As luck would have it, the day dawned sunny, which finally allowed me to take some decent photos.
Morning brought a southbound tour of Western Avenue, a stop in The Loop, a northbound tour of Lincoln Avenue, and then a southbound exit from the city just as rush hour was beginning. We departed via Lakeshore Drive and through a relatively safe chunk of the south side. I’d love to see more of the southside, but with a guide who knows his way around.
I realized upon leaving Chicago that most of my best stuff was shot on video as we drove through the never-ending commercial strips and neighborhoods of the city. One of the things I love most about Chicago (and one that’s hard to capture with a still camera) is the very “old meets new” texture of the city, where a hundred-year-old streetcar strip may very well contain a 1970s shopping center with a Kmart (or a Googie coffee shop or a motel) in its midst. The whole city has grown organically rather than by way of a master plan, and it’s urban in a way that most “new urban” complexes can never be.
Anyway, our drive from Chicago to Detroit was pretty uneventful. I’m pretty sure we ate someplace, but I have no idea where.
