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Ariadne's Thread by zer0gee
November 11th, 2008 12:58 AMI decided that I would follow his "thread" just as he had handed it to me. It was not at all the most efficient route from place to place, but I felt I shouldn't change it - the lines drawn between the places were in Dax's memory, and I wanted to honor that. You can see the map here.
1. Saint Charles Airline Bridge - This was by far my favorite of the things that Dax chose that I hadn't yet seen. It is massive, elegantly imposing. I spent a whole hour looking at and around it, and that wasn't nearly enough time. I tore myself away because I had so much more to see, but I will return to this bridge. This is one of the things I will miss most about Dax's company - he knows where the cool stuff is. While I was taking photos, a security vehicle pulled up next to me. I thought, "Oh, shit, not ALREADY?!", but the elderly guard just said I should be careful of traffic. He told me he was "an old railroad buff", started talking about bridges, and we had the beginnings of what would have been a fascinating conversation, if he hadn't have had to move to allow a big truck pass him down the narrow street.
2. Field Museum - I had to go down Roosevelt to get to the museum. This is one of the streets Dax and I scouted for Journey to the End of the Night. I also passed the Roosevelt CTA station, which is where Dax, Spidere, and I parted ways after our exciting completion of Urban Exploration 1. Though I lived in the city for ten years previous to my move to New Orleans, so much of what I know of the layout of Chicago has been influenced by Dax. In fact, the Field Museum is where we first met in meatspace, when he graciously attended my steampunk scavenger hunt there.
3. Jumping Bean Cafe - I ate lunch here. It was busy with other people having their lunches at 1pm, too. The food was excellent, though the service was understandably a bit rushed and impersonal. It's housed in a beautiful building - I also liked the building across the street, but I couldn't find any info on it after searching a bit online. Ironically, my only other experience eating in the Pilsen neighborhood (also excellent), was half a block away at the Taqueria Cardenas, where my most recent ex-lover brought me on past occasion.
4. 2846 W. 21st Street - This is a private residence, an apartment building with a Gothic-style facade, complete with gargoyle downspouts. I have found that, disappointingly, Chicago doesn't have very many gargoyles, so it was a pleasure to visit these little guys.
5. Aji Ichiban - I like Asian candy. It's pretty weird, and can be disgusting to the American taste, but it's fun. I live near a huge Japanese mall and usually get my candy there. Aji Ichiban has a much wider selection - I bought a big bag with the intent to bring some to Dax's going-away party to share, if I haven't eaten it all by then. I used to work in Chinatown, and if you want the broader story on that, see the photos below.
6. Kinzie Street Bridge - Dax introduced me to this bridge on one of our Journey scouting missions, and I promptly fell in love with it. I get to see it almost every day on my way to work, I have taken a million photos of it, and I have scavenged rusty pieces of it so I can carry it with me whenever I feel like doing so. I proudly salute Sutro as our enduring symbol of drive, but the Kinzie Bridge has my heart.
7. Hotel Intercontinental - I had heard about this hotel on an architecture tour I took a few months ago, and I meant to see it anyway, so thank you, Dax, for the kick in the pants. I took the twenty-minute self-guided audio tour, and the place is really gorgeous and historically valuable, if a bit bizarre. I only wish we actually were docking airships there.
8. Deering Bridge - Ah, our team headquarters, how awesome you are! I have so many great memories of time spent here - once again, all thanks to Dax. I'm still trying to figure out why I love the Kinzie Bridge more, as they are nearly identical and I have a much more intimate relationship with this one. Dax, come visit next summer and we'll look for the tunnels.
9. We Like Your Bike sign - Installed in April 2008, and it's still there. It's a good legacy.
10. Heart of Gold - Such a great little speakeasy! :) I have had the pleasure of seeing Dax perform here three times. They sure could use some industrial fans, though.
11. Graceland Pool - I used to spend a lot of time here when I was much younger, but it's been more than ten years since the last time. It was lovely to come back at sunset and revisit my favorite spots. I had forgotten how beautiful this cemetery is.
