Revisiting My 1997 Road Trip: Chicago (Part 2)

Welcome to the second edition of my reliving the 15-year anniversary of my cross-country road trip through sharing stories from the journal I kept during the trip. Today’s entry takes a look at the second half of the Chicago portion of the adventure. The first part of this blog post where I look at my life as a 22 year-old through the lens of Kevin Arnold and The Wonder Years could be either the best or worst text I ever wrote. I’m leaning towards the latter, but I’ll let you decide.

Wednesday, July 18, 1997

Our first major stop was at the National Broadcast Museum. I more-or-less followed my brother here because this was not on my places to go list. However, my brother encouraged me to go plus it was free. The museum itself was very interactive with classic radio shows for the most part. I liked going through Jack Benny’s vault and hearing a George Burns-Gracie Allen bit. However, I was mostly unfamiliar with many of the classic names and shows (like the Goldbergs). Upstairs, we went into the TV archives just to see what they had. I thought they would have a lot more but it was mostly a few sitcom episodes and Chicago programs. I decided that I wanted to watch the final episode of The Wonder Years. My brother thought I was being silly but this was one of my favorite shows and I didn’t remember seeing the last episode. Watching The Wonder Years final show really made me think about my past and future. (Sean's note: Am I getting deep here?)

I have graduated from college and I’m 22. At this point in my life, I am an adult. My childhood is over and I’m not sure if I like that. I have always seen Kevin Arnold as me during his junior high and high school years. (Really?) But in that last episode, at the very end, (Spoiler alert if you don’t want to know how the final episode of a show that’s been off the air for 20 years ends) he starts describing the lives of his family and friends. Winnie goes away to Paris for 8 years, his father dies 2 years later, and Kevin is married with a son. Don’t get me wrong. I’m really looking forward to San Diego and the rest of my life because I feel the best is ahead. (Cliché alert.) But leaving childhood and my dependency on my parents is tough. I guess in some sense, this road trip marks the end of one stage of my life and the beginning of the next stage. I’m trying to make the most of this trip because I’m not sure if I’ll have this chance again. Hopefully, I will with my wife and kids but that is not in the foreseeable future. Going back to The Wonder Years, Kevin realized that this was his last summer with his family and close friends. I knew a part of Kevin is in me for the trip (again, really?), and the youthfulness will stay with me forever.

What the heck was this last paragraph? (Unless some website that gives away best blog awards thinks this is awesome.) Let’s move ahead to other aspects of Chicago.

Anyway, I’m not even close to Wednesday evening. During the afternoon, we wondered around Chicago (seeing Bulls championship memorabilia everywhere) and went to the Sears Tower. Unfortunately, it was a little foggy about 5-10 miles outside the city, so we couldn’t see much past the city and some of Lake Michigan.

We ate dinner at a 50s style restaurant called Ed Debevics. The waiters and waitresses are purposely mean to you and the atmosphere really resembles an old soda shop. Our waitress was named Jewels because she wore a lot of jewelry around her neck. She was also cute and gave us hugs goodbye. I forgot to mention that when we were walking around downtown, we found a Celebration on State Street. It reminded me of the Three Rivers Arts Festival with the art and food stands.

One note about this was my brother said to me, “I could use a drink.” (My handwriting looks like I wrote Danish, but drink probably makes a lot more sense.) He was thirsty because we were walking a lot. A guy in front of us told him that there was a great deal for a 22 oz. beer just down the block. In addition, he was drunk (probably by having several of the 22 oz. beers) and told my brother that he reminded him of his 16 year-old son. (For some reason, this was very funny at the time. Doesn’t seem as funny now.)


My journal then goes into a description of seeing Shear Madness which was very cool at the time. Now that Shear Madness plays several hundred shows a year at DC’s Kennedy Center since at least 2001, it’s not as cool. Next stop: St. Louis!

Plus, you can click here for more on the 1997 Road Trip.

Revisiting My 1997 Road Trip: Chicago (Part I)

I mentioned last week that to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of my 1997 cross-country road trip, I wanted to share stories from the journal I kept during the trip. After a lengthy search, I found the journal! As a surprise to probably no one that reads this blog, my journal entries appear to be much longer than needed (you know, like most of my blog posts). Therefore, instead of sharing entire journal entries, I’m going to use some excerpts and provide a few comments from today. I’m also not including specific names except when I do!

6/17/97 (Journal entry date)

After an exciting time packing and loading the car, my brother and I left Pittsburgh in route to Chicago. We drove through miles of Ohio and Indiana farmland and arrived at Northwestern after 9 hours.

Besides that and some dinner at the St. Louis Bread Company, I was so tired that I was asleep by 11.

Sean's Note: 15 years later, I regularly fall asleep before 11 even on weekends. I also fall asleep on the couch watching TV at least 2-3 times per week.

6/18/97

Following the party, a group of seven crammed into a car and headed down to the Northwestern Senior Week site. However, when we drove by the place, it was packed and there was a long line outside. Therefore, we went down to Wrigleyville. After finding two bars almost completely empty (what did we expect with the Cubs not playing at home and it being a Monday night). (Sean’s note: This is not a sentence!) Finally, we went to a bar and Laurie was able my brother in.

I have no idea who Laurie is. It has to be a friend of a friend.

