From her stoop in the center of a sophisticated city, my niece Erin has carved out a delightful little corner of Mayberry. She and her neighborhood gang enjoy a living-room-forts, frontyard-warter-balloon-fight, Saturday-sleepover, come-home-when-the-streetlights-turn-on kind of childhood, while all around them Chicago hums. They each have the necessary kind of scheduled activities that keep their parents [...]
Last weekend, two of my favorite adventure companions and I jumped on the El and headed to Chicago's famous Christkindlmarket. Unfortunately, we preceded our trip to an outdoor market full of luscious strudel, craft cheeses and fat pretzels with breakfast at Chicago's equally famous Anne Sathers, home of the ridiculously rich cinnamon bun. Himmelherrgott! We [...]
I took a crash course in Blackhawks as we headed down to Chicago for my first NHL game at the United Center. "I should know the words to Chelsea Dagger, shouldn't I?" I said. Turns out, the words aren't the point of Chicago's famous goal song. Good thing, too, because I ended up singing Chelsea [...]
Hey Chicago, Can we talk? I feel like we haven’t been in sync lately and I think the healthiest way to address this problem is with openness and honesty. We’ve been together what, three years? Ok, I know I was traveling a lot the first year and a half but, hey, I just signed my [...]
If you want to know about a classic rock band, ask a guy who has seen them perform more than 20 times. Our friend Mike discovered Chicago 40 years ago. Son of a band leader himself, Mike identified with the classically trained musicians. "They're educated musicians," he said. "They mostly met in college in Chicago [...]