Tag Archives: USA
Find the rooks (and a dorky bat) in The Rookery
Hey, WOB, how do I find The Rookery in Chicago? Well, dearest reader, you will find The Rookery on LaSalle, between Adams and Quincy. If you’re me—meaning you’re lucky—you can visit on your lunch break. Easy enough just to casually walk by and check it out from across the street. You’re probably going to want […]
Brighton Park: Parisian novelties, Flemish rooflines and Mexican submarines
Though I’ve lived in Chicago since 1994, this was the first time I’ve visited the Brighton Park neighborhood. I was not expecting Parisian Novelty. This is where we jumped off the bus, 17 miles south of our neighborhood, Rogers Park. The Parisian Novelty Company dates from 1898 and—back in the day—made trendy celluloid cases and […]
Tacos in the parking lot: how we do street food in Chicago
Last fall it was our 25th anniversary and HOB asked me how I wanted to celebrate, and I was like, “Hmmmm…I think I want to eat something in a parking lot while standing over a trash can.” We ended up eating dumplings from the food court in this ginormous grocery store. Due to various annoying […]
Frank Lloyd Wright’s System Built Houses in Illinois
There was a time, from 1911 – 1916, when Frank Lloyd Wright came up with a system to make beautifully designed houses accessible for middle-class folks. The idea of a Frank Lloyd Wright home being considered “affordable housing” is kind of hilarious. These days his homes are for rich people; really rich people. Wright was […]
Be the kind of tourist that goes to Pullman
Chicago is huge and most tourists see very little of it (probably true to say this of most residents too). I work in the tourist industry and often get asked for directions to Navy Pier, Giordano’s Pizza, and—if they are feeling daring—to Wrigley Field. So it really shocked me when a few years ago a […]
The mid-century modern intelligence quotient
We’re still in a quarantine in Chicago but restrictions have loosened up a bit—Quarantine Lite™ I guess you’d call it. I’ve ventured on a few train and bus rides and yesterday I was able to visit my family (from a safe distance) for the first time in four months. On top of that, I got […]
The cultural heritage practices of my people
Before traveling to a new place, I like to study the cultural heritage practices of the people who live there—you know, like ceremonies marking the start of harvest season or maybe puppetry performed to ancient poetry. Now that I’m in a quarantine with no opportunity to travel in the foreseeable future, I thought this […]
Pandemic fear infrastructure in Rogers Park, Chicago
We’ve been in a quarantine lock-down for six weeks in Chicago. While all my friends seem to be spending their time cleaning and organizing their homes, crafting, learning new languages and growing sourdough starters, it turns out that in quarantine I am still a slob. So rather than magically transforming into a more productive person, […]
Mundelein College: resourceful nuns to the rescue
It was considered a skyscraper; a skyscraper college for Catholic women. And what did a Catholic women’s college need? Nuns, of course, to administer the college and teach the students. The nuns, like they so often have been, were ingenious heroines of Mundelien College. But before you hear about the nuns, you need to know […]
The dress code is linen at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple
HOB and I used to take a staycation every spring. We’d run around Chicago, visiting far away neighborhoods, going to concerts and plays, and walking around with an architecture book doing self-guided tours. On several of these vacations we took the train out to Oak Park, our visits always seeming to coincide with an event […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 