"He saw the reflected glare of the lights of the city at what must have been around ten o'clock at night.  They were only perceptible at first as the light is in the sky before the moon rises.  Then they were steady to see across the ocean which was rough now with the increasing breeze.  He steered inside of the glow and he thought that now, soon, he must hit the edge of the stream."
 – Old Man and the Sea

The Embarcadero promenade along the bayfront was only interesting to the old man as the sun set.  The world and the water had quieted then and colors, jagged and irregular, reached up in what he thought a grayish monotony.  He had known San Francisco before it became this city.  He came from such a time when the stories at the street corners still included the names of the famous and not so fortunate gold rushers from a century previous.  The rushers, right up along these banks that now stood so polished, grew shanty towns with every odd and end to that purpose sprawled out at every crack and crevice.  Abandoned schooners littered the Golden Bay back then; other craft came into the bay full of more seekers, sometimes daily depending on the season.  Now it was peace at dusk, a hush of breeze flapping the flag at the stern of the Angelina. The ferries leaving for Sausalito had stopped for now and the sea, he envisioned, even if pure fantasy, his own.  He let slip the anchor chain from the reel.  It plunged at least seventy-five feet through the cold water.  A group of four gulls landed immediately on the railing near the cabin.  "Shoo, you.  Is that you again Charley, Beatrice?" He laughed, for he knew he did not know, of course, the name of these birds but they certainly did look familiar.  By now the sun had set behind the Presidio and the city but a smudge, a dab of gray paint – it was the water now that surrounded his small boat that was illuminated by the lights he had installed around the outside of the decking.  The bay water was not particularly clear but in the dark, as direct lights shown down onto it, any number of creatures could be seen sifting across the top.  It was at this very spot – yes, it was only two early summers ago – when he saw what he thought was the unimaginable.  He opened his bottle of Merlot and poured himself a very small pinch, took a sip, and let the memory fuel.  That night he had rolled out his cot onto the deck, just as he would again tonight in a few minutes, and off-handedly tossed over the side the remaining piece of a flank steak he had prepared back on shore.  Because of the lights he was able to watch that peculiarly small piece sink slowly in the enormous body of water below.  As quickly as it took him to blink, he saw surround the small piece a large round hole the size of a barrel end.  At first, he could not have thought it much more than a deep shadow and his boat light had been lost but then that dark hole emerged out of the water, a broad sleek gray body following in a flash, the long glide of a fin cutting just as quickly through the air and then the water below again, only to slide down directly below the boat.  "I will never see that again," he thought to himself, but carved out one of his cooled oysters and flipped it as if a coin onto the fractured surface and waited. "Come along now, Mr. Great White, come along now, let us see you again for old time sake."

Chi-Town 36

Alice in Wonderland gone wrong, very wrong, this little chapter in somebody else's book is much more scientific, part of the underground adventure exhibit at the Field's Natural History Museum, where the museum goer gets shrunk down in an entrance chamber and soil underneath our feet comes to life in the form of gigantic mama ants that twist their tails at invaders like scorpions, and snail bugs, usually small enough to comment upon their snaily cuteness, turn as big as Alice herself, not to her liking.

Chi-Town 36

So if the alien did arrive on earth and asked a few questions about what represents best this land of ours, we might be tempted to show something like the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. or maybe even Yellowstone, so to see our natural resources.  To show the alien the 'Bean' would be a trip, so to speak, for it is large, unuseful, and makes everybody in its mirror image look weird.  Then again, at a second glance, maybe this is the very thing the alien is used to and should be the first thing shown, just to make them feel comfortable.

Chi-Town 36

No disrespect to the riverwalk down in Milwaukee (I'd pay homage to the Rock Bottom Brewery along the famous route any day), but the Chicago walkway system is quite a scene, as river taxis chug up and down the Chicago River, and goliath buildings, sleek and shining in the sun, rise up as if from the banks of the water itself.  Large cities are almost always unusual experiences on weekends – the entire cast of standard workers monday through friday gone, cities tend to be full of tourists and often large pockets of blocks without anybody around.  Walking around the city by yourself, back and forth over the walking bridges, the real city presents itself.

