Another auto show, another side trip. We found a safe place to park the Incorrigible for the week, found Mushroom a safe place to stay, and headed north in the Jeep. Past trips to Chicago have been rush-in, rush-out affairs for me; this year we took the opportunity to spend a bit of extra time in town.
It seemed like the city was even welcoming the extra attention, thanks to an unseasonably warm couple of days that made wandering around some of Chicago’s sights much more pleasant than a typical February can be expected to. While the sun was shining, we took the opportunity to visit our friend Amanda and take in some of the sights. There’s a lot to do in Chicago, much much more than one could hope to accomplish in just a few days, so we tried to split our visit between touristy stuff and our usual wanderings.
First on the list was the Field Museum. This massive repository of natural history is all about natural history, archaeology and science. Founded in 1893 to house the collection of artifacts from the World’s Columbian Exposition, the Field Museum now has over twenty million specimens and display items, gathered from all around the world. It’s an old-school museum, with room after room of stuffed exotic animals and archaeological relics that probably wouldn’t be considered politically or ecologically correct if they were collected today. On the other hand, the patience and skill required to stuff and mount a hummingbird or a thumbnail-sized frog is worth some recognition, as well. The Field Museum’s notable exhibits include “Sue,” the world’s best-preserved and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton; cultural displays from all around the world; and educational environmental displays like “Evolving World” and a fascinating look at the microscopic world underground. Oh, and there are also mounted man-eating lions, the same creatures that inspired “The Ghost and the Darkness,” a movie that we had no idea featured man-eating lions (we were too young when it came out!). Temporary exhibits broaden the museum’s scope even further. The Field Museum is also a microcosm of the city in at least one symbolic way: there’s much more at the Field Museum than you can hope to get through in a single day. If museums are your thing, the world-renowned Adler Planetarium and John G. Shedd Aquarium are all within a mile of the Field Museum as well. Admission’s a little steep at $23 for non-resident adults, but Target sponsors a free day at the Field Museum on the second Monday of every month.
We quickly decided that, while fascinating, the nature displays at the Field Museum constituted far more dead animals than we were in the mood to process, so we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to check out some live ones instead. Nestled right in the heart of downtown, the Lincoln Park Zoo’s a unique experience, juxtaposing exotic animals with Chicago’s skyline. It’s hard to say what the lions think of the skyscrapers looming overhead and the traffic rushing past on Lake Shore Drive, but it certainly makes for a unique zoo experience. In addition to the animals, the free zoo has a children’s train ride and a hand-crafted carousel. The zoo’s indoor animal habitats, especially the tropical bird and Africa habitats, make it worth the trip. Admission to the Lincoln Park Zoo is free, but parking is typically Chicago-expensive.
Of course, we can only do so many touristy things before we decide to go looking for local flavor instead. We found some at the Brown Elephant, a three-store thrift chain spread through Lakeview, Andersonville and Oak Park (all neighborhoods within Chicago) and benefits the Howard Brown Health Center. The Brown Elephant’s stock in trade is cool castoff clothes and hip home furnishings for resale, and the Lakeview and Andersonville locations we visited are pretty fun to look at, as well. Our trips netted us some seriously unique clothes, including a wicked steampunky trenchcoat that looks like it came from Red China via Jules Verne.
Photo taken from yelp.com
Another don’t-miss is Bookman’s Corner, at the corner of Clark and Wellington in Lakeview. This is one of the coolest used bookstores in the nation, and I don’t just say that because it’s owned and operated by a Detroit ex-pat. Bookman’s is old-school, with books piled and stacked haphazardly (yet still organized) in narrow aisles, and the owner seems more interested in finding new homes for his constantly rotating stock than in making a lot of money. Books that have been on the shelves for too long are frequently half-price, and most sell for less than $5. When I was there last, he noticed that one of the books I had picked out had some minor water damage, and just let me have it for free! Rare and out-of-print books on the cheap with a layout that demands slow, patient browsing make it a top-class used bookstore.
Since Amanda’s a fantastic cook, we didn’t see the need to go out to eat. A trip to Treasure Island sufficed instead. Billed as America’s “most European grocery store,” Treasure Island’s a seven-store local chain that specializes in tasty European imports and organic fare. We visited the newest store, near President Obama’s old stomping grounds in Hyde Park. “TI” provided the raw materials for Amanda to set us up with scones, French toast, and a stunning meal of homemade popcorn chicken with dipping sauce and sweet potato fries. This proved to be much better fare than we’d get anywhere else in the city, either at the auto show or at Ed Debevic’s which was our last stop on the way out of town.
Ed Debevic’s is hard to describe. It’s got all the trappings of a greasy-spoon diner, but the paper hats and ill-tempered waitstaff are all an affectation. Retro-themed singing and dancing on the bar are common, and the place features a cheerfully manufactured “eat and get out” Fifties folksy vibe that doesn’t quite offset the high prices on the menu. If your tastes run to exotic and/or healthy fare, Ed’s is not your place. The fare is well-cooked and straight out of the American culinary playbook, with burgers, sandwiches and monstrous hot dogs. But in truth most of the fun comes from having a waiter like “Biscuits” (center, above, rocking out to “Car Wash”), who served us and pretended to hate every minute of it.
Where in many cities, this would’ve been the extent of the things worth seeing, for Chicago we’ve barely scratched the surface. Alas, time was not our friend and we had to get back to the Incorrigible. One day we’ll bring our RV with us, and stay a while.
