Wednesday, November 04, 2009

A small tour of Chicago

I don't usually take pictures of the city during my trips home. For one thing I have a lot of photos that I took back in the day when I lived there. They're film of course and maybe one of these days I'll scan them and share them here but yeah probably not, mostly because I'm not so sure there's anybody interested in them. Anyway, I took a few photos this time around with the point and shoot. I can't go very far from my grandmother's suburban house these days because the main point of my trip is to visit her. But I did manage a trip into the city to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Tecalitlan. It's on Chicago Ave. between Ashland and Damen and if you're ever visiting Chicago or you live there then you should go. But shhh, don't tell my grandmother I parked her car in that neighborhood. It's not exactly the 'hood, well o.k., maybe a little bit of a dumpy area but it's not that bad and I've never had a problem except for that one time and really nothing bad happened in the end. And if you happen to do a google search and see the thing about the health inspection closure do not fear, they passed their inspection a couple weeks later. Now it is probably even safer to eat there. At least that's what I tell myself. You can look up at the ceiling and enjoy these views while you're stuffing your face with the world's largest, bestest avocado burrito.  The iconic Alcala's Western Wear is across the street and down the block a bit. I'm not sure who wears Western Wear in Chicago but if you're in need of a cowboy hat and chaps this is your place. O.k., maybe I have seen guys in Chicago wearing a cowboy hat and chaps but that's a different neighborhood. It was dark for the photos, thank you Daylight Savings Time. The lakefront path in Evanston/Northwestern University is only 15 minutes or so away so I go there often on my trips to Wilmette. It's a great place to walk and clear my head and maybe stop at the dog beach for some doggy therapy. Chicago skyline from the south point at Northwestern University. Sometimes it's hard to explain the vastness of Lake Michigan to people who've never been there. It may as well be an ocean. Grosse Point Lighthouse. I'm sure I've been in it and you can go in it too if that kind of thing floats your boat. I like this shot because to the right you can see the top of the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette peeking up above the trees and the lighthouse to the left. There are only 7 Baha'i Temples in the world and they're all different. Kind of weird that one of them is in my hometown. It's a beautiful, amazing place, one of these days I'll post some pictures of it. Here's a link to a video showing some nice shots of it in the meantime. What did we ever do before Youtube? That's all I got for now. Maybe one of these years I'll post some of my old photos or even go into the city and take some new ones. I'm home now, so so happy to be home. You should have seen the greeting I got, especially from Strummer. I thought the poor guy's brain was going to explode.

3 comments:

  1. Even though there are a squillion photos and videos on the web, having photos and narrative from someone you know (even if only mainly in the blogosphere) gives a fresh and interesting perspective on those places we haven't been to (or even places we have been).

    You're right, the Great Lakes are amazing in size, just amazing. You really can't tell from the shore how big they are, because they just vanish off to the horizon.

    Michigan is something like 12 times the size of The Great Salt Lake. It's bigger than several north-eastern states. I guess if they were named "Sea" then it wouldn't be surprising that they're so big, but they're fresh water. Funny.

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  2. When I was a very little kid I was convinced I lived next to the ocean. The fact that it was a lake was a hard concept to grasp.

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