Chi-Town 36

Up on the 36th floor, there are damsels in 'dis dress' all over the place, just crawling with them.  I happened on these two damsels sunning under the lamplight and they said they needed to be guided to the nearest shopping center.  Soon.  Or else trouble.  So we manned the elevator down to Michigan Avenue where cupcakes come out of ATM machines and the make-up they sell is so fresh you can watch it grow as you apply it.  The hero of the scene (behind the scenes) might have felt like moseying on to a brew pub just to make sure the taps work.

Chi-Town 36

Napping under orange steel girders can take its toll on you; sometimes you just have to get away from it all and do some damage at the American Girl mecca of the world.  The deal was no need for the dolls themselves, plenty of those at home, but we'll just poke around for 'outfits.'  Thirteen days later, we found these these three...but wait, maybe not this unboxed one.  Instead one that maybe has the basketball in the set.  Orrrr, maybe the one with the hammock.  No, wait..

Chi-Town 36

What constitutes art is an age old question; if one criteria is for the observer to stand in awe of something created, then Calder's Flamingo, a 50-ton 'stabile' located a Federal Building not far from the Sears Tower, would certainly count.  The girls had made the Skyview walk at the Sears Building as as I had time to walk around the center of the Financial district, I came across the Flamingo.  Nobody was around.  The walking space there enormous, directly out front of the Post Office.  Kids could crawl a ways up into the steel legs and nap if they chose.  Carly tried to later.

Chi-Town 36

A few floors down from 36 at the lobby level, Allium, a high-ceilinged affair, all wood walls, a nice entrance with a nice kid there to greet you.  It might have taken longer than you'd want to get the food, but the pancetta pork loin, decorated by fava beans, marinated raisins could raise an eyebrow or two.  The Goose Island IPA (brewed only a few blocks away), went along with that pork loin like magic.

Chi-Town 36

Looking up the long tight columns of skyscrapers from the sidewalk can be intimidating to say the least, sometimes claustrophobic; but you get get up to the 36 th floor, the air clears, the people go away, and all those buildings look a lot more like a mosaic of finely placed art....here, backdropped by Lake Michigan, Navy Pier around to the right of the Lake Shore, sails from boats like flung paper. It's been a long time since we've stayed at a hotel in which the staff actually enjoys what they're doing, but that definitely sums up the experience at the Four Seasons.  At one point, Abby left a book open on a side table, left the room for a few hours, and when she came back a book mark in the page. I found a glasses shammy on my glasses case.  Carly received a cup of complimentary gummy worms welcoming us.  She says she'd go back sometime.

What's in Evanston?

Evanston's a beautiful little city, seemingly built around Northwestern University campus along Lake Michigan, and around the fact that it is a northern suburb of Chicago, but not necessarily a direct part of it.  No skyscrapers here to speak of, but plenty of old and new buildings which house old standards, but also a new rich mix of very modern restaurants, brewpubs and boutiques.

Unlike the frigid waters of the recently visited Lake Superior, there's quite a bit of 'fun traffic' out on lake Michigan right in Evanston, including, directly around the corner of this boardwalk, a surf rent shop no doubt for the college clientele.  The water flows behind here in a clear blue stream.  Off in the distance is the city that looks as though it's growing right out of the water.  Wrigley Field is approximately 22 minutes away.

Downtown merges with campus.  Little parks all over the place.  Cool, though, as the lake water drifts up over the shore directly into the city.  Windy City number two.

The Bistro Bordeaux could easily be the best authentic French restaurant we've been to.  We tried escargot flavored by pesto and a dash of Pernod for fun.  True baguettes fresh out of a baker's bag.  Ice cream macaroons for dessert.  Cute French songs in the background.

But the real reason we were in Evanston is because Julia had been accepted into a gifted and talented academic program, one she earned, deserved.  Dorm rooms at eighth grade might bring on a sense of early beginnings.  The halls were decorated nicely, full of other graduated eighth graders soon.