I’ll be Back

Chicago how has it that I’ve never graced this fine town before?! I am sorry my time here was so short but you have me eager to come back. I arrived in Chicago Saturday night and was impressed by your prowess as I first laid eyes on this city on my way to the hotel. This was technically a business trip, to attend my own industry education conference but of course with those types of conferences I was lucky to find some time to enjoy the city.

Saturday night was a loss, I got in late in the evening and was tired from flying all day. All I wanted to do was hop on a treadmill and get some sleep. But Sunday morning I was ready to see what this city had to offer. The first order of business Sunday was to find a place to get some brunch. Yelp was down so I settled on the power of the google and landed on Beatrix, a spot that promised delicious food with a healthy flair. Perfect. And walking distance. I was in awe of the beautiful architecture as I walked the streets of downtown Chicago. And then I was in awe of the line of people outside Beatrix as I approached. Hmm. I walked in and overheard that wait times were an hour or more. Hmm. But they had a bar. Jackpot, benefit of traveling alone is a single seat at the bar meant no wait for me! I slid right in and got started with a blue mimosa. What is that you ask? A blueberry mimosa. Try it. So good. My poached eggs over quinoa cakes with a delicious basil tomato sauce was heavenly. As one does when sitting at a bar alone, I casually eaves dropped on the conversations around me. And what did I her? Some folks talking about the Pearl Jam concert the next night. Hold up. What?! I butted straight into their conversation and confirmed that I had in fact heard what I thought. Pearl Jam concern it Chicago tomorrow night! Just for shits and giggles I pulled out StubHub and was shocked at what I found. An affordable ticket in the 3rd row of seats! Not pit or floor but still, 3rd row! Click click buy and I was going to Pearl Jam! I left Beatrix with a happy full belly and excitement for the next night and headed to my conference.

Fast forward a few hours, I was headed back to my hotel and realized my car was stopped at a light in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was a little after 2, they closed at 5. No better time than the present. I told my uber driver I was just going to hop out right there and before he could turn around to ask if I was sure I was out of the car. By the time I got my ticket and was walking in it was 2:30, knowing myself, I figured 2.5 hours was plenty of time to take it all in. I was WRONG. I could have easily spent another hour or more wondering those halls. Standing in front of all the greats was pretty awesome, the well known names of Chagall, Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, Dali. The list goes on. And the lesser known names that deserve to be better known. I was in awe wondering the halls. They even had rebuilt the Chicago Stock Exchange in there!!! It’s like a maze in there though, I spent a good deal of time checking the map as I got turned around. I was excited to see that they had an Islamic Art exhibit, in the basement level. But alas, my one disappointment of this trek, aside from needing more time, was how small, hidden, and minimal that exhibit was. *sigh* They did have some awesome Byzantine mosaic pieces from Syria though so that made me happy. Some pieces spoke to me more than other. Some of them made me feel bad because I felt like I should have been more in awe than I was. Some I had a hard time walking away from because they kept drawing me in. I stayed until the minute they closed and started ushering everyone out.

When in Chicago apparently one must check out some live comedy by Second City. So I picked up tickets that evening to see a Second City Production, ” She the People: Girlfriends’ Guide to Sisters Doing it for Themselves.” Now by no stretch has anyone ever truly called me a feminist. And had this not been the one production available when I was I’m not sure I would have picked. But man oh man am I glad I did! You, and you, and you, and you – any of you reading this, get on a plane, fly to Chicago, and see this sketch. it was 100 minutes of pure laughter while also being an incredible social examination of the perils specific to being a woman. It’s hard to explain but they examined amazing phenomena and broke down social norms to their core. It was great. At one point in talking about all the names women get called they spoke directly to the audience and asked, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called a bitch!” As hands went up around the room they followed up with, “Now high 5 all the hands raised around you because that bitch is a boss.” I swear it was more empowering in the moment. Another great quote in an all too familiar scene for any woman was simply, “We understand being uncomfortable, we’re women.” And one of the best, “You don’t have to be a princess to be a fucking queen.” There is another great quote I wrote down about women searching for respect at the expense of their happiness basically but quite frankly, I can’t read my own writing to give that exact quote. But trust me, it was good. This satire into male privilege and the challenges that come simply with being a woman should be seen by everyone. And if it’s still playing next time I’m in Chicago, I will see it again.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon now. Done with work by the second half of the day and ready to be jazzed up for Pearl Jam. But what’s a girl who has only packed business casual dresses and Iceland hiking attire to wear?! A trip to the Pearl Jam merchandise tent was in order. Rain was on the forecast so aside from picking up an awesome Pearl Jam tank top, a Wrigley Field hat was in order. Cause who cares if it rains if you are wearing a hat?!

