A Windy City | An Ode to Chicago

Dear Chicago,

I like ketchup on my hotdogs, sorry, I do, but I don’t when I’m in Chicago. I’ve done a shot of Malört, it was interesting for sure. I’ve visited a bunch of cities of various sizes throughout the US, but the one that I honestly thought I could live and survive in was Chicago. There is something about the city that attracted me, I felt comfortable here. And that’s saying something because I don’t like big cities. The first time I visited it was almost as if I was returning to a friend. My first tastes of the city came from the show Due South and Microsoft Flight Simulator, where the default starting airport is Meigs Field. I never felt unsafe in Chicago, despite visiting some of the less desirable parts of the city.

I’ll be the first to admit, my first trip to Chicago I didn’t spend all that much time in the city itself, sure the surrounding areas, but according to my collection, I only spent about one day in Chicago, the Loop that is properly wandering around. And from then on I was hooked on the city, the people, the architecture, and the culture that oozed out of every surface. The city has so many stories to tell. And I kept on coming back a few times over the next year or so. There was always more to see and more to explore. From checking out the Merch Mart, one of Frank Lloyd Write’s homes and offices, and taking in the views from the John Hancock Tower. And then I felt I had seen enough to be done for a while. There were other places to see and explore both in Canada and the US and my interests no longer rested in the Windy City.

It wasn’t until 2016 that I came back as part of a roadtrip and roundabout way to get to Photostock. The previous event (2014) I took the northern route to get to the event in Harbor Springs, so for 2016 I went around the south. After driving through Indiana, I made a point that I would take in the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Going in on a Sunday was both a blessing and later a problem. The museum was quiet and I decided to treat myself and signed up for two special tours. The first being an interior Tour of U-505 the second a replica coal mine. Both were awesome but the U-505 stood out. U-505, is a rare example of a Kriegsmarine Type IXc submarine, captured on 4 June 1944 by USN Task Group 22.3. She found a home at the museum in 1954 and is one of only four surviving WW2 era Kriegsmarine submarines. After the museum I wanted to check out a War of 1812 site and hoped on a commuter train, hoping to grab the photos, and go up to the Loop then run a train back to the Museum. Sadly the station I had to exit the train at, oddly allowed passengers off, but not on, at least on Sundays. That stuck me with a not so nice neighborhood between myself and my car, and I could only move in one direction if I wanted to get back to my car before the parking ran out. Now in hindsight, I could have gotten a taxi, but I wasn’t thinking clearly and headed out on food with a fully loaded backpack with a 4×5 and tripod. Again, wasn’t thinking clearly. Ultimately I ended up with some great shots of the skyline and a totally different view of the city.

My last trip to Chicago took place in 2019, and this time I got to show my favourite American city to my amazing wife Heather. We also stayed in the Loop at a rather fancy hotel. But it also gave us the chance to keep the car parked and explore some of the more tourist destinations. We took in the cityscape from the Sears Tower (always Sears, never Willis). We returned to the Griffin Museum, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and the Art Institute. All worthwhile visits if you’re in the city. But it also allowed for a lot of time walking and shopping in the city including a visit to Central Camera (again worth a trip if you’re a photographer). Interestingly enough, the President was in the city at the time and did cause us some difficulty one day when trying to get out to the Griffin, thankfully the hotel and taxi driver were able to get us to where we wanted with minimal interaction with security. And while this time we stuck to the safer parts of the city, we never had any negative runins.

As I mentioned at the start, Chicago is my favourite American city, I rate it higher than even New York City. It has a rich history, rich culture, and has survived a lot throughout its time. Are there problems, of course there. No major urban centre can be perfect, there will always be disparity and ‘bad’ areas. But I don’t think it’s a horrible place that needs to be cleaned up. Improved? Yes, cleaned up? Nope. While I won’t be going here for a while, I still hope for the day when I can come back with my family and share with them again, the windy city.

It’s 1251 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.