For about two weeks, I traveled all over the East Coast... At least, it felt that way. My reason for going in the first place was for work. Since I was getting a paid trip to and from the East Coast, and I had some free time after my job was over (the one great thing about freelancing), I thought I might as well shell out a few more bucks and visit some old friends who had relocated out there, most of whom I haven't seen in a good while. And thus began Jean's 2008 East Coast Tour.

New York | In Transit | Chicago | Florida

East Coast Tour 2008: Chicago

Chicago, IL

November 2-6, 2008

(Yes, I know Chicago is in the Midwest, not the East Coast. But, you know what? It's closer to the East Coast than it is to me, here out on the West Coast. Also, it's the only Midwest stop in my entire trip. ... So there!)


Chicago Union Station FINALLY! Nearly 24 hours later, I finally made it to Chicago! ... By the way, Chicago is pretty dead on Sunday mornings.


Chicago Chinatown After I met up with my brother at the train station, we dropped my bags off at his place and headed into Chinatown for some dim sum. Believe me - Happy Chef is THE place to be for some fabulous dim sum! Whatever weight I lost walking all over New York and eating sensible vegetarian meals every day, I am sure I gained it all back in that one sitting there.


I'm sure this also helped add back a few ounces... Why is food so good in Chicago??? This is a pumpkin pie concrete, a delicious ice-cream-like dessert from Chicago's own Scooter's Frozen Custard Shop. If you've never had Scooter's frozen custard before, then you have no idea what you're missing. This is pure heaven! This particular one was actually something my brother and I shared... AFTER we had already finished servings of frozen custard in bananas foster and chocolate, respectively.	NBC Studios, Chicago Home of "The Jerry Springer Show" and its spin-off, "The Steve Wilkos Show." It may seem to you like the theme of my trip was visiting various NBC Studios. If that's what you were thinking, you are mistaken. Actually, my brother and I ended up here on a fluke. The theme of my trip to Chicago was "Where in the World is Buckingham Fountain?" (For those of you who don't know, Buckingham Fountain is the fountain that appears in the opening credits on "Married with Children.") We tried looking for this fountain on two separate occassions, both of which were unsuccessful. The first time around, we just got bad directions, period. The second time, we got a late start and didn't want to go trekking through Grant Park late into the night. Oh well. Next time...


On our way to the Obama Rally on Election Day/Night. I didn't even realize I would be in Chicago on Election Day until about a week before I left for my trip. Since I knew Barack Obama was from Chicago, I had imagined there might be something big there on Election Day. But I didn't find out about the rally until I had arrived in Chicago and was doing my little search for Buckingham Fountain. Really, I had to drag my brother (who kept using the excuse of "homework" for his "class" in the "morning")! I convinced him that he could do his work on the train and there at the rally, and so he finally decided to go (and, believe it or not, he really did get some work done!).


Making our way into the heart of the rally. We got there a little on the earlier side, so while there was still quite a big crowd, it wasn't too crazy when we first got there.	Chicago Downtown Skyline on Election Day


At this point in the rally, we were probably one of the first hundred or so to get into Grant Park. There really was hardly anyone inside at this time.	A street performer As you can see, the crowd is slowly starting to build up.


Kids for Obama	People sitting/standing on top of the porta-potties, trying to get a better view.


This was from earlier in the night, when we first got there. Really, it was still quiet enough for my brother to be able to sit down and read.	A MUCH bigger crowd...


There was pretty much no more room to sit down at this point. I think this is about the time when CNN had just projected Obama to be the winner.	The crowd goes crazy as Obama makes his acceptance speech.


People going crazy You can see my brother quickly passing through the shot about halfway through the video.


Leaving Grant Park... I don't know if anyone else felt this, but everything seemed to end and wrap up so quickly during this election. Maybe it was because the past two elections were so messed up - I had just assumed that we wouldn't know who won until the morning and that we would be there in the park until dawn. Really, who knew it could be this simple? ... But it sure did take FOREVER to get out of there and get back home.


A Day is All It Takes... Believe it or not, this is Grant Park exactly 24 hours after the Election Day rally. That street corner on the right is where my brother and I were, wading in a sea of Chicagoans, watching CNN's Election Day coverage on a big jumbotron. There really was no sign of anything of that magnitude having ever taken place there. Those are some clean-up crews!