Chicago 2011

I am officially jealous of the citizens of Chicago, IL. I just spent the better part of a week making my first trip to the Windy City, and I enjoyed every second of my stay. The weather conditions were unseasonable warm for November, mid-50s and low-60s, which made it perfect to walk around the city for hours each day checking out the sights. I was able to get out and cover lots of ground downtown and through some of the outskirt areas. I’m not sure how many miles I logged, but it was quite a few. I might not be so excited to walk everywhere had I gone to Chicago in January with several feet of snow on the ground, but for this trip, walking was the cheap and effective way to go.

My reasons for the trip to Chicago are two-fold. Most importantly, there’s this:

I am a big Gun’s N Roses fan and like to travel to new and exciting places to see them in concert. The second reason is because Chicago is home to the Field Museum of Natural History, which has one of the largest fish collections in the U.S. including several genera of Stichaeidae, the family of fishes I am studying for my dissertation (Xiphister, the namesake of this blog is a genus of Stichaeidae and a major contributor to my research).

I’ve been looking for funding or an excuse to visit Chicago since the beginning of my dissertation to visit the Field Museum collection. All the stars aligned perfectly when Guns N Roses announced North American tour dates and included Chicago. I view it as killing two birds with one stone: attend a concert by my favorite band and make progress towards my Ph.D.

I stayed in a hostel on the North side of Chicago, the first time I’ve gone the hostel route during my travels. I had always envisioned hostels as being populated by dope smoking hippies, but this place was a little different. It was populated by dope smoking hipsters. Ah well, it was a cheap place to stay, and it wasn’t like I stuck around the place very long to interact with any of them. It was a lot like living in a dorm room, which I’ve done plenty of in my day and doesn’t bother me. I will entertain the thought of staying at another hostel next time I travel.

I spent the first day and night orienting myself with the L, the light rail system in Chicago. It’s a very effective and intuitive way to get around. Using it and my iPhone I found a Giordano’s Pizza and ate most of this:

I don’t know what they did to make this pizza so good, but I guarantee you will find nothing of the sort back in Virginia. Amazing pizza. Definitely worth tracking that place down. I wish I weighed about 600 pounds and could manhandle two or three of these, but I’m not so bovine yet, and could only handle so much.

Chicago is known for a good blues music, and I assumed that the House of Blues would be a good spot to hear some live music. Fortunately, the music was good, and it was a pleasant way to cap off the night.

Day 2 was centered around the Shedd Aquarium and the GnR show.

The Shedd Aquarium is one of the most highly regarded in the world, and it’s easy to see why from the moment you walk up the marble steps to the front entrance. It’s a beautiful building with a beautiful view of Chicago. Inside, there are exhibits for Amazonian fishes, Gulf of Mexico fishes, fishes of the northwest Pacific, coral reef fishes, and many, many more fishes from all over the world. Practically every major group of fishes and habitats are represented. If you’ve ever wanted to see a fish from someplace on the planet, then there’s a good chance the Shedd Aquarium has something for you. There are even beluga whales, dolphins, and sharks swimming around for your charismatic megafauna fix. My favorite, of course, were these guys:

A little stichaeid action for you with Chirolophis japonicus. I was able to get pictures of a few species that should be useful for presentations of my research.

After spending the better part of the morning at the aquarium, it was time to make my way to the Allstate Arena to see the Guns N Roses show. It should be noted here that I’m a cheapskate and, in an effort to save cab fare, I decided to walk everywhere in Chicago, including from the blue line stop in Rosemont to the GnR show. It turns out that the train stop is 2.5 miles from the Allstate Arena. Not so bad walking in at 6:00PM, but the trek back at 2:30AM had me a bit more nervous.

The venue doors didn’t open until 8:00PM, but I was there by 6:30. Fortunately, there was a shopping center with a sushi restaurant next to the arena, so I was able to grab a pretty sweet pre-concert dinner. I spent the hour before the opening act performance walking around, checking out the merch ($40 for a shirt, geez), and people watching. The opening act came on at 9:30 and played a terrible yet spirited set. It’s pretty bad when the backup singer sounds 10X better than the lead and the lead forgets to sing into the microphone. They had energy though. They only lasted three shows as an opening act and will probably never be heard from again.

I have a confession to make. I had been feeling guilty about blowing off my school and research obligations to fly out to Chicago for a concert. Honestly, my priorities should probably be more geared towards graduation. As all Ph.D. students, I have a ton of projects going on that each need attention. I’m behind on the timeline I’ve set for myself. I hear the tick-tock in my head to get things done. All that went away as soon as the lights dimmed at 11:30 and the opening chords of Chinese Democracy came blasting out from the overhead speakers.

Guns N Roses are Rock Stars. Axl Rose might be the only one of the current lineup that anyone can name, but I can gladly report that the other members of the band are professionals and can rock with the best of them. They all have charisma, swagger, and tons of talent. The band sounded amazing. Axl himself is getting up there in years, and there have been rumblings and concerns about the strength of his voice. Can he still scream out Welcome to the Jungle like he could when he was 20? He sounded pretty great to me. He sang the hell out of those songs.  The whole set from Chinese Democracy to Paradise City sounded phenomenal. I’ve seen them three times now, Las Vegas 2001, Jacksonville 2006, and Chicago 2011, and this is the best performance yet. Vegas is still my favorite show (first time, small venue, in Vegas baby!), but this will definitely fall in as number two. I got to see Estranged performed live or crying out loud! They basically played non-stop until 2:15AM at which point I had an hour walk to the train and an hour train ride back to the hostel. In bed at 4:30 with ringing ears and a happy heart. Awesome!

At 7:00AM, my alarm went off. No rest for the weary I suppose. Wednesday was my day at the Field Museum, and I needed to spend all day there to get through the stichaeids in their collection. I was there a little before 10, and headed straight for the basement where the fish collection is housed. I didn’t see anything at the museum except rows of jars containing fish. They had some cool-sounding exhibits, but it seems I will have to go back to actually see them. I measured and photographed several rare stichaeid specimens though, so that was a productive trip.

I was run out at 5 and took a leisurely stroll down to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Yeah, that’s one tall building. Next was Michigan Avenue and Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse and Lounge. I didn’t want to pay $50 for a steak, but the crispy chicken and waffles rocked. Finally, I capped the night off with a movie (Melancholia) at a boutique theater near my hostel.

I left Chicago Thursday morning very impressed by the city. I only scratched the surface of things, but what I was saw fantastic. I tried my best to pack a lot in my short visit, and I did get to see and do some cool things. Maybe one day I can go back and see more of what I missed. I wonder where the next Guns N Roses concert will take me?