Becoming Cultured to a Big City: Four Small Town Guys Find Themselves in Chicago

By Samuel Adams

For Advanced Composition, ETSU, Fall 2011

Email: adamssp@goldmail.etsu.ed

Arriving somewhere in the middle of Chicago, at one in the morning has an ominous feeling. Perhaps it has something to do to the fact that this was once the home to mobsters similar to those seen in the movie The Godfather, or the high crime rate of the city, or the fact that we were driving down the sidewalk of a closed park in the middle of the night of a dangerous city, and we were lost. When I say we, I mean two of my good friends, Andrew and Paidiwa, a guy I didn’t know named Ben, whose car we were driving, and myself. I should also mention that my friend Andrew was driving and he had decided upon this route; because that was the only way he knew how to get to his brother’s apartment somewhere near the University of Chicago, where we would be spending the night.

The morning before, we all had met in the Emmanuel housing division, across from Milligan, in Elizabethton, Tennessee, to consolidate into one care for the trip. It was August 3 and very warm out. I quickly made friends with Ben Carpenter, a guy I had never met before, because he was graciously allowing us all to use his car for the ten and a half hour trip to Chicago. As this was the first real road trip with friends for all of us, everyone was exuberant to be on our way.

Unfortunately, although probably a positive thing, most of the trip was uneventful. The rolling hills of East Tennessee changed to the occasional short hills of Middle Tennessee turned into the flatlands of the Mid United States. Most of the ride was spent sleeping, eating, singing, and staring at the blurring colors flashing by the passenger windows. Thankfully, I was able to drive for most of the trip. I say thankfully because not only do I enjoy driving, but also because Ben was terrible at it, driving ten under the speed limit, alternately accelerating and decelerating when unnecessary, and unable to take a turn smoothly and without making everyone else sick. The only truly noteworthy event of the trip was a terrible thunderstorm in the middle of nowhere, somewhere within the state of Illinois. It was approximately 9 o’clock, and we literally had to pull off the side of the road because we could not see more than ten feet in front of the car.

My initial thoughts of Chicago were this place is huge; so many tall buildings, too bad I am either about to be killed or arrested. To some, the buildings in Chicago might be considered normal sized, but to a person who had grown up in the small town of Elizabethton, where the biggest building was about seven stories high, they were huge and made a person feel very insignificant. Add in the darkness of the city, the abandoned part of town (probably in South Chicago) we had been traveling through, and the flashes of murder movies filmed in big cities running through a person’s mind and it is easy to see how the scenery could frighten someone.

“Andrew! What are you doing?!” I screamed. “Get off the sidewalk before we get arrested!”

“I’m trying!” he responded.

“Here, get off here, now!” I replied, gesturing to a dip in the sidewalk that might prove a successful area to maneuver the car.

“I’m afraid it will hurt the car,” he simply said, “the curb is high, and this is a small car.” He was right, we were in a Suzuki SX4 Sedan, a very small car, which left us at a disadvantage for needing to go off-road and Ben, the owner, was not inclined to need car repairs. Finally seeing the end of this random sidewalk and a car accessible path, we continued traveling to the end, hoping no police officers were around, all the while with some native Chicagoan in her car, laughing uncontrollably at a bunch of tourists who were clearly lost.

For whatever reason, the Garmin GPS we were using, which had been reliable thus far, had led us to this sketchy part of town. It looked like a place an individual would go, should they want to be mugged or murdered, and was unfamiliar territory to Andrew, who had been to Chicago once before. Whatever area of Chicago we now found ourselves in reminded me of a scene from the Dark Night, a well-known Batman movie, in which Batman is driving in his “Bat mobile,” trying to save his love, Rachel, from some poison she had been injected with. Things got worse when we had to stop at a bridge, which was raising up to allow a ship to pass under, and we quickly decided that we were too young to die in Chicago, and decided to find our own way across the river, which brings us back to the park debacle.

Thankfully, we soon found Andrews brother’s (Ben Carey) apartment, and made ourselves at home on the living room floor. However, we all quickly agreed that due to the difficulties of our travels, and being young men, we were hungry, never mind the fact that it was the middle of the night. Running out into the dark, and the now down pouring rain to the car, Andrew’s brother led us to a hotdog shop in downtown Chicago, which was open all night. Actually, it was not a hotdog stand, it was a Polish-dog stand, and whether the owners were good cooks, or because we were all tired, it was the best hotdog/Polish-dog that I had ever tasted. This Polish-dog, a hotdog comprised of sausage rather than typical hotdog meats, was a native delicacy of Chicago and offered a very warm meal to a bunch of hungry guys.

