Tag / Mabel’s

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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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Concert Flashback: Veruca Salt

95verucasaltIn the spring of 1995, I made plans, along with my friends Tina and Kelley, to travel from West Lafayette over to Champaign to see Veruca Salt, who was playing one of the bars at the University of Illinois.  The task of acquiring tickets was left up to my sister, who joined us at the show.

Neither opening act, Hazel and Squash Blossom, were well known at the time, or have been heard from since.  The headliners were just starting to make a name for themselves as part of the burgeoning Chicago alternative music scene.  Their first hit, Seether, would have dropped the previous fall and they were just about to wrap up their first headlining tour.

The show itself is a bit of a blur all these years later, but I do remember that either Tina or Kelley went home with a guitar pick and we all ended up with some of the tape that kept the extra picks attached to the mike stand.  Exciting, I know.

After the show, the girls headed off to stay with a friend while I crashed in my sister’s dorm room.  The next day, we headed back to good old Purdue, with a stop off in Danville for what I fondly remember as the greasiest pizza I’ve ever seen.  If you can’t trust the Danville Pizza Hut, who can you trust.