After picking up my gear and catching up on some work I headed over to the Purple Pig for lunch. Go there. As I was sipping on my gin cocktail and eating some chicken thigh kebabs, a couple guys sat down next to me. As they tossed a poncho down onto the bar I knew they too must be going to the concert. I struck up a conversation with these gents, Billy and John of Oklahoma and learned that they’d been friends since high school and regularly travel to shows together, even though Billy lives in Denver now. They were good guys, fun to talk to and we chatted about music and travel. They invited me to head down to Wrigley early with them and join them hanging out down there before the show. We started talking about the thunder storm rolling in and decided to look on StubHub to see if people were fire selling their tickets. And holy crap, they were!!! There it was, a field level seat, close to the pit, for not much more than I had paid the day before. I looked at my new friends and asked, “Dare I?” They were not the right people to ask if I needed to be told no. They watched with wide eyes and congratulated me as I pulled the plug and bought ANOTHER ticket to the concert to get a better seat. As they put it, I’ll never remember how much I paid for the ticket but I would remember the experience. These guys were my spirit concert goers! I quickly listed the ticket I bought the day before for sale, hoping it would sale so I could recover about half my money for it (and an hour before the show it finally sold). Now I was really excited, I was going to be close!!! I needed to go back to my hotel and change still and didn’t really care about going to some music shop my new friends were jazzed up about so we exchanged numbers and agreed to meet at Murphys Bleachers before the big event.

Waiting for them at Murphys an hour later I met some interesting creatures. One guy had seen Pearl Jam 17 times and always just waited until the last moment to get a ticket. Sure as shit, as the camera panned the crowd later that night I spotted him on the big screen, front row in the pit. My new friends arrived and we spent a couple hours enjoying a couple cocktails, talking music, talking about morbid tv shows, talking about life, and talking about how the hell I could sneak my way into the pit. It’s really really refreshing as a women to meet a couple dudes that are just cool and friendly and not at all creepy or trying to hit on me. We got to Wrigley, had another drink, and parted ways as they headed to the pit and I to the field.

It was about 15 minutes before show time and all the screens were flashing weather warnings. And all the equipment was under black tarps. Hmm.

As 7:30 came around and the show was supposed to start a dude took the mic and announced that a thunder and lightning storm was eminent and that folks on the pit and field had to evacuate the field area and take shelter. Awesome. Everyone filled into the narrow halls of Wrigley crammed in like a can of sardines. My new friends sent me a text that they were in a field level bar and come meet them. I had gone past that bar and security was not letting anyone else in. But wait, my new friends told me, there was a small side door left unguarded, I could sneak in. I thank my brother for all the pit lessons he’s given me in life and the pits we’ve worked our way to the front of together. Those skills helped me greatly as I pushed my way through bodies crammed so close together you couldn’t see light through and made it to the unguarded side door. I was in! I found my friends and we spent another 90 minutes watching the rain crazily pouring down. And realizing that dudes were actually peeing in the corner of the room! Gross!

After a 90 minute delay, they opened the field up again. I bid my new friends adieu once again as went back to our respective sections. It was still raining but the lighting had passed. Half an hour later, the show began. Two hours late. Thankfully the city extended the curfew an hour but they still had to cut an hour off the set list. The rain let up after about an hour and the sound quality that started out shaky got better. Am I glad I went? Yes. Was it one of the best concerts I’ve been to? No. But it’s a memory I’m glad I have.

My last day in Chicago, today, I was pretty much holed up in my room the entire time catching up on work. Because now I’m at the airport waiting to board my flight to Iceland. Cause once again, I’m going on an adventure! But Chicago, I will be back for more.