And the Car Won't Go...

Chicago Day 4
Part I: Is That the Sun?

The boat was really rocking when I woke up Sunday. The sun was out. It was gorgeous.



I had this idea to get on a bus or train and ride it for its full circuit just to see more of the town. See, this is the first time I've been north of the Navy Pier, and it's my fourth trip to Chicago. In the past, I've always been in a downtown hotel, going to events and attractions downtown. There's a lot there, I saw parts of it this trip that I'd never known were there, but after my wandering around Saturday, to Wrigley and whatnot, I thought surely there's a lot more out there.

Well, not on the Montrose bus there isn't. This wasn't quite planned, I'd had the idea, but I spaced off and missed my stop to transfer to the Irving Park bus. So I hung tight, and two hours later, when I was finally back at Irving Park, I was Is the whole city this monotonous? Just a repeating pattern of the same stuff until you're eventually in the burbs?

Maybe it would have been better if I'd stayed on a train to its end, seems like the density of the city dictated where the L went, so it'd make sense that there'd be more in the way of things worth seeing along the L than along a cross town bus line.

My sole trophy of this junket was a really wicked music store, Rolling Stones.



Trying to get some lunch, I spotted a Ghanaian restaurant. I love trying ethnic foods, so I went in. There was one customer (and it was noon), which gave me pause. A black man in a suit sat eating lunch and reading a newspaper. A woman in the back tended to pots on a stove, cleaned things, and ignored me for a few minutes. I know she had to have seen me, but apparently this Ghanaian restaurant only bothers to serve people who look like they might know what Ghanaian food is.



So I grabbed another cheapie meal: a cut above the 79¢ AM/PM burger, I got a hot dog from a 7-11 and continued on my way.



Thought about going to the Art Institute museum, but I had such bad shinsplints by this point in the trip, I couldn't muster the courage for it. And we were supposed to take down the mast and get the boat ready for winter storage, so I ended up heading back to the boat and doing some reading. The Wise Sea Captain was detained by other business, and by the time he got there, there wasn't time to do everything.



I sort of helped him take down the sails by way of earning my keep. I was pretty useless. At one point, I gave him an apologetic look, and he shrugged and said, 'You're just green.'



To say the least. And by the time the sails were folded and stowed, it was dark.