Roam With Me: Chicago Birthday Trip

 

 

This was my second time in Chicago -- the first was a weekend trip in February about 23 years ago with my ex-husband, who only wanted to stay in the hotel room because he was tired and it was cold outside, so I visited Navy Pier and did a few other things without him. Unfortunately, his negative approach to everything ruined most of the trip for me (and it was a free trip because I'd won it!), so I'd long been wanting to return to Chicago and experience it with someone who enjoys travel. Kim, my guy, had a similar negative experience years ago on his first time in Chicago because he was accompanied by his ex-wife who behaved much like my ex did, so he'd been wanting to see the city again, too.

The opportunity to go to Chicago for my birthday presented itself nicely, and my daughter and her boyfriend were even able to spend a full day with us before heading off to a wedding in Michigan. Sometimes, the universe comes through for you in unexpected ways.

We drove to Chicago -- a 10-hour venture that was easy to do when you have various drivers to break up the chore. In my past trips to see my daughter when she was in grad school in Johnson City, Tennessee, I'd done the 20-hour drive all by myself, so 10 hours of shared driving was a breeze. In those past trips, I'd driven by the world's largest truck stop on I-80 in Iowa but had never stopped, so we remedied that and made a pit stop there. 

On my previous visit to Chicago, I'd stayed in the Best Western that is close to the Field Museum. Since my daughter and her boyfriend are both paleontologists, they wanted to see the Field Museum, so I got us rooms at the Hilton Homewood Suites that is right next to the Best Western because I knew that it was in a great location for the things we wanted to do and because I'm in the Hilton Honors program (and because I didn't want to stay in the same hotel where I'd stayed with my ex). The Suites is a nice hotel, and it has valet parking which we needed since we drove there. Fortunately, our rooms were on the side with a great view, and we were on the 16th floor, so we were far enough up to take in a lot of the city and even a bit of the lake. Here's a daytime view looking toward the lake and a nighttime view looking toward the city.

Chicago is a very walkable city, and we were there on days where the weather was perfect, so we didn't use any transportation other than our feet. In the three full days we spent in Chicago, my pedometer app shows that I walked 18,804 steps the first day, 23,373 the day of my birthday, and 16,771 the final full day which Kim and I spent in a more leisurely fashion.

Those first 18,804 steps were mostly done inside the Field Museum. We were the first visitors through the doors when it opened at 9:00, and we stayed until only half an hour from closing time. The building is massive, and we covered all three floors and as many displays as we could manage. Having two paleontologists with us made for an educational experience for Kim and me -- we learned a lot about the T-Rex, Sue, as well as many other things concerning the myriad animals and species on display. 

  

After we left the Field Museum, we decided to walk down to Millennium Park to see Cloud Gate, more commonly called The Bean sculpture. We noticed a lot of trucks and vehicles parked next to Butler Field on S. Columbus Drive but didn't yet know what that was all about -- more on that later. Millennium Park is closed off in such a way that there is only one way in and out on the Michigan Avenue side of it, so we had to walk more to find the entrance -- once there, you have to go through a small security check before you can enter the park.

The Bean isn't anything amazing, but it has become an iconic symbol of Chicago, so we had to mark it off the list and see it, of course. Many other people felt the same as evidenced by the sheer number of people milling about it on a Thursday afternoon in September.

The next day was my birthday. We had breakfast with my daughter and her boyfriend, and then they took off for their friend's wedding in Michigan. My general plan for the day was to go to Navy Pier and take a boat tour, so Kim and I headed back down to the Lakefront Trail and started walking toward Navy Pier in the distance -- there is a water taxi that runs from Shedd Aquarium area to Navy Pier for those who don't enjoy a long stroll.

The day was beautiful, and there were so many Chicagoans out for a run or a walk on the trail, and there were so many of them with dogs that it made my day to get a chance to pet a few since I was missing my two girls back home. Benches are spaced along the way to provide handy spots for a rest as needed, and there was a great little snack place that served juices where we stopped to have a refreshing mango smoothie before continuing on our way. 

I really enjoy having loose plans and just letting things happen as they may. The long walk allowed us to take in the beauty of the lake and the city, the friendliness of the people, the cute dogs, and the glorious weather. We saw police divers at work -- not sure what they were looking for, but it was interesting to get a glimpse at their world -- and we saw workmen putting an entire tree into a chipper! That was crazy. We saw window washers dangling from a tall building, and we saw people preparing their boats for a day on the lake. That Lakefront Trail is a wonderful addition to the city.

This photo was taken at the start of our walk. You can just make out the tall Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier across the expanse of water -- that was our destination.

We stopped at more than one bench along the way for a break.

Once we arrived at Navy Pier, our first objective was to get tickets for an architectural boat tour. The booth to do that was right as we came down off the walkway, and there were plenty of seats still available for the next tour -- they go out frequently throughout the day and last 75 minutes. 

