Day off in Chicago''''''''

7.15.11

Day off in Chicago!

I woke up early and walked west out to the lake. There was a cool dry breeze peeling off the water and it felt amazing.
Chicago is really pretty, don't get me wrong, but something' about a beach on a fresh body of water turns sand into just plain dirt in my mind.
If there's no sodium in the sediment, I fell like its missing a critical purifying element that makes fresh water seem weird to me.
I was raised on the Gulf of Mexico, so any large body of water that isn't salty and full of bitey whales and sharks is very peculiar.
Having said that, the water was the most incredible deep blue, and seemed to beg you to jump right in. I wandered around this curly cove and found myself looking south towards Navy Pier and the Chicago Skyline…

If you look out into the water, you'll notice a giant building way out there… almost looks like an island with a lighthouse on it.
This is the Wilson Avenue Crib, and its a structure that pumps water from the bottom of the lake to the city for drinking water.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Wilson_Avenue_crib_060820.jpg

We had the privilege of attending a backyard BBQ where we roasted corn, drank coronas, and ended up in a high stakes ($1/game) hot dice game.
Unlike Detroit Dice, this was the old-school hot dice I used to know, where you roll 5 at a time, 3's are zeros, and you take as many dice from your roll as you like in an attempt to get the lowest possible score. You roll until you have 1 dice left.

I lost two games until I received a magical good luck wish from the ether, and then I won every game until the crowd of 8 players or so got tired of me and walked off or left the BBQ altogether. I was on fire, like Evan had been in Detroit. If only all this dice luck could be translated to Van wellbeing or tour fortunes.

Beggars can't be choosers, especially out here on the road!

Tomorrow we head out to St. Louis to see my old friends Dan & Anika, and their new baby boy Indio Eugene!