This past week I had several days off from work and had finished a round of projects but hadn't started the others yet. What's a girl chock full o' whimsy to do? Turns out, the answer is borderline spontaneous travel to Chicago with three of her favorite people. We really didn't have a plan other than "have fun" and "laugh a lot," both of which were achieved. We left Tuesday morning at 8:00 A.M. The people going were Carolyn-student, Sam-musician, and me and Manny-theatre folk and general artists. Needless to say 8:00 A.M. is not normally our friend, but we thought we'd give it a go. I knew it was going to be a ridiculous day when Sam runs into my bedroom at 7:40 asking if we were there yet, which inexplicably sent me into a fit of laughter. After a seven hour car ride we arrived in Chicago, or more specifically, Elk Grove Village where our hotel was. We were all four cramming into one room, so we didn't spend a lot of time there. That evening however, we did take a few moments to slightly unpack, get used to not being in the car, and order in a deep dish pizza (total vegan fail, I know; but I'm still in stage three, so it's okay) to really get us in a Chicago state of mind. It was absolutely delicious, but we were determined not to let a food coma hit us. Carolyn and I changed and then the four of us headed to the closest L stop (the O'Hare airport) with the intention to hit up Boystown.
Boystown is one of the main reasons we decided on Chicago for our travel plans. I was fascinated by the idea of an entire section of the city run by queer folk, and not just a block here and there. Boystown ended up being quite good to us; that first night, I wanted to check out a stray lesbian bar, so we went to one I'd heard about. They were playing decent music but it was kind of dead, so once a friend that lives in Chicago met us there, we headed out on foot to Roscoe's. Roscoe's was one of my must-do's in the city because of its legendary status in the gay community. We definitely were not disappointed; It was still early in the night, so it was a little slow but they had a really roomy dance floor and delicious drinks (including energy drinks for those who don’t drink alcohol), so we were happy. The dance floor was completely empty at first too, which meant that Sam and I could swing dance all we wanted to club music, and no one would be annoyed. After a bit, we headed across the street to Cocktail because we'd noticed on the way to Roscoe's that they were doing karoake. I liked Roscoe's a lot, but Cocktail was my favorite club. We walked in and there was an exotic male dancer, which was obviously totally lost on me (the rest of my party was pretty stoked, though). I ushered us back to the karaoke part and we spent a few hours there dancing, signing ourselves and each other up for songs, and really chatting up the bartender, Karaoke MC and obvious regulars. With acknowledgement that this may sound overly self-assured I feel that I should tell you that our performance and presence at Cocktail were a huge hit! They were very kind to us, let us sing lots...and kept asking us to stay if we went to leave! At one point the bartender said to me "Girl, put that coat on, you're not leaving before my song". It was so fun! Even places that I regularly patronize in the cities do not seem that enthralled with my friends or me. There was a drag show at Roscoe's, so we did eventually head back over there. We only caught a couple of performances when it hit us: We. Were. Exhausted. This meant time to head back to the L Stop, but since it was so late everything was different! I was so grateful that Kassie, our friend who lives in Chicago, was there to lead the way, and we got back safely and soundly.
Sleep didn’t really happen that night, in part because we woke up to the couple next door screaming at each other, and in part because we were all so excited! The next morning we somehow managed to roll out of bed barely in time to meet a friend for breakfast. Seriously, barely. As in, he showed up in our hotel room while we were getting ready. So we hurried and chatted and ran to a nearby fast food chain for breakfast sandwiches. We had a great time, but he had to leave. We had decided to spend the day downtown, with the eventual goals of hitting up Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center.
Our train ride always took about an hour each way, so we knew once we headed out, we were gone for a significant period of time. At one point we did get a little confused about which bus or train to take, so we took a break for Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and donuts. Their coffee is the best cheap coffee ever, and I don’t care what anyone has to say about it! We did eventually figure it all out, and headed for downtown with our bellies nice and full of toasted almond or raspberry coffee and maple-frosted donuts. We spent a very leisurely afternoon shopping, walking along the river, and doing Millennium Park. Everything was so beautiful and charming! I really didn’t know what to expect from Chicago, but I was very taken. The architecture alone is breathtaking, and with the river and Lake Michigan right there it was a complete artist’s dream.
After we got our fill of Millennium Park we jumped across the street to the Chicago Cultural Center. They were about to close so we only really had time for one exhibit; but it was amazing. It was on Violence, Women, and Art and contained everything from statements about American Mainstream Media to poignant, striking photography symbolic of genital mutilation. We all laughed in some places and welled up in others. It was a very enriching experience, and one I’m glad that we shared together. As we were heading out I caught some pictures of the Tiffany Dome as well as the gilded staircases. I was a little behind the others due to my shutterbugness, but when I caught up with them they had discovered that the Queer Film Society of Chicago was screening a documentary about GLBT history and culture in Chicago. We decided to stay for that, and I’m really glad we did. I think leaving time for spontaneity is so important to your travel plans. I could’ve regimented out this trip, but we wouldn’t have walked along the river, we wouldn’t have ordered pizza in, and we certainly wouldn’t have gotten to see Queerborn and Perversion and talk with the filmmaker.
Carolyn was worn out after that, so she headed back to the hotel while Manny, Sam, and I headed back to Boystown. I was famished so we ended up popping into four or five different places looking for food. It was actually really fun, like a survey course of Boystown bars and grills. Eventually I landed at Nookie’s, a rare food-centric staple in the area. I had one of the best veggie burgers of my life, and then we headed to Hydrate for an AMAZING Drag Revue. We actually stationed ourselves there for the evening, and each of us ended up entranced by at least one queen.
I don’t even remember getting back to the hotel that night. We somehow found the subway alone, and I vaguely remember falling asleep on Sam’s lap during the ride. I honestly hadn’t had a drop of alcohol that night either, I was just so full of life and culture…and I slept so poorly the night before that I could barely function. Get to the hotel I did though, and was out like a light until late the next morning. We had to head back a little early because of commitments from a couple of members of my party, but that doesn’t mean we stopped having fun. In fact, we concluded that trip in a way that I believe all trips should conclude; with Rent and Wicked sing-alongs.
Wishing you and yours peace, passion, and love.
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