastern Kingbird, a White-crowned Sparrow, a Song Sparrow and a Savannah Sparrow.

Sally and Joey with Lake Michigan in the background and some great cloud formations.

After some sandwiches back at the house, we went to see Highland Park downtown. That’s the original water tower and some sites along the streets.

You may have heard of Highland Park – if you remember the shooting that occurred at a July 4th parade outside Chicago, this is where it was. Jared and his family were there. After getting his family and others to safety, Jared went to the hospital to help, as he is an emergency room doctor. Here is a reminder of that day.

Then it was off to Lou Malnati’s for authentic deep dish pizza – very cheesy! You might be wondering who I am standing with – well I don’t know their names, but I watched as nearly everyone in the party had to bow their heads to get through the door to the room we were eating in. I was fascinated, and pulled a Trish by talking to them on the way out. They were not a basketball team, but a very tall family – these are three of the four sons (one was stuck in the corner with his much shorter fiancee.) The four sons ranged in age from 15 to 21, and they were all over 6′ 5″ tall with one probably 6′ 9″. Mom and dad were both tall too! Then it was back to Sally and Joey’s for more visiting and then back to the RV.

Saturday was an early morning day. We were meeting our friend Holly in Chicago at the Palmer House – the trip started with the drive Sally and Joey’s, and then they dropped us at the local train station where we caught the 8:50 train to Chicago. That was an hour ride. We walked from the train station to the Palmer House, catching a view of the skyline over the South Branch of the Chicago River.

Trish outside the Palmer House. This hotel was a “wedding gift” from Potter Palmer to his wife Bertha in 1871 – 13 days later it was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1873. Bertha was a collector and amassed the largest impressionist art collection outside of France. In addition, the Brownie was invented at Palmer House. In 1893, Bertha Palmer asked the pastry chef to create a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition. Her request was simple, a cake-like confection that could easily be transported to the fair within a boxed lunch. The result was the Palmer House Brownie, made of chocolate to comprise a fudge-like density and topped with a decadent walnut and apricot glaze. I didn’t know this until later or I might have tried to find one.

Shots from inside the hotel, including the peacock doors, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany around 1925.

We had scheduled the Chicago Architecture Center’s River Cruise for 11:30. We were nearly the last folks on the boat, but we did manage to get seats on the open upper level for good viewing – the only problem was that Holly had to sit separately – I’m sure she would have had some additional commentary, though the tour guide from the CAC was very informative. The one building I remember the name of is this first one – it’s the Chicago Apple Store – those are totally glass walls that are structural and if you look closely you can see that the roof has the shape on a MacBook. I think the big building in the next picture was the largest building in Chicago, it was the admin building and warehouse for Montgomery Ward.

Then there is the Jewelers Building, which had an auto lift as part of the first 23 stories were garage space – also meant that the jewelers didn’t have to walk on the streets with their diamonds. Next is 333 West Wacker – it is designed with a curved blue-green glass facade that mimics the river. The last picture here is of the St. Regis. It is the tallest building in the world (1198 ft) designed by a woman – Jeanne Gang. It only looks like it undulates. Also it was built with what are called mass tuned dampeners (basically big pools of water that slosh in the opposite direction when the wind blows. But the engineers figured out that for the tallest tower that was not enough. If you notice the band near the top, it is actually an empty floor so the wind can just blow through.

Views of the Chicago skyline.

When we got off the boat, Holly had a suggestion for lunch – here is a quote from the menu: Ordering at the Billy Goat may go something like this: “Cheezborger! Cheezborger! You want doublecheez?!?Who’s next!?! WHO’S NEXT!?!” If you take more than one second to answer: “Don’t look at the menu, look at ME! I order for you – DOUBLECHEEZ!” If you only feel like a single: “No. DOUBLECHEEZ!!!” If it’s the end of the week: “It’s Friday, doublecheez for everybody! It’s payday!Triplecheez for the big guy!” Want French fries with that? “No fries – CHEEPS!” Thirsty? “No Pepsi – COKE!” To drink: “Coke or Diet?!”

