Indiana along Lake Michigan, Chicago, a new favorite, and next plan

I left New Buffalo after blogging then came up to the Indiana border only to realize that I left my Flip in New Buffalo.  I wasted an hour, but I couldn't do without a camera and camcorder.

 

Everyone had warned me about Gary, Indiana.  The group of people concerned for my well being included my father, a guy who made me a sandwich in South Haven, Mike Yeh in Milwaukee, and a cyclist that wanted to ride from Michigan City, IN to Chicago, IL but was afraid of Gary.  Even Google showed a route adding 20 miles to my trip to route me around Gary.  Needless to say, I was concerned...and I probably won't name any of my children Gary.  With this fear, I decided to brave Gary early in the morning.  In fact, I camped the night before in the Sand Dunes between Michigan City and Gary.  I set my iPod to wake me up at 6am since I was illegally camping in the park, and it opens at 7.  This would provide plenty of get away time.  When I woke up, it was still dark outside.  I was a little confused as I slowly gathered my belongings.  I later realized that I had crossed a time zone and really woke up at 5am.

The effect of this was that I crossed through Gary at about 8:30am.  The town looked depressed, but I never had a reasonable reason to be nervous and was never in danger greater than a rouge truck driver going postal on a biker.  I didn't see any white people and heard lots of sub woofers blasting, but everything seemed fine to me.

The next town after Gary is East Chicago.  This place was all factories and pretty awful to ride through.  There is a unique smell only rivaled by parts of New Jersey and the Houston Ship Channel.

 

I sailed on through Indiana and was at the border much sooner than I needed to.  My friend wasn't getting off work until 1pm and my ETA for Chicago was 11am.

 

After cruising up the SouthSide of Chicago, which I found much more intense than Gary, I found Michigan Ave.  I passed by the Art Institute with the green copper lions except for their tails where so many people have touched it that the oxidation is rubbed clean and Millennium Park with its gorgeous amphitheater. 

 

After settling in, Mike, Anderson, and I went to the Air and Water practice.  There was nothing in the water so it was basically the same thing as NY or SF's Fleet Week.  The plane maneuvers are awesome and intimidating.  I may be going to far, but I think these shows are subsidised by the government to remind people that we should be paying billions of dollars for new high tech planes to put on yearly free shows and scare the crap out of whatever potential threat the US has.  The announcer was not shy to remind the crowd of how the US Air Force is the strongest in the world.  It seems a bit subjective but probably true however you analyze it. 

After the plane show, we went to Second City Comedy Club, where Chris Farley and Jim Belushi got their starts.  The show was a sketch comedy with parts of it hysterical and parts of it redundant.  Post comedy show, we went to Old Town Social, which was a cool bar with Edison light bulbs.  Then we taxied over to Wicker Park and roamed around.  So far so good.  Chicago nightlife is bustling.  

The videos from Friday evening are mostly incomprehensible, not for the state of mind, but for the loud music and lack of light.  Bars close at 2, 3, or 4 O'clock depending on their license.  There tends to be a mad dash for each later one before the night ends with a taco, burrito, or any Mexican stuffed greasy thing.

We had planned to go play volleyball on Lake Michigan and see the real Air and Water show on Saturday.  However, torrential downpours prevented this.  A few episodes of Entourage later, we were onto Wrigleyville.  This section of town is completely awesome.  I ran into a college peer and shared a few beers.  After six hours in Barleycorn, Vines, and Sheffield, we returned back to prepare for a night in the Gold Coast along Hubbard Street.  The night included dancing at Theory, not getting into a hotel downstairs club, then hanging out at Boss Bar until they kicked us out a little after 4.

 

I didn't take out my Flip anymore, so there are no more videos of Chicago.  I explored more of Chicago and will be leaving on Wednesday.  Awesome things I did in Chicago including but not limited to: 1) Tully took me to the Art Institute where I saw (quoting Ferris Bueller) priceless works of art 2) Tried to figure out how many reflection of oneself is possible in one location under The Bean 3) Went to a Cubs game for $10 4) Ashley Gulke showed to the Union League of Chicago where I was given loaner khaki pants 5) A tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor where everything from grain, to OJ, to 10 year T-bonds are traded.  The exchange floor was pretty much like a sports book in Las Vegas.  Things that are identical: 1) The boards on the walls look like they are made of Lite-Brite and use the same colors 2) Mostly old and bald men 3) People will begin to raise their hands, pointing any number of fingers to the sky, and start shouting.  I equate this to a turnover in the NFL.  They come unexpectedly and lots of excitement happens around these events. 4) Each pit is like a different game.  The guy with a wager on the Eagles game will look over at what the Chargers when the fans are yelling but doesn't actually care since he doesn't have any skin in the game.  This is common when there are 10 simultaneous Sunday morning NFL games.  4) There are rows of seats away from the Pits.  I equate the Pits to the randomly placed chairs up front in a sports book and the rows in the back to the rows in the back with small personal TV's for the hardcore horse better. 5) People are chain smoking just outside the trading floor, assuming the sports book is smoke free.

One other observation was that the traders are wearing baby holding slings for their tablets.  They all have an iPad or some other knock off tablet.  It appeared that most were running a form of windows, so I assume knock off is the norm.

I have enjoyed every moment in Chicago and may very well want to live here some day.  As for my next plans, I am leaving Wednesday.  I am taking Amtrak West so I can make an event called Burning Man, which start on August 29th.  The same guy who made my sandwich in South Haven, suggested that I pass on the Chicken Sandwich and get the Burner.  I followed his instructions, and while waiting for my sandwich to toast, I realized this was a sign that I will use Burning Man as the end of my first mid-career retirement.  I will be in the middle of the Nevada desert by Monday and will have no cell phone service or email access.