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Chicago V: Skeletons and Geysers
Jul. 30th, 2003 09:14 amMemories are already starting to fade and meld for me, so journaling makes them either pop back to life, or spurs confusion. I had forgotten that Monday we had gone and eaten Ethiopian food. That was an experience. I tried really hard to like it since John had talked it up so much, but I couldn't get into it. I'm such a food snob. Trying to get me out of my comfort zone takes a lot of effort, far more than many are willing to put up with, I'm sure. I am extremely difficult when it comes to food.
The food came on a large platter. different meats that John (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
blithwulf) and Roger (aadroma) had chosen. The lamb was green. There's one thing I don't do, and that's green food. My parents didn't make me eat all of my vegetables when growing up, so I shunned them, now, psychologically, I can't eat them, I actually get convulsions. It's sad. So here is green meat...I will not eat green eggs and ham!
I did try a little of everything. There was this bread that was something in between an unsweetened pancake and thin, pliable foam rubber. You would take a piece of bread, use it to pick up the meat, and enjoy. It wasn't terrible, but the bread threw me off, plus the strange spices just didn't agree with me. The guys were feeling sorry for me and insisted we go to McDonald's so I could get more to eat...I told them that I was fine, and that I was sorry I didn't like it at first knock. It really is my problem that I don't deal with food very well, and it really does hurt my ability to travel and discover new things. Typical snobby tourist I guess.
Tuesday was easier. We were going to hit the museums. First thing we did was hit the Original Pancake House, which we don't have in Houston. Mmm, bacon pancakes. That's the unhealthy start I can handle.
We went out to the Field Museum. We just missed the baseball exhibit which had been there for the All-Star game a week earlier. We also thought it would be free, but free Tuesdays are suspended in the summer. So I can freeze my ass off and get in the museum for free. Great.
We chose a parking lot that wasn't exactly close, but I couldn't tell you where else to park (I wasn't driving). The parking lot was for Soldier Field. I barely recognized the stadium with all of the renovations, and what renovations they were. Try putting two Jetsons-like additions on a stadium known for it's classical Greek columns. The additions were just for luxury box seating, apparently to placate the owners not to build an entirely new stadium. Architecturally, horrible. They really ruined the stadium.
We had to walk around the stadium to get to the museum, down by the harbor. We decided to visit a restroom, and found on near the harbor that was designed like something out of OZ, the HBO series. Roger kept remarking on the bathroom after the event...I think something excited him there (heh). I do have to give Roger some credit, though, he was dealing with the fact that his friend Carl (nytemarewulf) was in the hospital for exhaustion and here we were playing around at the Field. Roger chided me for not taking a picture of the box for the Big Shot innertube that had been left in the prison-like bathroom. I really didn't know why I would want a picture of that, but I would hope that Roger is happy with the link.
At the Field museum, we payed our admission and filed in. We went and saw Native American artifacts. We spent a lot of time looking at the totems and imagery of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest, all of the eagles, wolves, bears and whales that were so prominent in their culture. We also looked at some information on Tibet and the South Pacific. It wasn't the most exciting thing for me, but it was a nice, quiet way to spend an afternoon. We looked at the T-Rex skeleton called Sue as well, and they had some info about how the fossils were found and reconstructed. The museum pushed us out as they were closing, so we moved out into Grant Park, and made our way to Buckingham Fountain.
The museum, and it's sister aquarium and the observatory are all on fill land, so is Grant Park, and Solider Field and Lake Shore Drive. The lake at one time came up to Michigan Avenue. Before the turn of the last century, they used garbage and materials used to dredge and channel the Chicago River to create more land jutting out into the lake. Certainly a big project. It was good that they did it. Otherwise the city would lose the unique public space that exists at the lakeshore. It really does make a difference and makes the city so much more inviting. It is remarkable as there are blocks and blocks of land there.
We got to Buckingham Fountain and waited for it to hit the hour, when the tall fountain would blow like a great geyser. The land around the fountain is gravel, since the big fountain overshoots the fountain pool, especially on a windy day. The gravel on one side was sill holding pools of water from earlier eruptions. I just sat there, after buying a postcard for my work team, and looked a all of the buildings, remarking on how great it was to be in Chicago.