The boat tour was one of our favorite experiences on this short trip, and we highly recommend it. Our guide was very knowledgeable -- she was a young gal from South Carolina who fell in love with Chicago years ago and moved there permanently. We learned a lot about the buildings that front the Chicago River, and the ride was an enjoyable way to see the large buildings from the water.

Willis Tower, formerly known as Sears Tower -- we'd both gone to the observation deck on our previous trips, so we opted not to visit it this time.

Upon our return to Navy Pier, it was time to find some lunch. There are many restaurants on Navy Pier, and we opted to go to Billy Goat Tavern. The music inside was extremely loud, so we found a table outside on the large covered deck. There, though, we were accosted by a very aggressive bird who kept lighting on the table and charging us with its wings all aflutter. Apparently, it was expecting us to feed it and was angry that we weren't! There was a whole flock of smaller birds backing him up, too, so it was both funny and just a tad frightening. Ha ha

After our meal, we wandered down the length of the pier and then back up on the back side -- not much to see on that side, though, but the view on the lakeside is different. 

We then got tickets to ride the massive Ferris Wheel. I'd ridden it alone 23 years ago, so it was nice to have company this time -- technically, it's not the same one I rode back then as this one, the Centennial Wheel, replaced the former one in 2016 and is 50 feet taller than the one I rode alone. Kim had his doubts about riding it when I first mentioned it because he thought its seats were like those of a traditional Ferris Wheel, but once he saw that they are fully enclosed, he was relieved and happy to join me. I believe we had three complete revolutions during our ride, and there's a great view from up there.

All of Navy Pier and looking out over Lake Michigan.

After leaving Navy Pier, we then walked along the Riverwalk a ways. It, too, was completed in 2016, so that part of Chicago was new for both of us. We'd seen a lot of it from the boat during our architectural tour, and it looked beautiful, so we wanted to see part of it for ourselves -- we're both huge fans of San Antonio's Riverwalk, so we wanted to see how it compared; the two are quite different, so they don't really compare but they both add a wonderful element to their cities. We stopped at a bar/restaurant, so I could have my birthday Bloody Mary.

We continued to walk through the city and started to head in the direction of our hotel. I wanted to find a unique restaurant for my birthday supper, so when I saw that there was a Spanish one called Mercat a la Planxa in the historic Blackstone hotel, that's where we went. We had a delicious assortment of meats and cheeses (jamon serrano -- yum) and the most delicious fig jam I've ever tasted, paella, and sangria. You can't beat that. Or can you? Since it was my birthday, the restaurant also gave us churros and chocolate! Woohoo!

We returned to the hotel with full bellies, sore feet from all the walking, and memories of one of the best birthdays I've ever had.

The next day, we decided to just see what came our way. I only had one thing on the agenda, and that was a bookstore, of course. When I checked on maps to see how far away it was, I noticed that there was a farmer's market in the little park right next to it that met on Saturdays, and that day just happened to be a Saturday. Happy coincidence. The market sets up in Printers Row Park, and the bookstore is Sandmeyer's. Kim bought a couple things in the market while I browsed an hour in the store. Naturally, I bought a few books there, too.

Mexico's Independence Day is September 16th. Normally, since I don't teach Spanish anymore and we weren't in Mexico, I wouldn't have given it much thought, but Chicago has a large number of Mexican people living there, so they have a huge celebration for the holiday. That celebration began on our last day in Chicago -- that's what all the trucks lined up along Butler Field two days prior was all about.

My friend, Silvia, who is a Mexican living in Mexico, had messaged me earlier to ask if we were staying anywhere near where all the festivities were taking place. Until she asked, I didn't know there were festivities, but after her message, I began looking things up and learned that our hotel was inside the area that might be affected by road closings. Uh oh. That could be a problem -- fortunately, it wasn't because we left early enough the next day that we were out of town before those roads closed.

The large celebration in Butler Field was a two-day event, so we decided to amble down there and check it out. We took advantage of another walk to see the beautiful Buckingham Fountain on the way.

Once we arrived to Butler Field, we had to buy tickets to enter and go through a small security check, and we encountered a couple minor stumbling blocks, but we just went with the flow and were soon inside the park. In true Mexican fashion, the music was EXTREMELY LOUD. I love Silvia and all her friends and family, but every time I visit them in Mexico and there is any type of get together, the music is always so deafening that I can't hear what anyone is saying to me well enough to even try to have a conversation with them. Kim and I walked over to the huge stage for one song and left with our ears ringing for hours afterwards. Ha ha. The celebration is El Grito, which means "the cry" or "the shout" in reference to the cry of independence of Miguel Hidalgo. 

We stopped to watch people playing pickle ball on our walk back to the hotel. Then, we ended the evening with another stroll down to the lake where we shared a bench with a nice young couple who were born and raised in Chicago and who couldn't imagine what it would be like to live in a tiny rural town of 1500 people like we do.

