Chicago pt. I

So I just packed up and did it. I put on my favourite outfit (the mythical blood red longsleeve and grey pants), quickly bombed my accounting test, dashed home, made some (ill-fated) plans to visit a friend named Hannah on the way through K-zoo, threw toiletries, camera, headphones, notebook and $150 into my pillowcase and Thursday night 10:15 P.M. EST I was on the road.

It might do good to say that I had originally planned this as only a drive down to see my newly beloved octet 'Architecture in Helsinki', only considering the thought of stretching it into an entire Friday safari until very recently. Then and also in retrospect I think that might have been the wisest thing to have done, as to not give my head enough time to put together a worthy petition to my heart as to the perils of such a spur-of-the-moment journey.

Yahoo! directions had me arriving into Chicago in just a hair over 5 hours, though actually I would technically be 4 due to crossing over into Central Time. This was supposedly going to be the time I had needed to catch up on all the 'unlistened to' music I had basically pilling up in my car. So I listened to The Beatles all the way down. Start to finish. I hadn't even realized until then that, outside of hearing them during homework sessions, as background music for com. work and 8 min cartrips to work, I hadn't really listened to them at all in quite some time. Blowing through the night the best way I can describe it would be to imagine the whole thing as a big spinal cord, and each song being a nerve that went to some different place in my 22 year existence.

So after only kind of getting lost, I made it into the city. And it is huge. But right away this feeling set in, a feeling that carried through the entire stay: comfort. Instead of seeing this huge building and fast cars darting all around, it was like walking into a house and seeing big brothers there to protect you. Driving through the downtown, halfway searching for a parkling structure it was so amazing to see all the buildings and people coming and going at 2:30 AM. I finally checked into my motel at around 3:00. And by motel I mean curling up into my sleeping bag in my backseat parked at McDonald's. I put on my pajamas but it didn't matter anyway, I wasn't sleeping that night. The atmosphere wouldn't let me. Hearing the people yelling across the street and the cars gliding by in the night and the lights glimmering through my windows I wanted to do nothing besides just go and explore.

I rose at 9:00 to aches, cold temperatures and excitement. Try as I might to somehow uncurled myself from my slumber without a scene, giggling could be heard as I tried to find my toothbrush and shirt buried someplace under my motel bed. Breakfast pancakes and sausage in the restaurant was great, but the highlight had to be my first, full-fledged cup of coffee ever. I decided I was going to need all the ammo I could get to make it through without sleep, so I timidly added "one small cup of coffee...ummm.... with one lump of sugar....cream?" I think I got black (?). It tasted just terrible, but I decided this would be a very good thing under my "the worse something is, usually the better impact it will have" theory.

I next bought my map across the road for $5. If I were to post this map on, say, e-bay tomorrow, I would probably list it at a starting bid of $500...it was pretty much invaluable all the way. I had decided then + there to risk leaving my car parked at the Mac the whole day and to head on the downtown route to see the Sears tower, which would lead me on track to seeing the Field Museum (the originally bait that pulled me into making this a full day adventure: their supposedly amazing dino exhibit), Shedd Aquarium and Adler Observatory. Certainly things would come together just as planned right? More to come.