Trip Report - Chicago Birthday Celebration - Day 1

Yesterday seemed like it was 48 hours long, at least. And it was filled with fabulous experiences—oh, and a lot of rain.

We left home at midnight on Thursday, then got on an Amtrak train in Alliance, OH, at about 2:00, half an hour late. (No, that was not an omen!) I finally fell asleep a little way west of Cleveland and woke up somewhere in Indiana. We went to the cafe car, grabbed coffee and a muffin, and went upstairs to the observation desk and watched corn fields, deer, bunnies, and a strutting turkey. Great fun! I loved having the map feature on my iPhone to be able to see where we were at all times. Once I discovered that it knew railroads as well as highways, I kept using it all day.

We arrived in Chicago around 9:00 a.m. and grabbed a cab to the Hotel Allegro. Once in our room, the Jazzman remembered that someone had told him to ask for a lakeview room. He called the front desk and did a little song-and-dance about being "in Chicago with my lady for a special anniversary" and they upgraded us to a corner suite. That boy is smoooooth! (He didn't tell them the special anniversary was of my being born 60 years ago!)

We dropped our bags and wandered out on the street, finding Potbelly Sandwich Shop for a breakfast sammich. Then back to the room for a little nap and a shower.

We had been talking about the architecture boat tour since we began planning this trip. We had expected rain all day, but it was sunny and hot, so we grabbed sunscreen and hats and headed to the riverwalk. The boat tour was 90 minutes long and very interesting, but there comes a point where one's brain is just full of who designed this and look-at-that-cupola. I don't want to downplay the cruise—it's definitely a must-do in Chicago. I was just hot and tired by the end.

We walked west along the riverwalk toward our hotel, stopping at Argo Tea on Randolph for a pick-me-up. Okay, I love this Argo Tea place. Interesting tea drinks, a great mocha for jazzman, and delicate pastries. And, outside the window, rain. Uh oh.

Back at the hotel, I laid down to ice my knee. Did I mention my knee? My bad knee? I'm having difficulty walking as a result of my fall-plus-golf-lesson. Not good to injure your knee a week before a vacation. Just. Not. Good.

As I lay there, I searched across several Web sites to figure out how we would get out to Ravinia for our evening's planned activity. We needed to get over to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, then get on the 5:50 Union Pacific-North and get off at Ravinia Park, a few hundred yards from our seats in the Pavilion. Because of my bad knee, we wanted to take a cab to the OTC, about eight blocks away. Alas, when we walked outside to grab the cab, it was raining. Heavily raining. On a Friday. At rush hour. Got the picture? We walked, um limped, to the train station, got our $6 round-trip tickets, and got on board. I followed our journey all along on the iPhone, remembering places I had visited in Wilmette and Winnetka as a child on our summer visits to my aunt.

By the time we got out to Ravinia, the rain had stopped. Gorgeous, gorgeous night.

I won't go into all the ins-and-outs of the evening, as I'm hungry and want to go find breakfast. (Yes, I'm selfish that way.) But I will tell you we heard the All-Steans Jazz Band Quintet (fabulously-talented students), the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Dave Brubeck, and Nancy Wilson. It was Ramsey Lewis's 75th birthday, so much was made of that. And Dave Brubeck? The man will be 90 on December 6. Ninety! And he plays with all the panache he had at 30. Holy Mother of Ivory! If I live to ninety, I hope I can still play the piano with half the elan that man possesses.

Actually, I kept thinking how appropriate it was to be attending this concert on my 60th birthday weekend. With the exception of the Steans students, all these musicians were older than I, and all were just incredible.

Dave Brubeck, with a nod to the afternoon rainstorm and a comment that he was shocked we had all attended the concert, opened his set with "Pennies from Heaven", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and "Stormy Weather." He was a hoot! On "Blue Rondo a la Turk," Ramsey Lewis came out and sat down to play a duet with Brubeck. It was just outstanding!

Right before Nancy Wilson came on (about 9:40) the thunderstorms rolled in. Everyone on the lawn headed for trains and cars, and the pavillion sitters hunkered down for more music. The winds were so strong that Nancy Wilson could feel the rain on the stage! She was hilarious—every time one of her songs mentioned rain, she started laughing.

My only complaint of the evening was that the concert, at over three-and-a-half hours, went on too long. At least too long for two people who had been traveling all night the night before. Jazz and I kept falling asleep. But Ravinia is beautiful, the concert was great, and I'm so glad we went!

When it was over, we walked in the rain to the train platform, where we stood in the rain for 25 minutes waiting for the inbound train. The train came at 11:05 and we rode the hour back into the city, sitting in our soaked-through clothes and rain gear. By the time we got home, I was wet, tired, wet, hurting, and wet.

But what an incredible day!!!

Day 2: museums, fine restaurants, and a beautiful sunny sky. More later.