Thanks Pap for this review of our sojourn...

This is a review of our two-day Chicago excursion - our last hurrah before the grueling fall semester starts. It lasted from Friday, August 10th to Sunday, August 12, 2001.

Justin (henceforth referred to as Patch) and I decided to take a weekend road trip down to Chicago to visit our friend Mike (henceforth referred to as Alper) before the fall semester got underway. We had met Alper during our Masters degree program here at MSU and became pretty close friends, so we wanted to get out there and visit him because we knew we wouldn't get a chance to do so once school started. Alper had landed a great job as a Federal Probation Officer in the city, and we were really happy for him as he had truly put in the effort to send out tons of resumes to agencies and organizations during his last semester of classes. So, we figured that we should take a break from the craziness up here and enjoy a change of scenery for a few days - take the time to check out the sights and sounds of Chicago, and meet up with our pal. I picked up Patch at about 4pm on Friday, August 10th, and we immediately hit the highway. It's a pretty easy route to the Windy City, and we covered the 240 miles from Patch's door to Alper's block in approximately four hours.

After unloading our clothes and stuff in Alper's apartment, we decided to head out for some grub. We went to a renowned all-you-can-eat fish and chips restaurant called The Perth, and then went walking around downtown. We saw Wrigley Field (where the Chicago Cubs baseball team plays) from the outside…it is right smack dab in the middle of downtown, you're just walking down a street and there it is rising up out of the ground. Then we headed over to the Gin Mill, which is a Michigan State bar, and got the doorman all excited since we were actually from East Lansing. We spent about forty-five minutes or so just talking and catching up on things, and then headed back to Alper's pad. We got in at about midnight (CST), and Patch and I did a deck of pushups despite the fact that we were absolutely wiped out. I would say we fell asleep within a few minutes of our head hitting the pillow.

Saturday morning, we woke up at about 7:45 and were refreshed and ready to go attack our tremendously busy itinerary. Within half an hour, Patch and I were on our way down towards Lake Michigan in our athletic shoes. We have committed to go on a run in every city we visit - and we try to make it a memorable one. For instance, in San Francisco, we ran across the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of a rainy night. In Washington, D.C., we went for another night run alongside Arlington Cemetery and then down along some streets overlooking the heart of the nation's capital. This time, we ran alongside the lakeside, along a path where there were a bunch of joggers and walkers and kayakers in the canal down below. We *love* to see people engaging in active lifestyles - it's so inspiring and invigorating to share that connection with them. It was such a gorgeous day - God blessed us with amazing weather the entire weekend, and we were thankful because the entire Midwest had been an absolute furnace for the past few weeks. This day, it was about 70 degrees outside and the sun was shining down upon us. We headed out to the seashore, touched the water, watched some dogs playing around in the waves and families enjoying themselves outdoors, and then pushed the pace back to Alper's. After we showered and dressed, the three of us headed out on the town.

The first thing we tackled was the Sears Tower. Now, Patch has a problem with heights. It's just a fear with which he struggles. So throughout the trip, we kept harassing him (good-naturedly) about getting him to go up the world's tallest building, and he kept saying no way, he was not going to do it. But I kept leaning into him and trying to convince him that he really needed to conquer his fear, and that it would not be so bad if he'd only give it a shot. Much to our surprise, he finally acquiesced and we were in an elevator going up 103 floors and 1,353 feet to the impressive tower sky deck within a few minutes of entering the building. Incidentally, for those of you who plan on visiting Chicago as a tourist, invest in the CityPass. It's a great way to save money (about 50%) on visiting the noteworthy sights and precludes the need to wait in long lines. We found out that there were 2200 steps all the way to the top, and Patch and I knew we could tackle that, and so I asked the person in charge of the elevator where the steps were, and he just motioned into the elevator and said, this way please. And so I asked again, and he once again replied, this way please - pointing to the elevator. So, that was pretty much a lost cause. We got up to the topmost floor the public is allowed to reach, looked out the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and took a few pictures of the spectacular view - Lake Michigan and the harbor on one side, Soldier Field - where the Chicago Bears play on another, a concrete jungle of skyscrapers on another - the sprawling highway system and city on another. They say that on a clear day, you can see for fifty miles from the sky deck. I believe it. It was truly breathtaking, to say the least, to be able to see Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana by walking around the viewing area. Well, before we got into the elevator to go down, I approached another young lad about the location of the steps. He told me that it would take weeks to go down 2200 steps, even though I reckoned it would take less than an hour. But, at this point, any further reasoning seemed futile, so I gave it up and joined the line from which we were herded into the elevator to the bottom. I had been up the Sears Tower when I was younger, but this time around it was imprinted on my mind, and I am glad to have shared the experience with a couple of my closest friends up here. Plus, it was an added thrill to see Patch make it all the way up. He called his wife Jill from the top and left her a message about where he was : How about that for a fond memory!

We next went to go see Alper's office. It was very nice. That's about all I can say about that - it's an office - and it's where Mike works.

Subsequently, we headed over to the Art Institute of Chicago, where we were overwhelmed by all of the artistic treasures and creative masterpieces on display. Now, I am not really sure I know what constitutes art, but I have a feeling of what looks good, and I'm definitely trying to develop a sophisticated appreciation for paintings and sculptures. So, it was an fascinating time weaving our way through the galleries. Of course, I took a few pictures of particular works that caught my attention.