12. Museum of Surgical Science - I knew where this was, but I have never been to it. It's closed on Mondays, so I didn't have make a special effort to get here at any given time, and was thus able to preserve the "thread's" integrity. I will see it someday - I have been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, and I've heard ours here in Chicago described as "the Mutter's little brother." So, yes, Dax, I probably will love it.
13. 3200 W. Carroll - Big warehouse in the dark. Full of puppets. Didn't I see this movie already?
14. Brownlands off Taylor - Sere, chilly autumn fields. Foreboding, fenced-in, backlit underpasses. Radio tower straining into the heavy night sky. A good ending to my labyrinthine wanderings, a reminder of the coming winter.
Our steward Dax has taken good care of us, San Francisco. Please see that you take good care of him.
*hums anthem*
Hey, do we HAVE an anthem?!
happy crab!
I started the day with breakfast on my favorite plate. It's completely absurd and I always smile when I look at it.
Minotaur in a bar
I don't think I'll have any trouble from him today, seeing as he's drinking at 11am.
mural
This is just a small part of an incredibly long mural depicting various scenes from Latino history.
Saint Charles Airline Bridge
Um, Dax? You knew this thing would suck me right in, didn't you? Bastard.
bridgehouse
bridge tower
trains go here
I just love this thing.
sentinel
with signal platform and razor wire
and again
Ooo! Junk!
So much enticing junk...but this is only my first stop, and I have thirteen more places to go! I must NOT spend all day here scavenging.
Well, maybe just a few souvenirs.
Field Museum
This is where I met Dax IRL for the first time.
deep blue sky
Isn't that color amazing? It was such beautiful shades of blue all day long.
Apocalypse 2012 en Espanol
In a bookstore window a couple doors down from the cafe
Jumping Bean Cafe
cafe building
It's so awesome! I wonder if that's an apartment upstairs with the huge skylight window?
across the street
turkey on focaccia and pasta salad
delicious.
zer0gee *hearts* cocoa
2846 W. 21st Street
gargoyle downspouts
look out below!
I'm pretty sure this is a chunk of the facade on the sidewalk in front of the building.
Chinatown work lofts
I worked in this building back in about 1996.
right on the river
I worked for an independent Goth record label, Projekt Records, in their office here.
This damn thing again
And what I never noticed was that this is right across the street. Duh.
Chinatown Square
An open-plan shopping center in Chicago's Chinatown.
Zodiac
There is a statue for each sign of the Chinese Zodiac in the courtyard. I was born in the Year of the Boar, but the Dragon was way cooler.
Pagoda-shaped staircase
Aji Ichiban
I now have many candies!
Some of you may try them in the near future, if I don't eat all of them before Dax's party. Asian candies are pretty weird. I like them.
down the street from Chinatown Square
this is a view from the other side of the bridge
Oh god, Heather! Why?!
Because it's there. Blame Dax.
Bum nest
My own personal Minotaur - a teddy bear.
iconic
I am completely obsessed with this.
Kinzie Street Cantilever Bridge
it is so amazing
my favorite view
I have about a million photos that look just like this one.
other side
facehugger
There is interesting stuff all over the place around the Kinzie Bridge.
guts
Getting this close actually freaked me out a little. I enjoyed it.
railroad signal
Too bad the tracks alongside it lead right into the river.
Hotel Intercontinental
The gold dome was to open up and zepplins could dock there. How cool is THAT?! Then the Hindenburg blew up and put an end to it all. Poo.
on Michigan Avenue
San Francisco time
Behind the concierge's desk, there were five clocks showing the time in various cities. This is San Fran, and directly to its right is Chicago.
tourist
You cannot go to the room that was meant to be the zepplin dock, but you CAN take a self-guided audio tour of some of the rest of the building. They trade this iPod Nano for your ID and a credit card and let you loose.
fountain
The recording tells you historical facts and points out certain aspects of the decor, mostly left over from the building's previous days as an athletic club for Medinah Shriners. No, I'm not making that up.
chandelier
This is the largest Baccarat crystal chandelier in all of North America. The recording told me, so it must be true. It also told me this room is not accessible on the audio tour, but things happen when you leave doors unlocked, you know?
indoor pool
This insane Babylonian pool is on the eighth floor, which was apparently a big deal when the place was built in 1929.
