I'm currently relaxing in a nice air conditioned apartment just down the street from Tulane. We got most of my sisters stuff moved over here to her temporary domicile last night. One of her new roommates is out of town for a while, and invited us to stay at her current place while we clean out Marlene's old apartment. She can't move into the new apartment just yet as the current tenants are still there, so this apartment is serving as a intermediary storage space/living quarters until she can. We decided against going out last night, fine by me as money is starting to get pretty tight, and I actually managed to get a good nights sleep. If you ask me this is as good a time as any to attempt to catch up on the blog. So without further ado... back to the windy city.
We have not set any particular itinerary for this trip beyond my insistence that we go to Hot Doug's. Thanks to the Chicago episode of No Reservations I did know of a handful of other interesting looking foodie stops if we happened to be in the area. Thursday morning marked our second day in Chicago and our first real opportunity to check out the city, so of course that is exactly what we didn't do. Instead we visited the Bahai temple in Wilmette, about 20-30 minutes north of Chicago. The grounds were under construction, but we were able to get into the building and walk around approximately half of the garden surrounding it. If you ever find yourself in the area, especially if you're there with someone special, I suggest you check this place out. Even with the construction the garden was serene, and absolutely beautiful. The building itself was little more than a dome covering a single large chamber, but it featured incredibly intricate designs covering every inch of the stonework. There is also a visitors center underneath the main room that explains the Bahai religion, and shows their other temples (only 7 worldwide).
The temple sits at the end of a cobblestone street lined with gorgeous houses and shade trees just off Lake Michigan. After leaving there we headed to a state park on the lake, but didn't stay long because none of us were dressed for the beach. On the way back we hit Burt's Place for some Chicago style deep-dish pizza. Now being from New England I really can't say that Chicago pizza is better or worse than our pizza, it's just different. Burt's pizzas however were excellent regardless of how you like your crust. Their hours are a bit weird, but if you're anywhere near the neighborhood it's definitely worth a visit. On the way back we visited with a friend of Hallie's, and then ended the night at another friend's place. Judging from those that I've met I really like the people in Chicago. It's refreshing to get away from the Boston/New York attitude.
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