Photo credit: L. Tripoli
On our last trip to Chicago, I was going to have some free time while the Bashful Adventurer was bringing home the tofu bacon. Normally I go on a food feast. Gibson’s is the best place for steak in Chicago in my opinion. My buddy Pete said, why don’t you try to bring down your cholesterol level and go to Wrigley Field?
So I thought of some things I wanted to do in Chicago. I wanted to see where John Dillinger was killed along with a few other historical odds and ends. First I had to find a good cab driver. It took three tries before I found the right one: he’d been driving for 42 years and had never done anything like this in his career.
John Dillinger was shot in the alley at 2433 North Lincoln Avenue near the Biograph theater. My cabby was surprised because he gets his morning coffee near there and never even knew John Dillinger had died in that ‘hood.
Next, I wanted to see where the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre happened at 2122 North Clark Street. A garage was on the site when the organized-crime murders tied to Al Capone took place in 1929. Now it’s an open field.
Then I wanted to see where Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over the lantern, allegedly starting the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The funny thing about 137 DeKoven Street is it is now a training center for fire fighters.
So that and a few stops for Chicago’s finest dogs and pulled pork took up my day until I had to get presentable for cocktails with the Bashful Adventurer at the Signature Lounge at the top of the John Hancock building. Great place for a dirty martini.
© Michael Ciavardini, 2012