Tag / City Winery

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Travelling The 50 States – Illinois

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we continue today with the 21st state to be added to the Union: Illinois.

State: Illinois
Joined the Union: 1818
Visits: 16,000+

How do you track how often you’ve been in the state you’ve lived in your entire life, save for your time away at college?  My first “visit” came nearly 48 years ago on the day I was born at Mercy Hospital on the south side of Chicago.

I’ve managed to do 18 of the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, published by the Chicago Tribune in 2018 to celebrate the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  Among the places I visited were Water Tower, Morton Arboretum, Route 66, United Center, Skydeck at Willis Tower, the former Arlington International Racecourse, Rialto Square Theatre, Lake Michigan, The Second City, Chicago Sports Museum, and the Superman statue in downstate Metropolis.

I’ve seen baseball games at Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park, and Guaranteed Rate Field.  I’ve seen football games at Soldier Field, Memorial Stadium, Ryan Field, and Wrigley Field.  I’ve seen basketball games at the United Center, Welsh-Ryan Arena, State Farm Center, and Allstate Arena.  I’ve seen hockey games at the United Center.  I’ve seen both the White Sox and the Cubs win the World Series.  I’ve seen the Bears win a Super Bowl.  I’ve seen the Bulls win 6 NBA Championships.  I’ve even seen the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup or two.

I’ve seen concerts at Wrigley Field, City Winery, Ravinia, the Riviera Theatre, Abbey Pub, Metro, the Chicago Theatre, United Center, Charter One Pavilion, Allstate Arena, The Vic Theatre, House of Blues, World Music Theatre, Soldier Field, and Mabel’s,

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Rocking Out 90s Style

The last two weeks have seen me revisiting the 90s with 2 concerts, Matthew Sweet and Garbage.  Things started last Thursday when I headed in to the city to see Matthew Sweet at the City Winery.  I was pleasantly surprised that I knew 3 of the songs Sweet performed, which was 2 more than I thought I would going in.  A good night, though poorly timed due to my trip to Disney World the following morning.

The second gig was last night, as I traipsed up to the northern suburbs for my first visit to Ravinia, as Garbage and Blondie had come to town for their Rage and Rapture Tour.  This was my 6th Garbage show, though the first outdoors.  Shirley Manson and the boys did not disappoint, putting together a strong set and overcoming a crowd that seemed more interested in sitting down and relaxing than rocking out.  We abandoned the pavilion for Blondie’s portion of the show, eventually heading back to the train for the ride back in to Chicago.

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Fitbit III: Week 24

A tremendous week, as I posted my best total since late March/early April.  The week got off to a great start on Sunday with a 10,000 step day, thanks to a morning walk to Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast.  Monday used an impromptu day-long meeting in North plaza to surpass 8000 steps.  Tuesday nearly made it to 7000 steps, in part due to a walk over to Willow for day 2 of the impromptu meeting.  Wednesday was my second 10,000 step day of the week, surpassing 11,000 steps thanks to an after work walk.  Thursday was back down to 7000 steps, in part due to a post-work trip to the City Winery to see Matthew Sweet.  My best day of the week (and year) came on Friday, as I flew down to Florida with Angelina for a day at Disney World.  The 20,208 steps I logged are currently the 4th highest total I’ve accumulated in the 7 years I’ve been tracking.  Saturday only managed just over 5000 steps as I recovered from the previous day lounging around the house before heading out to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch the White Sox lose to the Mariners.

Total steps: 68,650

Daily average: 9807.1