Architect and Urchin
Hey, anyone recognize this park?
Graceland Cemetery
I used to spend a lot of time here, back when I was a spooky Goth girl.
"Eternal Silence"
This monument marks Dexter Graves', um, grave. He was one of the first Chicago settlers in 1831.
Palmer tombs
Potter Palmer sold his successful dry-goods business to some guy named Marshall Field. Actually, he's buried in this cemetery, too.
the lake
reflections
lakeside real estate
Kimball monument
This one's near and dear to me - I held a tres Gothique poetry reading here in 1992 or so. There are some very pretty photos of it - if I can find them, I will scan them in so you can see them.
Schoenhofen tomb
Egyptianesque pyramid with a sphinx on the right and an angel on the left.
We Like Your Bike!
This sign isn't going anywhere any time soon.
high-quality tasking
Deering Street Cantilever Bridge
aka CG0 HQ
I have tons of photos of this thing already, so I took some from a different angle this time. Like, from ON THE GROUND.
yay, our bridge!
more intense blue sky
Seriously, isn't that spectacular?
bridgeworks
between the concrete slabs
Heart of Gold
This is a great space. I have seen Dax perform here three times.
performance space, upper right
Museum of Surgical Science
statue outside museum
carriageway
The mansion housing the museum was built in 1917, and has a really great period carriageway that leads to a small parking area in back.
3200 W. Carroll
security gate
To keep people out...or to keep the puppets in?
night warehouse
brownlands off Taylor Street
autumn field and city lights
factory
radio tower
I remembered seeing this when I zoomed in on the Google map that Dax posted, so I took a photo.
end of the Labyrinth
21 vote(s)
Morte
5
susy derkins
5
Myrna Minx
5
Dax Tran-Caffee
5
LittleMonk
3
JJason Recognition
3
rongo rongo
3
Loki
5
Secret Agent
5
Ben Whitehouse
5
Molotov Cocktease
5
The Animus
5
Scooter Vagabond
5
Kassitastrophe
5
done
3
Indy
3
V M
5
Dela Dejavoo
4
Juxtapolemic
5
rehsamsevoL Lovesmasher
5
Ariadne
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(none yet)8 comment(s)
this is somehow really moving and intense, despite being what one might think of as pretty uneventful. Did you feel like you were sharing an experience with Dax, even though you were alone? That's what it felt like for me, the reader, anyway.
And now i miss you, miss Chicago, and want to do this task so bad I could spit.
xoxoxo
You are the most awesome! Thanks so much for asking for me to map my favorite places - it's a very healthy thing to do right before you leave a place.
I like how this was both expansive and somehow cozy at the same time.
I haven't been to Chicago since I was 12. Then, it was crazily exotic--old, beautiful building; expansive parks; intense level of activity everywhere. I've now been to many other places that meet those criteria, and though Chicago has for a long time been on my list of places to go back to, this has made me miss it even more. I'm sad I couldn't make it in time to visit Dax there but I can see that list being a brilliant re-introduction to the place; and of course there are other awesome folk there.
Plus, Reu and I went for Dim Sum yesterday and I dragged him over to Aji Ichiban afterwards. I was happy cause I got some cool candy and he was happy because he found a place to get all the squid that he remembered snacking on as a kid.
So thank you to both of you for mentioning it.
This is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote the task.
*kisses zer0gee and dax*
The first time I saw the St Charles bridge I fell in love. I have been daydreaming of warm spring evening bike rides down to it.
So cool. Some places I have been, and some that I need to go see again, and some that I never knew existed.
And hey, when did the Museum of SurgSci get a big sign?
You've been to the Mutter? I am extremely jealous. Very very jealous.
Wonderful completion! You get all the points I have left, and then some..
Pirate tombstone point!