Posted June 27, 201014 yr Chicago's Chinatown, June 23, 2010 All Photos Copyright © 2010 by Robert E Pence I had business in Chicago on Tuesday and Thursday, June 22 and 24, so rather than make the 4-hour drive home and then return so soon, I stayed in Michigan City and commuted via South Shore trains - cheaper than staying in a Chicago hotel while there are events going on. I made plans with a friend in Chicago to get together on Wednesday and tour Chinatown. Wednesday morning came up rainy at the Carroll Avenue stop on the east side of Michigan City, where I boarded Train #116, on time at 10:55a.m. The resurgence of bicycling has brought many older bikes back into the daylight after years of neglect in basements, attics, and garages. At the Carroll Avenue station this Raleigh Carlton awaited its owner's return on the train. It's been updated with alloy hubs, rims, bars, and crankset and lightweight mudguards and has been converted to a fixed-gear bike. The sticker above the original decals on the seat tube read "Working Bikes Cooperative." I detrained at the 11th Street/Museum Campus Station, with plans to meet Chris at the Red Line station at Roosevelt. He had decided to drive, so after we picked up a couple of his friends, we were on our way. Welcome to Chinatown! Random walking around and taking photos. Chris dropped me off at Millennium Park Station where I boarded Train #11, departing at 3:58p.m. for Michigan City. Back at Carroll Avenue ... The Raleigh Carlton still awaited its owner's return. By 6:00p.m. I was back in my motel. As I prepared to take a shower, I turned on my laptop and opened weather.com. There was a severe storm warning that some really bad stuff was headed our way fast, and it was almost there! I decided to defer the shower until later and get ready in case I had to evacuate. By the time I got dressed and gathered my camera bag and laptop, the sky had turned very dark and a torrential rain had started. Abruptly the wind started to shriek around the building, lightning lit up the room, and the power went out simultaneously as the tornado sirens started. I grabbed my stuff and headed for the stairway just as hotel staff came up and started banging on doors and yelling for people to get downstairs. The worst of the storm passed and the all-clear sounded after 20-30 minutes, but the rain continued at a lesser rate. I was one of the only guests who had a flashlight, and many people continued to congregate in stairways and in the lobby until the battery-powered lights petered out about 9:30. I turned on all the lights in my room so I'd wake up if the power came back on, and went to bed. About 2:00a.m. I awoke to a brightly-lit room, took my shower, and went back to bed. Driving to the station in the morning I encountered some flooded intersections and several traffic lights without power. The major roads had been cleared of downed trees, but many minor roads and streets were still blocked. Later that afternoon driving home through La Porte, I saw much more severe damage to very large old trees.
June 28, 201014 yr Awesome! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 28, 201014 yr Great photos! I was in Chicago this past weekend! I didn't stop in Chinatown, but I would love to the next time I'm there due to your photos! Thanks again for sharing them :)
June 30, 201014 yr Very cool rob, I love Chinatown. I have a favorite restaurant way down across from the parking garage on Wentworth. You can get a ridiculous amount of food for under $10...at least 3 full meals worth. How convenient is the ride in from Michigan city say on a daily basis. I know employees who commute to the loop from Michigan city!!
July 1, 201014 yr I wish Asiatown would create an entrance gate like that in Cleveland. Great material!
July 1, 201014 yr [ ... ] How convenient is the ride in from Michigan city say on a daily basis. I know employees who commute to the loop from Michigan city!! South Shore is a pretty good deal, and there are some daily Loop commuters even from South Bend. The traffic really picks up starting at Dune Park and stations west of there, and rush-hour trains run full to standing-room-only from Hammond or Hegewisch on in. There are seven peak-period inbound trains from Michigan City (one of those originates in South Bend), arriving at Randolph Street between 5:43 and 8:52. Regular round-trip fare from Michigan City to Randolph Street is $8 and a monthly pass is $228.52 (There are some perks to being over 60; I pay half fare). Travel time is about 1:40. South Shore web site is here. My only beef is that, for someone like me who doesn't have built-in padding, the seats in the cars from the 1980s are uncomfortable on a long ride, and those cars are noisy, too, compared with the new gallery cars. Ongoing work to weld rail joints should help alleviate some of the noise; it's not bad on the nice manicured Metra Electric track between Kensington and Randolph.
July 3, 201014 yr Nice set Rob. Some great detail shots too. Thank goodness you made it back to your room before the big stuff hit. I also like the train shots. Thanks.
July 4, 201014 yr I wish Asiatown would create an entrance gate like that in Cleveland. Great material! great shots Rob. As far as the gate in Cleve...I wonder where it would go? Out Asia Town is really spread out. Plus they are sorta cheesy...but thats ok sometimes. I like that there are at least a couple Sichuan places in Chi. Love Lao Sze Chuan but have not been in a few years. I have to say I like really HOT and strange food but there have been times this type of food has been a little much to eat and then have to ride the train for 35 minutes back to the hotel
July 7, 201014 yr I wish Asiatown would create an entrance gate like that in Cleveland. Great material! cle should put up a modern, vibrant, creative, electronic chinatown gate - yes! fun thread!
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