Took this tour last Friday afternoon. A great way to close out the week. It was about 70 degrees, the sky was a perfectly cloudless, and everyone in the city seemed to be exuding the same good spirits that I was feeling. It was Friday after all.

The idea behind this tour was gather a list of iconic non-tourist-tour visits that we could deconstruct the deeper meaning behind. For example… big ol’ city hall building might represent the smooth big name politicians that have put their stamp on the city. A hot dog at a ball game might represent the role that sports play. An italian man on a unicycle juggling deep dish pizzas might represent the balancing act that minority groups have to have between their heritage and the Chicago culture at large. Um… get it?

This picture is of Dana posing outside our ACM offices. She’s doing a good job of looking like she has no idea that this picture is being creepily taken of her.

I just love the fact that the Chicago Theatre sign is literally right on top of the entrance to our office. Really makes me feel like I’ve ARRIVED in the City of Chicago! when I walk into an office that’s marked by that sign. But its not super unique. Portland has a sign like that, I know. And it’s very commonly photographed as well, often in these tilted-angle-am-I-artsy-yet? kinda ways. But even seeing that sign in Portland will make me feel as though I’ve ARRIVED, like I am PRESENT in the City of Portland! So that’s what that icon means to me: HELLO CHICAGO I AM ARRIVED.

These following few pictures were taken only a block away from our office, when we got a view that overlooked the Chicago River. And this is our friend Dave, who is leading the Arts program for ACM Chicago. We Urban Studies students get bits and pieces of interaction with him, so I spent a good part of the trip trying to milk his perspective for all it was worth.

In the background of this picture is a tour boat with all kinds of tourists touring on it. Haha! we scoffed. We ACM students think of ourselves as higher beings than those common naive tourists that bumble about from guided trip to guided trip. We ACM students are above such things! So when Dave tells the story of how the Dave Matthew Band bus once dumped their sewage out while crossing a bridge over the Chicago River and accidently hit a tour boat, we all get to laugh at the thought of those newly purchased Cubs t-shirts and rarely used Flip phones and Chicago skyline posters getting splattered by famous dookie juice. Because those tourists deserve it, and we are not tourists. We are tourists +1. And that is what that story represents.

On the other side of the river we see these two odd parking structures, which decidedly stand out from all the other boringly rectangular buildings around them. Pffff. Dave our friendly tour guide tells us that these buildings were built in the middle of last century— 50s perhaps? Or maybe we were speculating. Anyway, Chicago is known for their progressiveness, and their willingness to attempt new and creative ways of doing things. I believe that their official city slogan is: “Chicago: We reversed a river damnit, let’s do this!” So if any city is to design and build a new, innovative parking structure and place it right smack dab in critical viewpoint location, it’s gonna be Chicago. Even if said parking structures look like twin hair curlers.

Nothing but respect, Chicago. Nothing but respect.

Also across the river is the Trump Tower of Chicago. It is, simply put, the most phallic building I have ever laid eyes upon. It gleams of overcompensation. Shwing! I will never look at it the same way again. 

We walked along the waterfront for a while and ducked into a tunnel. I thought it looked familiar, this tunnel. I felt like I had seen it somewhere before… Then this dude came by in his fancy motorcycle thing and I remembered. Dave confirmed it: the tunnel where they filmed the Dark Knight. Both new Batman movies have been filmed here, but the Dark Knight was the one to make better use of the city. The parade and the assassination attempt on the mayor was filmed in front of City Hall. Heath Ledger was seen walking into local starbucks in full Joker makeup. And the tunnel scene was filmed in the tunnel we saw in the tour.

I’m completing Dave’s thought here, but if Superman’s Metropolis and Batman’s Gotham City were to be the representation of American cities, then the answers would have to be New York and Chicago. And we all know what Batman’s Gotham City represents (I’ll tell you): Crime. Political and police corruption. Racial tensions. And the savior being the very rich philanthropist, (Montgomery Ward? Bruce Wayne.) who may or may not be confused and unsure themselves… Sure, I dig that kinda stuff.

The Billy Goat Tavern. Story goes that a working class dude with the nickname of Billy Goat (he had Billy Goat pets. Go figure.) tried to bring a goat into the 4th game of a Cubs world series game. The Billy Goats were denied entry, and so Billy Goat man then leveled a curse at the cubs, swearing that they would never win a world series ever ever. The local media loved this man, as did the citizens of Chicago. Enough for the legend of the Billy Goat curse to spread like wildfire, and for the Billy Goat tavern to become a popular Chicago chain. Helped by a famous Belushi SNL sketch, of course.

