Saturday in the Park I think it was the 4th of July

Another day in the park
I think it was the Fourth of July
Another day in the park
I think it was the Fourth of July
People talking, really smiling
A man playing guitar (play a song, play a song, play on)
Singing for us all (singing for us)
Will you help him change the world
Can you dig it (yes, I can)
And I've been waiting such a long time
For today. 

"Chicago - Saturday in the Park" 

Chicago

It was hot in the city, isn’t that how a Billy Idol, song goes?   I wasn’t sure what to expect from Chicago, we arrived early afternoon 4th of July (yes really, the song does fit it just wasn't Saturday) and you could feel the heat even through the walls of the connecting airport tunnel to the airport were hot.  Funnily it wasn’t as hot as Phoenix had been but the humidity was high.  It made the night almost surreal as we headed first to dinner with a friend and then on to fireworks.   

Ok I will fess up at this point. The friend we met was an online friend that we had both talked to for many years, he was into his photography and so were we.  He, online was kind and generous, and thankfully for us this was mirrored in the real world.  We met on at an L station, a high platform away from the city itself, after we had rolled through an amazing landscape of old houses, the cubs stadium, wooden stair attached to ancient brickworks, even some of the L Stations had old wooden slats and everywhere a creeping green growth of vines. It seemed the city underlying nature was making the most of the warmth and exploding outwards.  We met at the station  up on the platform where the air was cleaner, a slight breeze blowing from the Lake.  The L Station platforms are narrow, barely wide enough to fit a suitcase and a person around the pylons holding the wooden treads from the middle of the tracks. The edge marked in blue keeping people away from the electricity of the tracks below.  It was organised chaos of people moving back and forth scurrying along to get where ever they needed to be.

He grinned as we approached, looking honestly happy to see us.  I’d flipped several times during the day on what to wear, we’d arrived in long pant but the humidity soon took the edge of wanting to be fashionable and with two anda half months under our belt our clothing options are not exactly extravagant. So I ended up in my New Orleans Crawfish dress thanking myself that I’d gotten the light weight cotton dress and despite it looking outrageously colourful it was cool and made for the humid heat.  Meanwhile Ken was equally dressed in a pair of cotton shorts and a lightweight T shirt and the ever present camera over his shoulder.  I pondered briefly what we must look like but that was soon replaced with a sense of joy. When travelling you tend to be more open to people and experiences - it is one of the pleasures of travel, to leave behind your usual restrictions and simply enjoy meeting people. 

The pondering didn’t last long - we escaped the heat to a tapas restaurant, where we talked and ate for the next couple of hours. Chicago might not be known for its tapas but this place did a passable Spanish impersonation.   We’d met of course to go to the local fireworks, so as night drew in we set off to the beach.  You know when you are somewhere and you get the feeling that you are in a movie, of it not being quite real because it was so stereotype? I had that feeling as we approached the beach. We fitted in well as the diversity here was great, families and single people mingled over hot dog, pretzel, popcorn and lemonade stands, a band played rousing American hymns and marching tunes, everywhere people sat, chatted, played and smiled. Kids roamed pathways and back, parents gave instructions.  It was fourth of July and everyone was just out enjoying themselves.  We edged ourselves closer to the shore our backs against a tree as the crowd swirled around us.

Out across the lake we could see the odd lightening flash stick the water, huge clouds flashed up shapes of beasts and other fantastical images and were gone.   Soon the fireworks started blazing the night with its rolling thunder, music through loudspeakers, some modern some older, different to the Australian fireworks music and yet somehow similar. There was no Icehouse singing Electric blue or jimmy barnes but you could hear the crowd sing along to the tunes, oohhing and ahhing as blazing stars exploded above them.  Inside my minds eye I could see so many other stories unfold.  Ken drifted into the crowd finding a spot to take photos from a better advantage point. Then the fireworks ended and the crowd reversed, sweeping past our tree and out into the suburbs. The night became louder with the horns of frustrated drivers and families trying to get home.   We stayed moving to the beach to sit as the crowds fled, watching the storm draw in closer to us.  We were north of Chicago not in central area, this was the family friendly fireworks not the spectacle in the city, there thousands and thousands of people would gather, the storm we watched serenely smashed into those people and they ran for cover. Blissfully we were unaware of this and instead watched as the last of the boats came back into shore.

Our friend noted the lake (Michigan) was known for its strange weather and events. It was unpredictable and dangerous. A family unloaded their boat quickly, girls on spindly legs raced up away from the sand as the boat was tethered ready to be dragged from the water once the tangled nest of cars exited enough to let them drive theirs in.  For such a crowd we found ourselves almost alone on the beach, the humid air soft as we talked for a while longer. Then the wind started and with a sigh it was time to go.