Such rantings by the Billy Goat staff have gone on for almost 40 years and originated when Billy Goat Sianis and another Greek immigrant by the name of Bill Charuchas would entertain patrons by yelling out: “Try the double cheese! It’s the best! No fries, cheeps!” In the 1978, Sam Sianis and Charuchas were immortalized by Saturday Night Live’s John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Loraine Newman. The sketch was originally written by Don Novello (of Father Guido Sarducci fame) when he was an advertising copywriter in Chicago. John Belushi and Bill Murray knew the Billy Goat from their Second City days, and the rest is history. As a result, the Billy Goat Tavern achieved national infamy. When in Chicago, Don Novello and Bill Murray still come by and visit Sam and the Billy Goat staff and have their “Doublecheezborger”!

We chose Cheezborger! Very good!

Then we walked across the street to get a close up view of the Chicago Tribune Building. Pieces from buildings around the world are embedded in the facade – seen here are pieces from Harvard, the Alamo and places in Switzerland and Norway. I heard there is also a piece of the Great Wall of China.

On our walk to the Art Institute of Chicago, we stepped into the Cultural Center – it was originally the Main Chicago Library. We found the 38′ Tiffany glass dome that we had heard was there, as well as the grand stairway that was made out of Carrera marble, with beautiful inlays.

Our walk also took as through Millennium Park and by the Bean – officially called Cloud Gate. We stopped and took the requisite pictures – how many times can you find us in the shots below?

These fountains are also in Millennium Park – they are some sort of projection and they close their eyes, grin, and eventually “spit” at you.

We finally got to the Art Institute of Chicago. The place is amazing, every corner you turn there is a piece of art that you recognize.

Holly and I both thought that this was a Piet Mondrian, but it turned out to be Frank Lloyd Wright – which I could see once I read it.

There is this George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

“Paris Street: Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte

Four of Claude Monet’s Haystack series

I didn’t recognize this painting, but it is Edvard Munch’s “The Girl by the Window” – not quite the Scream. Then there was Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” – we were surprised that it is only about 24″ x 30″.

I recognized that this was a John Singer Sargent – it’s “Mrs. George Swinton”. Then there is “Mrs Potter Palmer” by Anders Zorn – yes, that is the Bertha Palmer whose art collection was donated to the museum.

That’s Norman Rockwell’s “The Dugout” – Trish was wondering if the guy looking at it was in the picture. Then there is van Gogh’s “Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blue-fin, Montmartre”

As you walk out of the Art Museum, the beginning of Route 66 is right there – Happy 100th! We then caught a Uber to Volare, an old time Italian restaurant where Holly’s husband Scott met us. Trish had the bolognese and I had the lasagna, and we had plenty left over for another meal. More good times visiting, and then we had to catch an Uber to get the 7:30 train – couldn’t miss it otherwise we would miss our curfew.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and Sally and Joey were going to Jared’s for a 9:30 breakfast. We decided to let them celebrate together, and spent the morning relaxing, walking to the beach at our campground and then checking out the Fort Sheridan National Cemetery – which we had driven by everyday we drove back to Joey and Sally’s.

We spent the rest of day at the house visiting. We also took showers (we used up the water in the RV and were lazy about moving it to get some), did laundry and Trish tried to remember how to play canasta. Sally had been invited to join a canasta group and had never played. Trish found several sets of rules on-line and we muddled our way through a couple of hands. Then we had a great dinner of homemade chicken soup and homemade pierogis. A great way to celebrate my mom, who passed away 6 years ago.

After our early dinner, Joey and Sally drove us back to the RV as we would be heading northwest the next day. We had to say good bye after a too short visit to the area – we will return to see more soon.

Next up – some factory service.

Until then, safe travels.