I went next-door to the Goddess and the Baker to get our breakfast. After I ordered I realized I had forgotten to bring my money. Dang it! This is becoming a habit. Because I am traveling, I am not carrying my normal wallet in my back pocket. I carry ID and cards and cash in a more secure pouch under my clothing, but I am not accustomed to being sure I actually have it on me. I went back up to the room got it and went back and got the food. *sigh*.
We ate our breakfast and cleaned up the room, packed everything up and stashed it in the luggage lockers on the fourth floor and clicked the “check-out” button in the Sonder app just moments before checkout time. It was a lovely experience. I recommend it highly.
We walked over to the American Writers Museum, taking a brief detour on the way into the Chicago Cultural Center building. Originally an old library, this is a gorgeous piece of architecture, complete with a Tiffany dome. There are also some displays of artwork by Native and Black artists around military themes. One woman took her Army uniform and hung empty bullet shells all over it, turning it into a Native “jingle dress” which is used in healing ceremonies.
We found the writers museum in the next block, in another beautiful old building with brass elevator doors. The museum occupies the second floor of the building and it’s really quite extensive. A collection of children’s books includes some of the good old classics. An animated “Waterfall of Words,” a whole display of Black writers. Lots of interactive displays where you push buttons to hear things or lift panels to read further information. One whole wall of little panels that turned with more information or recording of the author’s voice, including a snippet from Kennedy’s “ask not…” speech.
There was a table of various old-fashioned typewriters where people were invited to type a sentence or two, and then leave it for the next person to finish. Of course, we could not leave without thoroughly investigating the small gift shop.
When we were finally done, we walked back to the hotel and collected our bags. We went out to the curb and ordered a Lyft to take us to Helen’s. The temperature was still cold today and waiting on the curb was not our idea of a good time, but we had had good experiences with Lyft so far, so we waited. We could see in the Lyft app that our guy was approaching, then took a wrong turn and went around the block a couple times. I put messages into the app to him saying we were exactly where we said we were, repeating the address and that the curb where we stood was empty, and we saw him go zooming right by us. He seemed to come around the block again but stop on the other side of the street near the corner. Clearly he didn’t know what he was doing. I looked at trying to cancel the ride but the app said I would be charged $6 for the driver’s time so I didn’t. Finally, the app said the driver had canceled the ride. I made sure I wasn’t being charged anything and ordered another ride. This time we sprung for a premier ride. This driver found us right away. We were glad to get into the warm car.
When we got to Helen’s we barely had time to haul our bags inside and say hello before we had to get going to the dinner we had planned with Bernadette’s niece, Justine. Helen kindly drove us there; it was just down the street a mile or so.
Justine greeted us warmly and made us comfy with some veggies and humus while she prepared dinner and chatted with us. They had just recently moved to Chicago from Oklahoma, where the rest of her family (B’s brother, et. al.) is. When dinner was ready, we migrated to the table and Justine’s husband, Michael, arrived home from work. Perfect timing. We enjoyed some delicious salmon, roasted veggies and rice, good conversation, indulged in a bit of wine since neither of us was driving anywhere, and enjoyed getting better acquainted.
Helen picked us up again and took us home. We visited with her some more before falling into bed.
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Adrian Dee, flutist, composer 