The heat brings out something in people, perhaps it was the storm approaching, or maybe the combination of the heat, the storm and the 4th of July but once we left the beach the night became a darker place, the families now herded safely behind their walls leaving behind those braving any storm, or the crazies, the kids out proving themselves on the ‘streets’ of Chicago.  Our friend was emphatic, we were not catching the L back to our station. It was not safe at night, he had been witnessed to too many things over the years to be comfortable with us travelling. So we tried for a taxi, we failed but within a couple minutes we had Uber booked and seated comfortably with a young asian descent man, he had been a driver a month and it was paying for his education.  I wonder how he felt at night in some of the lesser safe suburbs.  Maybe it was the heat or the media the stories of accidental shootings or random strangers. I didn’t feel unsafe exactly more an awareness that this was a crazy night.

We made it safely home in the Uber, our AirBnB was inside a big apartment building, a cozy artists place One floor up. The entire area seemed to be filled with artists. The suburb was one down from the university and filled with the young and the dreamers, everywhere you looked someone had painted or created something.  The apartments windows were open to try cool the building, a fan rotating swirling the warm air.  Outside cracker continued, somewhere it sounded like someone was throwing them into a swimming pool, a sound of explosion followed by crashing of waves. Voices reached in through the windows for hours as people roamed the streets.  We lay tangled in the bed listening to the outside world, quiet music lulling us to sleep.  Tomorrow would be another day of exploring.

We woke to the same heat. Dressed in cool clothes and made our way out onto the L. I’d packed sunscreen as sun streamed into the windows and the clouds seemed far away. Somewhere on the L I’d looked out the window and saw instead of sunshine heavy dark clouds approaching. We checked our weather and sure enough I needed an umbrella. Plans were hastily remade no wandering the city Loop instead we found a Pizza place.  Lou Manati or something similar, its name rhyming wiht Luminati which made me giggle.  The rain smashed down as we exited the L station, this one underground, long stairways led up to the outside. Just inside the narrow covered entrance a family sheltered from the rain, outside people ran trying as much as possible to stay dry, Umbrellas were thrown open, and drenched shirts became the normal style of the day.  We waited briefly, the storm relenting slightly so we were not immediately soaked and made it to a corner store. They being enterprising of course had umbrellas out on the front counter.  Cheap Chinese umbrellas with hard plastic handles but that thin black material would keep the rain off at least for a few minutes it took to get to the pizza place.

Inside there was a wait for a table, but smartly they allow a pre order as you wait so the deep dish style pizzas could be brought out faster. I’d read a review of other places where people would wait an hour for a table and then another hour to 90 minutes before receiving any food.  Once seated we were greeted by a bright waiter. He entertained us and after not to long a wait the pizza arrived.  I understand why they call it Pie, it was unlike any other pizza I’d ever had. The crust was almost like pie rather than dough, it was crispy as if it had been fried not pan baked. Somehow it managed to also be slightly chewy. The topping was first a thick melted cheese, then sausage and then tomato sauce. It seemed backwards but it worked. The cheese pulling away in long strands as you cut into it.  Yes you ate it with a knife and fork.

The weather had cleared a bit and we headed uptown a little. We’d discovered an ‘art’ exhibition called happy place which we went to. While we had fun it raised a lot of questions over the selfie, twitter obsessed community we are becoming.  The art of it really was the people and why we do what we do. It wasn’t crowded and I think most people seemed more bemused by the exhibition than participating fully.  Confetti snow angels,  a room of rubber duckies, jumping into the pot of happiness, being given lollipops and m&m’s with smiling faces emblazoned on one side. Commercial marketing making sure you knew there were also m&M’s on the other.  The disco room was empty of dancers, perhaps it needed a critical mass of smiling people to really make the glittering overdoes of happiness work, but the staff outnumbered the visitors and the photo opportunities seemed somewhat forced at times.

We kept walking after that, outside the city centre in the hot humid weather, few others seemed to be walking and in my bright crayfish dress I felt somewhat exposed. The sensation of exposure making me more nervous and less my usual bouncy self than normal.  Maybe it was the heat, the media reports of random street shootings or the derelict buildings beside the railway and river or the warnings, or that feeling of exposure.  I wanted to love Chicago. I do like Chicago it’s sky line is amazing and we’ve had nothing but nice experiences here, friendly people willing to talk on the L.  Yes it has its usual number of homeless and disadvantaged, but it seemed no worse than any other big city. It seemed far less than Seattle’s problems.

Today we will explore the city a bit more, the sun is shining the storms having driven away the worst of the humidity and heat.  It will be nice to wander to navy pier and take the opportunity to photo the amazing street art.