Having satisfied our hunger for a midnight snack, we all headed back to the apartment for a short night’s rest to prepare for the next day, which was to be filled with sightseeing, helping Ben Carey and his roommates move to their new apartment, and watching Manchester United play against the Chicago Fire in a soccer match, and our entire reason for the trip. I should probably mention that Manchester United won the Champions League, a big deal in soccer.

The following morning we did not get up until nearly 11, when we had planned to get up early to see more sights. With a light breakfast under our belts, Ben, Andrew, Pai, and myself headed out into Chicago, having absolutely no idea where to go or how to get there.

Navigating through the public transportation system (i.e. a crowded bus full of strangers), we decided to go to Millennium Park, a tourist attraction in downtown Chicago. The park was filled with statues, fountains, people, works of art, an outdoor theatre, and much more. The most interesting art object to be found in Millennium Park would definitely have to be “Cloud Gate,” a giant, silver orb located in the middle of the park. When we were there, there were hundreds of people under and around this orb, taking pictures. Naturally, we joined them and I quietly through to myself, it would be interesting to be inside the orb I think; looking at everyone on the outside, making funny faces at their own reflections in the orb.

After seeing all we had time to see within Millennium Park, we sought out lunch to stave our hunger for most of the day. Upon consuming some delicacies within a little Asian restaurant, we noticed that just outside was the beginning of historic State Route 66, which originally stretched from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. Being the typical tourists we were, we took a number of pictures in front of the road sign, and then took a taxi to Ben Carey’s new apartment, where we would help move furniture, as payment for staying with Andrew’s brother. There is just something about hailing a taxi if you have never done so before. Perhaps it is simply because the action is seen so often in movies, regardless, it creates a sort of thrill in an individual.

For some reason, I had expected the cab to be somewhat neat. Maybe because in my eyes, a cab is a place of business, and should be treated as such, this would include keeping a tidy car for customers. However, for this individual who was very obviously not a native of the United States, certain hygienic codes appeared to be unnecessary, as empty cigarette cartons and trash from fast food meals were strewn about the front of the car. He seemed to be from the Middle East and spoke very quickly with a dialect that was hard to comprehend. He was however polite, if someone who smokes, cackles, and curses can be considered polite. He spoke to us about Chicago and day-to-day life for himself while we were driven to our destination. Respect should be given to cab drivers however, as they cannot possibly make much money, it can be a dangerous career, and to be able to not only know how to get everywhere, but also to know just how much room is needed to weave their car in and out of traffic takes some amount of skill and this cab driver had plenty of skill. There was at least one instance when I was sure we should stop behind the bus in front of us, but instead our cab driver whipped the car into the lane next to him, probably within an inch or two of the car beside of us. Whether he truly had skill, or was simply insane and lucky, we arrived at our destination in one piece and fast.

Thankfully, moving all of the furniture into Ben’s apartment went relatively quickly and we soon found ourselves on the way to well-known Soldier’s Field, home of the Chicago Bears. As this was the entire reason why we came to Chicago in the first place, we were all a bit enthusiastic. For us, it was a big deal not only to drive all the way to Chicago, but also to see Manchester United, in person. For Ben, Andrew, and Paidiwa, they had all been soccer enthusiasts for their entire lives. Andrew and Paidiwa had even played soccer since they were able to walk. For me, I was just happy to be somewhere new. To add to our own excitement, the knowledge that devoted Man. U. fans all over the world would kill to be able to see their beloved team play in person was almost too much to bear.

The stands, filled with over 60,000 screaming fans, the most ever in Soldier’s Field for a soccer game, was an exhilarating place to be. Not only was that many people and the soccer players a sight to see, but the Chicago skyline could be seen to one side of the field, while Lake Michigan could be seen on the other, with sail boats streaming across the entire viewable setting. Vendors were walking amongst the stands, yelling their wares of drinks, ice cream, and beer to the fans that were eager to throw their entire paycheck away in a single day.

Following the game, which ended with Manchester beating the Chicago Fire 3-1, we were all once again ravenous. Upon the recommendations of previous natives to Chicago, we decided upon tasting a Chicago styled pizza, also known as the deep-dish pizza. We made a long hike, probably a solid two miles, to a restaurant called Lou Manatis, renowned for their great tasting pizza. Unfortunately for us, the restaurant was truly well-known because it took two hours for us to even be seated and another 45 minutes to receive our pizza. We quickly demolished the Chicago delectable, containing a layer of bread, sausage that covered the entire pizza, sauce, and cheese, and headed back to the old apartment to sleep for the night and prepare for the long trip back to Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Even though we were unable to see much of the city, simply being in the historic city of Chicago was a treat for us all. Experiencing Polish-dogs, people galore, sights and sounds of a big city, a Manchester United soccer game, and a Chicago deep-dish pizza left us all feeling culturalized to the big city. Despite the 20 plus hours of driving, the trip was truly worthwhile and is something that anyone with a little money and time to spare should experience.