Afterwards, we made the long walk back to the car. Owen and Richie had called and asked us to come to dinner, so we needed to travel to their neighborhood.
More about that later.
The food came on a large platter. different meats that John (
blithwulf) and Roger (aadroma) had chosen. The lamb was green. There's one thing I don't do, and that's green food. My parents didn't make me eat all of my vegetables when growing up, so I shunned them, now, psychologically, I can't eat them, I actually get convulsions. It's sad. So here is green meat...I will not eat green eggs and ham!I did try a little of everything. There was this bread that was something in between an unsweetened pancake and thin, pliable foam rubber. You would take a piece of bread, use it to pick up the meat, and enjoy. It wasn't terrible, but the bread threw me off, plus the strange spices just didn't agree with me. The guys were feeling sorry for me and insisted we go to McDonald's so I could get more to eat...I told them that I was fine, and that I was sorry I didn't like it at first knock. It really is my problem that I don't deal with food very well, and it really does hurt my ability to travel and discover new things. Typical snobby tourist I guess.
Tuesday was easier. We were going to hit the museums. First thing we did was hit the Original Pancake House, which we don't have in Houston. Mmm, bacon pancakes. That's the unhealthy start I can handle.
We went out to the Field Museum. We just missed the baseball exhibit which had been there for the All-Star game a week earlier. We also thought it would be free, but free Tuesdays are suspended in the summer. So I can freeze my ass off and get in the museum for free. Great.
We chose a parking lot that wasn't exactly close, but I couldn't tell you where else to park (I wasn't driving). The parking lot was for Soldier Field. I barely recognized the stadium with all of the renovations, and what renovations they were. Try putting two Jetsons-like additions on a stadium known for it's classical Greek columns. The additions were just for luxury box seating, apparently to placate the owners not to build an entirely new stadium. Architecturally, horrible. They really ruined the stadium.
We had to walk around the stadium to get to the museum, down by the harbor. We decided to visit a restroom, and found on near the harbor that was designed like something out of OZ, the HBO series. Roger kept remarking on the bathroom after the event...I think something excited him there (heh). I do have to give Roger some credit, though, he was dealing with the fact that his friend Carl (
nytemarewulf) was in the hospital for exhaustion and here we were playing around at the Field. Roger chided me for not taking a picture of the box for the Big Shot innertube that had been left in the prison-like bathroom. I really didn't know why I would want a picture of that, but I would hope that Roger is happy with the link.At the Field museum, we payed our admission and filed in. We went and saw Native American artifacts. We spent a lot of time looking at the totems and imagery of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest, all of the eagles, wolves, bears and whales that were so prominent in their culture. We also looked at some information on Tibet and the South Pacific. It wasn't the most exciting thing for me, but it was a nice, quiet way to spend an afternoon. We looked at the T-Rex skeleton called Sue as well, and they had some info about how the fossils were found and reconstructed. The museum pushed us out as they were closing, so we moved out into Grant Park, and made our way to Buckingham Fountain.
The museum, and it's sister aquarium and the observatory are all on fill land, so is Grant Park, and Solider Field and Lake Shore Drive. The lake at one time came up to Michigan Avenue. Before the turn of the last century, they used garbage and materials used to dredge and channel the Chicago River to create more land jutting out into the lake. Certainly a big project. It was good that they did it. Otherwise the city would lose the unique public space that exists at the lakeshore. It really does make a difference and makes the city so much more inviting. It is remarkable as there are blocks and blocks of land there.
We got to Buckingham Fountain and waited for it to hit the hour, when the tall fountain would blow like a great geyser. The land around the fountain is gravel, since the big fountain overshoots the fountain pool, especially on a windy day. The gravel on one side was sill holding pools of water from earlier eruptions. I just sat there, after buying a postcard for my work team, and looked a all of the buildings, remarking on how great it was to be in Chicago.
Afterwards, we made the long walk back to the car. Owen and Richie had called and asked us to come to dinner, so we needed to travel to their neighborhood.
More about that later.
