That Toddlin' Town - Midwest Meanderings Part I

Another August trip took me out to the Midwest; I had felt a Chicago trip coming on, and when someone mentioned the triathlon, that gave me both a date and an event to focus on. I took Southwest Airlines out of Islip – a quiet airport that was quite pleasant. I didn’t realize that not every Hampton Jitney goes to the Islip Airport connection, so I had to take a taxi, which meant I didn’t really save any money. But I did save time by not going all the way from Southampton to LaGuardia.

A smooth flight and an el ride later, I had lunch at the Walnut Room with my friend Karen – chicken pot pie! I had as many old favorites as I could during my visit, perhaps missing only the chilaquiles at the Third Coast. On to Edie’s, my home-away-from-home; it is so nice to feel welcome anytime! I try to be a low-impact guest, but I know that having a guest is still work, and I am very grateful to Edie and her family for hosting me. And this time, as opposed to past visits, both she and I actually had a significant amount of time to spend together! What a bonus! I planned get-togethers with others for times when she was otherwise occupied – such as dinner that night; I went out with my friend Helen.


The next day I had breakfast in her neighborhood with Edie, Heather and Carol, and then went on to the hair appointment that seems to be central to every Chicago visit – I could use a hair appointment now, so it’s on my mind.... And then it was down to the Chicago Hilton and Towers, for triathlon pickup. On the way, I passed an amazing sculpture that caught my eye (pun intended) from the el the day before. Lots of great public sculpture this year!


The Triathlon expo does a great job of inspiring – now I want to train to do another international distance triathlon, or definitely start doing sprint triathlons again. For this weekend, I was happy to be doing the Super-Sprint – half of a sprint distance. I hadn’t trained, it wouldn’t take much time, and the location was convenient to Edie’s! I had done Try-a-little-Tri years ago in about the same location – there weren’t many people, and I am not sure the distance was half of a sprint – it felt more random.


Then it was on to the Sox game, with some Princeton Club friends. It just happened to be mini-Stanley Cup night – if I couldn’t be there in person to see the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961, I could be at mini-Stanley Cup night! The pre-game ceremony turned out to be quite special. They brought out not only the Stanley Cup, but a Bulls trophy, the Bears Super Bowl trophy, and the White Sox World Series trophy (no mention of the North Siders…) – first time in Chicago that all four trophies were displayed together. The Sox won, and it was fireworks night as well – not only that, but the weather was perfect!