Lunch was next, and after that we drove over to the Alder Planetarium - the first of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Here we enjoyed a cool interactive computer graphics show on Black Holes. The best part was when we were waiting for the presentation to begin. We noticed that each seat had a little keypad on the right armrest…and that there were these blue, green, red, and yellow squares projected onto the dome in front of us and each one corresponded to a particular seat. We figured out that each square was owned and controlled by one audience member, and that by identifying your square among the hundreds on the screen in front of you and by pressing on the associated keypad buttons, you could change its color. Woo! Intuitively, the layout on the screen corresponded to the layout of the seats in the theater, so it was relatively easy to figure out which square belonged to you. Well, after mastering changing colors by ourselves, we decided to see if we could get the entire audience to change colors along with us. And so, I yelled out (not really a yell, more like a melodic cry, "Bllllllluuuuuuuuue!!!!"…and everyone hit the proper key, and the dome was awash in blue squares. It was so funny, everyone started laughing and cheering. And then I mellifluously bellowed "Yelllllllllllllllllllllowwwwwwwwww!!!", and we all watched in awe as each of the blue squares somersaulted and became yellow. Everyone laughed and cheered again. It was so rad! Well, at this point, we had proven that we could synchronize the actions of every audience member, and sat back with silly smiles on our faces and let it peter out as the lights quickly dimmed and the presentation on black holes commenced. I have to say, it was really interesting to learn about "singularity" and the "event horizon". I'm liable to forget the information presented as I won't be putting it to use in my daily life, but it still was an excellent presentation of the phenomenon and it is definitely a treat to be exposed to scientific knowledge outside of my scholarly area.

After the planetarium, we walked over to the Shedd Aquarium - the largest and most famous indoor aquarium in the world. We saw Pacific white-sided dolphins, beluga whales, sea otters, electric eels, sharks, and so many varieties of fish. They have collected more than 8,000 sea animals and creatures representing 650 species since their grand opening in 1930. We watched a fantastic dolphin show and moseyed around the tanks looking at (and taking pictures of) the various animals. Well, after this, we went to a place that our friend and colleague Tim (who lived in Chicago for three years before moving to Lansing) had recommended - called Taco and Burrito Express. It's a privately owned quaint eatery in downtown Chicago, with great unhealthy food at very reasonable prices. We filled our tanks with tacos, burritos, nachos, and everything else that will stop your heart (hey, we were on vacation!), and then headed back home to Alper's. Here we relaxed for a bit, changed and freshened up, and then went to eat a delightful meal of Chinese cuisine at the Y2K Café - which was not a café at all, but actually a formal sit-down restaurant. We feasted on a shrimp and kiwi dish and a sesame chicken dish, and reminisced about school and friends and good times previously shared. The food was so extraordinarily delicious, I'm getting antsy for some more just thinking about it. Following dinner, we headed out to the Weed Street Festival, where we saw Nine Days perform. Now, I had searched valiantly for a Christian concert in Illinois to attend, but no bands were anywhere nearby during the course of the entire weekend. So, since Nine Days was in town, and their album is quite good, we figured we would check them out. It was either them or Vanilla Ice, and we for sure knew more Nine Days songs than Vanilla Ice songs, although the latter would have been quite an experience to write home about. Nine Days put on an brilliant show and played many of their best songs from their first album, a few from their upcoming album, and covered three hits from the 80s, such as Video Killed the Radio Star (originally by the Buggles) and Sweet Home Alabama (originally by Lynryd Skynrd). I didn't think they would rock so hard live, because I'd regard them as more of a pop band than an alternative band, but they were energetic and exciting to watch. I tried to procure the drummer's sticks after the show, and asked him for them, to which he replied, sure, he'll go take a look to see if he has any in a bit…but then I realized that this is a secular band, and there are tons of girls everywhere waiting to talk to him and so it was highly unlikely he was going to go out of his way to hook me up. Another reason why I love Christian music and Christian bands. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I took a few pictures to preserve the memory. We then decided to try to find a place to experience some Chicago Blues music, but realized how dogged tired we were, and threw in the towel on that idea. We chose instead to get some donuts from Dunkin Donuts (again, with the rationalization that we are able to indulge while we are "on vacation") and head back to Alper's because we needed to bust out of there by 7am Sunday morning to get Patch back to East Lansing in time for a family reunion. While we were walking back, we ran into a good-natured Chicago policeman, who talked with us about community policing and the designer drug problem. He said that he liked where he worked and was thankful he didn't have to go to the violent, crime-ridden, and socially disorganized neighborhoods, and also compared the beat that he walked in the touristy area of the city to "Disneyland". We got to the apartment, and I enjoyed my honey glazed donuts and a glass of ice-cold milk before we called it a night at about 1am.

Sunday morning, we were up at 6:00am, out the door by about 6:50am with all our gear, and on the road by sharp 7:00am. We covered the 240 miles back in 3 hours and 37 minutes, which went by quickly as we listened to (and sang along with) a motherload of country music favorites. In sum, I'd have to say it was an marvelous trip. I'm very glad I took the time to head out there, see my friend Mike, and check out the city because it is definitely something to behold. The sights were unforgettable, the weather was lovely, and the reminiscing and bonding were priceless. This was probably the best summer of my life so far, but as Patch would say, "it's all over but the shoutin'!". I think I'm pretty much ready to get this fall semester started, though. So, let's get it on.