She told the drunk bouncer Billy that my brother was the designated driver. Drunk Billy started praising my brother for being such a great guy to take responsibility of the group. My brother was encouraged to have free pop and coffee and anything else non-alcoholic. Billy told my brother that it was very admirable to be the DD, but if he drank anything, he would literally kick him out the door. My brother complied. My highlight of the evening was seeing the outside of Wrigley Field and getting a cup from the bar (although the cup says The Cubby Bear, which is another bar down the street).

My brother was 19 during the trip. As someone who rarely goes to bars anymore, I mention this since Billy the Bouncer let him into the bar despite being underage. Would this happen at most bars? Does the fact that he served as the designated driver make a difference?


6/20/97 (Writing about Tuesday, June 17)

My brother, my friend and I got lunch at a really good Chicago pizza place. Their deep dish pizza is incredible and very filing. Somehow my brother and I were able to finish our portions.

I added this just to prove that I ate Chicago pizza during the trip.

The only unfortunate part of the conversation with [a different friend] was that we left for the Cubs-White Sox game later than we wanted. We left Northwestern at around 5:15 and didn’t park the car until almost 8. The traffic was ridiculous and circling Comiskey Park was also dreadful. Finally, we paid $15 (about the same as the tickets) to park in a big driveway a few blocks from the stadium.

1997 was the first year of interleague baseball, and this was the second game of the Cubs-White Sox series. This was obviously a huge deal in Chicago. Regardless of the importance of the game, I hate being late to a sporting event, especially at a stadium I never visited previously. I really enjoy checking out stadiums and arenas and seeing what makes them unique from other ballparks. Finally, since we had limited funds for the road trip, spending $15 for parking didn’t make me happy. This was by far the most I had ever paid to park, and I still pay less than $15 when I attend Pirates games in Pittsburgh.

When we finally got to our upper-level 2rd base seats, it was the top of the 4th inning. The Sox were already up 2-0 and the fans were really into the game. The great thing about this game was that Cubs and Sox fans were in the same section, cheering for their teams, but most importantly, having a great time. A huge peanut fight broke out in front of us (I guess this was a food fight?) and two guys were battling with inflatable Cubs and Sox bats. A few sections over, a Cubs fan with red and blue body paint and a Go Cubs sign was parading up and down the aisle mooning and the Sox fans and having a great time. He was quickly ejected. The Sox ended up winning 5-3 but all the fans (at least that we were with) really enjoyed the game.

Even 15 years later, I’m amazed by how well the fans behaved. There were probably equal numbers of Cubs and Sox fans and there is (and was) a rivalry between the two franchises and fan bases. I think the uniqueness of the teams facing each other made it a game people wanted to see. Of course, at that point, both teams also went 80+ years without a World Series title.

Just for fun, I found the box score from the game. I have no recollection of Doug Drabek pitching for the White Sox that day or one of my favorite Pirates, Dave Clark, serving as the Designated Hitter for the Cubs.

More from Chicago and St. Louis during my next update of the 1997 Road Trip.

Chicago Notes

Why do people, more specifically, women, dress up to go shopping? I would think that you would want to dress comfortably and wear clothes that are easy to take on and off in case you would like to try on new clothes at the stores. Is this a Pretty Woman thing (meaning that a "nice" store wouldn’t want your business if you’re not dressed well)?

I saw a billboard for Chicago’s True Oldies radio station 94.7, which simply stated Monkees, Stones, Aretha. Now I like the Monkees (I’m sure that you are shocked by this statement based on my recent Neil Diamond posts), but they really don’t belong in the same class as The Rolling Stones or Aretha Franklin. The Oldies station may want to include The Beatles on its next billboards.

I ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in my fancy Chicago hotel and noticed something odd. There was a living fly stuck inside the parmesan cheese container on my table. I pointed it out to my waiter who looked confused when I asked him to remove the cheese. When I showed him the fly, he just said oh, and quickly took it away. There was no more discussion about the fly or the cheese. I should also mention that this dinner took place before the sprinkler issue.

Finally, I spent four days in Chicago and never make it to a Cubs game. Couldn’t the team schedule one game a series at night?

It's nice to be home!

Greetings from Chicago

So I’m at my fancy Chicago hotel where internet service costs $13+ per day. On Saturday afternoon, I was talking to my wife on the phone about the day. I tell her that I am waiting in line to talk to the hotel staff about a problem I am having with my room. Her response: "Did you stuff up the toilet?" I love my wife!

For the record, my toilet was fine unlike other trips I have taken over the years. Apparently, my upstairs neighbor decided to hang a shirt on one of the sprinkler heads. Not a good idea. When I returned to my room on Friday night, I noticed that the entryway was wet. The hotel’s assistant manager called me about a half hour later to see if I noticed the problem and offered to move me to a new room. Since it was already after 10:00pm, I had unpacked and it really didn’t bother me (as long as I didn’t walk barefoot or in socks to the closet), I decided to stay. The assistant manager said that housekeeping staff and/or maintenance would take care of everything the next morning.

When I stopped by my room after lunch on Saturday, I noticed that although my room had been cleaned, the carpet was still wet. That’s when I went to the front desk. When I returned to my room again even later in the afternoon, I found that the hotel brought me a fan. However, they didn’t actually plug in the fan and the nearest outlet was no where near the entryway. I called the assistant manager again asking for an extension cord, and he said that he would handle it, which the hotel finally did at least two hours later. The fan is currently running, as it did all night, and the area is slowly drying out. For Friday’s inconvenience, the hotel "comped" my room for a night. The free hotel room serves as justification for me to pay $13 for internet service, which is why I am sharing my story with you today!