And once inside, the people working the burgers bring a certain charm to their work: order a cheeseburger and a pepsi and they’re bound to get very upset. Call the cops, they say. You get a double cheezborger. And no pepsi… COKE. We all got to mess with the guys there, just a little. Everyone asked for a cheezborger, and so got to giggle when the man demanded we get a double cheezborger instead. And you thought we were tourists…

Jack Brickhouse. Hall of Fame broadcaster. I thought he fit in with the baseball theme. And he completely just looked like any normal fan, except for the being a bronze statue part.

This is based off American Goethic (i think its called). But this statue is simply titled: God Bless America. And yes, Chicago loves its middle, working class. The background of America, right? God Bless.

Also I wanna mention that this tour took place on September 11th. We had had a moment of silence that morning. The date lingered in my thoughts throughout the day. And when the day was over and we returned to the ACM office, we saw protestors across the street proclaiming that 911 was a conspiracy. They weren’t particularly disruptive, but… c’mon people. Show respect.  I find a lot of those arguments valid, but at the same time… The decision to use that day to push a separate agenda made me sorta mad at their whole perspective. Time and place for those things.

We got to go up the Hancock building to take in some of the incredible sights around the city. That’s the next few pics…

There was a skywalk area in the tower that allowed you to soft roaring of the noise of the city below you. Not a doubt in my mind: the sound of the city was like ocean waves. There is an ebb and flow, like a rising of noise and then a sucking back of momentum, and then a rise again. Can’t get that noise out of my head…

One thing that I realized while I was up here was the role that the lakefront played for the city. We had been told that the lakefront was made into public property, so that the citizens could enjoy the beaches and believe that they lived in a beautiful place. And it’s true.

But the energy of the city seems to want to advance onto the beaches more and more, as if they were bearing down on it. The highest buildings are right there, looking as if they’re acting as a dam for the building pressure of the urban growth behind them. 

The beaches become even more important, then. Despite the efforts of urbanization (I’m sure many companies and developers would love to get their hands on some lakefront property) The beach really does belong to the people. The beach is an icon of the city that should be very highly valued.

Our group then travelled by bus to the Lincoln zoo to check out some lions and tigers and bears o my. The zoo here is free, as is this conservatory behind us. Gorgeous, gorgeous day.

Not many guys in this program. I was the only guy student in my group, as seen here. But it’s okay; we guys still manage to hold it down. Luckily we share a common interest in football, and I got to watch a ton of it this weekend with them. Consider my man-o-meter replenished.

Not quite sure of this exact location… Fullerton maybe? By Clark? But this neighborhood was quite hip indeed. Just look at all that affordable housing. Yep. A safe haven for the over educated college grad indeederz…

Which led us to our next stop, the hippest and whitest crowd of perennial losers I’ve ever seen: Wrigley Stadium in Wrigleyville. Seriously, after a week of living in Hyde Park, I was shocked to realize that I had now entered into a monocolored world. Even hipper and whiter than an Oregon music festival. And I know these things.

The only other ethnicity that I noticed were either rocking the bucket drums or hawking tickets. I’m not complaining: I’m from the suburbs of Portland, so you know I’m in my element. I was definitely comfortable there. But I definitely had to notice it.

In Wrigleyville we snapped a few photos and listened to Dave finish the story of the the Billy Goat curse, which he had only started at the Billy Goat Tavern. I had heard the story of the curse before, but now after actually being in Chicago and hearing it again I gleaned a different perspective from it this time. Chicago really does love their working class heroes. Billy Goat wasn’t exceptional or even highly influential —unless you truly believe in that curse… and I’m pretty sure some do— Billy Goat was simply a guy who wanted to live his life with something interesting going on in it. Not day to day, but with character and for reasons.

So when Billy Goat’s beloved team told him that he wasn’t allowed to enter their stadium because of his personality, his very identity!, well, he told them to go screw themselves cause that act was not just a betrayal of him and his goat, but of the identity of all extravagant and interesting Chicagoans who merely want to live their lives with some purpose. Even if those purposes are strange and sometimes will eat your shoes.

“Chicago: We reversed a river, damnit, and we’re going to give you double cheezborgers and bring our goats wherever we friggin want!”