If I were young, I'd do like that South Carolina boat tour guide gal did and move to Chicago. It stole my heart on this trip, and I'd love to return for an extended stay. The news tends to show only the dark side of this wonderful city. To really know a place, even only a little bit, you need to visit it yourself and form your own opinions. Recently, Chicago was voted Best Big City in the U.S. for the 8th year in a row. After my birthday trip, I understand why it is. 

Roam with Me: Oxford, Mississippi

 This post is about two of my favorite activities -- roaming and reading. And taking lots of photos of literary things!

This is a photo of William Faulkner's bedside bookcase. I recently visited his home in Oxford, Mississippi. It's called Rowan Oak, and he named it that after the rowan tree of Scotland and the live oak of America.

It sits on 33 acres of woodland, and you can walk a trail that connects his house to the University of Mississippi, which I did. It's a beautiful home and ideal for a writer.

There is a five dollar cash-only admission fee to tour the house, but there's a lot to see and appreciate inside, especially for an author and book lover like me. It was a treat to see the rooms in which he wrote his books as well as the room in which he hosted events and the bedrooms where he, his wife, and their daughter slept. 

This and the photo below show Faulkner's library. Above the mantel is a portrait of him done by his mother, Maud Butler Falkner in 1929 -- no, I didn't misspell her last name; William Faulkner added the "u" to his last name in 1918.

This is Faulkner's office, which was added on to the house by Faulkner in 1950. The typewriter sits on a small table that he preferred to use all the time. His mother gave him the table, and he would drag it outside to write also. 

 Below are photos of the plot outline of his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "A Fable," that he wrote on the walls of the office with a graphite pencil and a red grease pencil. 

So far, Faulkner's works have been ones I've struggled to read, but I want to read more, if not all, of his 19 novels and numerous stories. He won the Pulitzer two times -- in 1963 for his final novel, "The Reivers," and in 1955 for "A Fable." He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. These attest to the power of his writing.

His Nobel acceptance speech is on display at Rowan Oak. 

His speech is exemplary, but I also appreciate his approach to the writing life summer up in the quote below.

In the house is an area where you can listen to Faulkner's speech and you can listen to him pronounce Yoknapatawpha, the Mississippi county he created and used in many of his writings.

The grounds around the house are beautiful and heavily wooded. I highly recommend walking the trail that snakes through the acres between Rowan Oak and the university campus. It leads directly to the art museum on campus.

After visiting Rowan Oak, walking the woodland trail, and viewing some of the art in the museum, the next stop in Oxford was Square Books, one of the premiere independent bookstores in the country. Prior to my visit, though, I thought it was one store, but it's actually FOUR different ones, all located on the beautiful square surrounding the Lafayette Country Courthouse.

Square Books is the original store, but it expanded to add Off Square Books which handles used books, sells hobby books, and has the event space and an eclectic mix of gift items. There is also Square Books Jr. which sells children's books, and Rare Square Books which sells an amazing selection of rare books. To get to that one, you must climb what I affectionately think of as the stairway to heaven.

Since I'm a bit of a collector myself, I spent a lot of time in Rare Square Books, but I don't have the money to purchase the truly rare books. However, I did score a quality copy of The Viking Portable Library's "The Portable Faulkner" and a couple other things. 

In Off Square Books, I got John Cheever's "The Wapshot Chronicle" and "The Wapshot Scandal" in one combined edition by Harper and Row. Here are a few photos of the interior of that amazing bookstore.

At the flagship store of Square Books, I spent a lot of time in the Faulkner area trying to decide which books to buy. I already owned many of his works, so I was able to narrow it down to a couple I didn't have. Here are my purchases, including the copy that I bought at Rare Square Books.

Square Books has an upstairs section -- that's where the Faulkner books are -- that includes a coffee and soda shop. It, and its three counterparts, are worth a visit from any book lover.

This is only a small portion of the photos arrayed throughout the store of authors who have visited and held signings or events at the bookstore.

There is a walkway that cuts through part of a block on the square that Faulkner used a lot. It's now called Faulkner Alley. There is some artwork on display in it.

Oxford's main area is very walkable, and that's exactly what I did. We stayed in the Graduate, a nice hotel only a block from the courthouse square, and we walked to Rowan Oak and through the woods to the campus museum and then back to the main square. Prior to all of that, though, we walked a few blocks in the opposite direction to visit Faulkner's grave in the Oxford Memorial Cemetery. While Google Maps made it very easy for me to find his grave, the cemetery has a sign along the sidewalk that points it out as well.

The hotel has a rooftop bar which also has an outdoors patio that makes for a nice place to sit and unwind after a long day. From there, the courthouse is clearly visible and lit up at night.

A habanero mango margarita to end the day. Yum.

And one last photo of an amazing selection of classic books on a shelf at Rowan Oak.