Chicago: Part Two

I ended my last post at the Willis Tower, because the next part of my trip is a good story that deserves a lengthy explanation. Lauren and I were desperate to purchase Chicago Blackhawks t-shirts and gear, as the Chicago vs. Vancouver game was later that evening. We parted from our group, and quickly made a break for the nearest souvenir shop. Unfortunately, every shop worth visiting closed at six p.m. That meant that we wouldn’t be wearing authentic shirts out that night, and needed to come up with a backup plan.

Before I go any further with my story, I need to explain something. The entire day, Lauren and I were very careful about crossing the street. After witnessing a nearly fatal incident involving a pedestrian and a taxi, we weren’t taking any chances. Everyone else strolled casually across intersections – walk symbol or lack thereof – but Lauren and I were vigilant with our crosswalk navigation, and thankfully, we weren’t taken out by a rushing Chicago resident. After parting with our friends, however, we were on a deadline and became increasingly daring with our street crossing methods. At one point, we raced across half of North Michigan Ave, jumped the boulevard, and raced across the other side... Oh yeah, we’re wild.

To make a long story short, Walgreens saved our life. Every single souvenir store we visited that was OPEN did not sell Blackhawks shirts. We ran to roughly five, which is not fun when your feet are maimed beyond recognition from a day of walking. After exhausting out resources, we entered Walgreens, and found red shirts that said “ONE GOAL” at the top and “CHICAGO” at the bottom. I still don’t know what ONE GOAL is referring to exactly, but we thankfully found a solution to our problem. We each bought a shirt and a sharpie marker. We purposefully walked back to the hotel, and got to work. If we were going to come up with something, it might as well be good.

Lauren and I each wrote “BLACKHAWKS” on the front of our shirts, and “TOEWS, 19” on the back. We brought the markers to Timothy O’Toole’s – the bar we visited to watch the game that night – and let people write whatever they want all over our shirts. I think a few people we were with were slightly embarrassed about our “MacGyvered” attire, but a woman working at the bar actually asked to take our picture. She explained that she was going to put our photo up on the wall of the bar, and she also gave us free Blackhawks merchandise for being awesome fans. I got a t-shirt that says “Hockey Night in Chicago,” and Lauren got a hat. Not bad for two girls, two shirts, and two sharpie’s. Thank you Walgreens! You saved us!

The next day, I went on a tour that explored the seedy and corrupt underworld that was the twenties and thirties of Chicago. Put plainly, I checked out Al Capone’s stomping grounds. With a few friends, we were whisked away on a bus that toured the slightly shady areas of Chicago. We visited Chinatown, Little Italy, and South Michigan Ave, to name a few. We passed the Schoenhofen Brewery, which was Al Capone’s beer brewery. The building still stands, and still brews beer today. We also drove by May Capone’s sisters house, where she lived until she passed away last year. I couldn’t imagine having tour buses driving by my house every day. That would get exhausting.

There were two highlights for me during the tour. The first was a visit to Notre Dame Church, the site of a huge gangster shoot out. At the time, the entire front of the church was riddled with bullet holes. Most were cleaned up – because no one really wants to attend services in a shot up building – but one hole was left in the wall. Apparently, every couple that is married in the church has their picture taken with their fingers in the bullet hole. They do this a moment after saying I do, and it is a local Chicago tradition. I thought that was pretty funny. I would do it...

The second highlight of the tour was driving past the Biograph Theatre. Anyone who has seen the movie Public Enemies will automatically know what I am talking about, but for those who are unsure, I will elaborate. John Dillinger was a notorious criminal in the thirties, and it was at the Biograph that he was shot and killed by FBI agents on the night of July 22, 1934. He was given up to police by a Romanian prostitute - Anna Sage – who was also known as the “woman in red.” Dillinger fell and bled out on a manhole in front of an alley, roughly three metres away from the entrance to the theatre, and it was a public spectacle. People dipped their clothing, newspapers, or whatever else they could find in Dillinger’s blood to either sell or keep as a souvenir. Photographers crowded around the body, fighting for the best angle to snap a picture. The theatre became immediately famous, and people like me visit it every day to catch a glimpse of where a historical icon took his last step.

In the film – Public Enemies – the street was completely re-created to look exactly as it did on the night of the shooting. Using old photos, cinematographers and set designers reconstructed building facades, strategically placed automobiles, and ensured the same products and messages were displayed in storefront windows. It was an enormous undertaking, but re-creating the street really made the scene in the film come alive. Today, the buildings are modern, and the only hint that something important went down at the Biograph is a plaque on the wall explaining the property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On our tour, we also drove by the site of The Oprah Winfrey Show. There really isn’t anything interesting to report, and unfortunately I did not have a personal sighting of the television diva myself. Three second year CreComm students were lucky enough to score tickets to the show, but I was only able to view the building from the outside. Something interesting to note, however, is that a long line of taxis lined one side of the building. The drivers sit in their cars all day long, and when Oprah needs something, they speed away to run her errands. I can’t imagine how sinfully boring it would be to wait all day to run an errand. Oh well, it’s Oprah. She’s practically God.

In the afternoon, a group of us accompanied Kenton and Melanie to Ketchum PR, an agency that agreed to show us around and explain some of the secrets of the trade. This visit was actually one of the main reasons why the Chicago trip was planned in the first place, and I wasn’t missing it for the world. The agency is located on the 37th floor of an absolutely beautiful building, and the view out the windows is breathtaking. Ketchum PR is probably best known globally for the Cat Cam promotion, where cameras were attached to cat`s collars to see what they did when their owners were away. I hope I will have the opportunity to work at a place like Ketchum when I graduate...so... hire me, hire me, HIRE ME!

Our last day in Chicago included a trip to Navy Pier and the worlds coldest architectural boat tour in the morning, and shopping in the afternoon. I wandered the Magnificent Mile with Sam, where we became acquainted with an iPad and fell in love with Tiffany & Co. I tried to fight the beautiful jewellery impulse for as long as possible when Sam and I were in Tiffany's, but she's a bad influence, and I caved. I am now the proud owner of a Tiffany`s necklace, and it was some of the best money I have ever spent. Sam and I took waaayyy too many photos outside the store, and skipped down the street in celebration. It was a great way to end my trip, and I will always have something to remind me of my time in Chicago.

There are so many other things that I would love to mention, such as the two hours I spent in the amusement park at the Mall of America, or the frigidly cold baseball game I attended at US Cellular Field, but i'll leave those stories for later. If I had to sum up my trip to Chicago in one word, it would be "interesting," and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Thanks everyone, I had a blast!