June 30, 2005
Richard Grieco
Is it possible that he just drove past me on my morning commute?
June 20, 2005
Adventurous Partners in Crime
The story of what we did Saturday is so much better told in person. But because I never see you -- any of you (Where ARE you? DON’T YOU LOVE ME?) -- in terms of convenience, it’s so much better told here.
It started two months ago. Eric had already graduated, except we were each caught up in our schedules (still). We should’ve been celebrating his graduation by, oh I don’t know, watching the sun set, riding our bikes, and going to movies, but instead we were watching the laundry spin, riding the grocery aisles, and going to meetings. Finally, we said, “THIS IS RIDICULOUS!” and punched each other. Okay, we didn’t really punch each other, but we did open up our calendars and designate a Fun Day; that day was Saturday.
Finally! It was our day. Early Saturday morning we packed up the car with a frisbee, Nerf football, picnic blanket, atlas... and started driving toward Starved Rock State Park. Besides hiking the trails, our goal was to take it easy, be spontaneous and flexible, and not feel rushed. Though we did have some other ideas in mind, like: if we stumbled across any small-town baseball games, we’d stop; if we stumbled across any fancy Italian restaurants with candlelight, we’d stop.
On the way to Starved Rock, about an hour into our drive, we saw a sign on the highway, “Middle East Conflicts Memorial Wall,” and decided to stop. It directed us to a little town called Marseilles, population 4,800. As we drove into town, we saw what looked like a little street festival, with music, food stands, and people -- small-town people -- everywhere. We decided to park the car and take a look around.
It turns out that the little town of Marseilles, Illinois, besides being home to the Middle East Conflicts Memorial Wall, is home to the Illinois Freedom Run. When we asked a man in the street what was going on, he said, “Oh, in about forty-five minutes, 25,000 motorcycles will come into town and park right here on this street.” Forty-five minutes? We can wait. So we ate a couple tacos, checked out the Memorial Wall, then made our way back to the street and stood alongside our fellow Americans (insert “I’m Proud to Be an American” song by Lee Greenwood) while the motorcyclists parked their bikes and faced the American flag, symbol of freedom. It was probably at that point that I turned to Eric and in a panicked whisper asked him to not tell anyone I’m Middle Eastern. “Tell them I’m Greek. Americans love Greek food.”
Around noon we got back in the car and made our way to Starved Rock, where we hiked five miles and explored canyons and waterfalls (in Illinois! Who knew?). It was great fun. My legs hurt when we were done. But this isn’t the best part of the story.
So, it was probably five o’clock when we got back on the road, tired but energized. We didn’t want to go back home, not just yet, so we avoided the highway and drove down country roads instead. Ironically, we passed a baseball field where there was a small-town, high school baseball game (we knew it!), so of course we stopped and joined the parents and grandparents in the bleachers. I now believe that small-town baseball is America at its best.
When we got back on the road it was to find dinner. We drove to Joliet, because we figured that, as a mid-size town, it’d have nice restaurants, and maybe we could catch a movie. Driving into town, however, we realized that Joliet wasn’t the most sophisticated little place, so we accepted that we’d have to grab a bite at Harrah’s Casino. Until, that is, we went right by this little gem of a place called Barolo Ristorante, a quaint Italian restaurant with candles (we knew it!) and fantastic food AND a live jazz singer!
Then, to make a really long story a little shorter, just a few blocks away was the Annual Joliet Car Show, where kids drag-raced, drank illegally, smoked things, and had mascara running down their faces. “Where ARE we?” we thought, and scurried back to our car.
Though I felt like we could've kept driving forever, to Indianapolis, Cleveland, or maybe Memphis, the Car Show was our last stop before driving home. Since then, we’ve been incessantly referring to our Fun Day. And though Starved Rock was great, even better were all the surprises we stumbled upon: the motorcycles, the baseball, the candlelit dinner, the illegal drinking (seriously, TheTruth.com needs to do a Joliet campaign)...
Everytime I think about Saturday, I can’t get over how awesome it is to be married to someone so fun and adventurous. Wouldn’t you agree, Eric? Bee hee.
June 04, 2005
Late Night at F212
F212 is a new Chicago coffeehouse and dessert bar with a tight scientific, futuristic, mod-erific slant. They make great smoothies too.
