The other day I took my son and his two friends to see Taste of Chicago, or more aptly, to eat Taste of Chicago. For those who are not in the know, Taste runs for the week of July 4th and showcases some of Chicago's wonderful food. Taste is like an overpriced Tapas restaurant where you can buy lots of little food teasers. This seemed like a perfect environment for three teenage boys.
I haven't been to Taste in a while; I got tired of the crowds and a certain drunken atmosphere that would start as the afternoon wore on. I have not so fond memories of intoxicated young adults carrying large stacks of giveaway beer cups as proof of their imbibing prowess. At some point I got too old for this stuff.
The weekend outing was a big hit. The guys ate potstickers, a Puerto Rican meat dish, pizza, cheesecake, and poundcake on a stick. I had some incredibly spicy Louisiana shrimp with corn on the cob. Unfortunately the former made a mess all over my shirt. The entire feast was consumed in less than an hour and the guys wanted to move on.
The committee voted for a movie and we walked to one of the downtown multiplexes. En route we encountered a set of tables with chess boards. My son wanted to challenge one of the guys to a game and began to play. While he did so, I took a few photos of the local scene.
It turned out to be a great place for people watching. We were at one entrance to the Taste and I could see people waiting for a bus, the chess players, tourists, a fellow on roller blades, a group of street musicians and an Amish woman giving out what I thought were religious tracts. I discovered later that she was giving out CD's of her choir.
The street musicians sat themselves down and started drumming on large plastic containers. Within minutes the police arrived and made them move on. I assume they needed some kind of permit they didn't have or were playing in the wrong place. There was a lot of muttering in the crowd around the players. I don't think they thought the eviction was fair.
Like the street musicians, we moved on and headed out to our movie. Surprising to me, the guys voted to see Ratatouille which turned out to be a lot of fun. It is nice to see a rat cast as the good guy. I kid you not, I used to have a pet rat named Ratatouille. I called her Tooey for short.
3 comments:
happy holiday woman, you sound like you are having fun. I like this bottom photo very much...the look in that beautiful man's eye as he gazes at the officer. Its an intriguing shot.
the firework pics are fun above and below as well! glad you are out there shooting shots! we are having lots of rain right now, so much for seeing fireworks from the mountain.
Yeah I felt the same. And he is good looking isn't he? Hope he doesn't read blogs.
Thanks.
I enjoyed reading this post: I remember what that urban vitality is like in Hartford, New Haven, Washington, DC. It's energizing and infectious. It sounds as if it was a great day with the kids.
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