Hello World!
After a week of small towns, we finally hit up Chicago where I stayed with my friend from high school, Scott. We called him Soupman since his last name was Campbell. He and his fiancee, Bella, live in the cutest little basement apartment a few blocks from Wrigley field. They were kind enough to let us hang out with them and their adorable animals (3 cats and a doggie so cuddly) for a couple of nights.
We got in after 9pm on Sunday night, and as a prep for our day in Chicago, Kris and I watched 'Ferris Bueller.' Of course, all they did was impossible to do in one day, but we tried our best. The next morning we got up early and hit up Willis Tower, previously known as Sears Tower, to hang out on their glass platforms that jut four feet from the side of the building. You are standing on very solid material, but it's nonetheless a bit frightening and what feels like a walk of faith to step out on the ledge. You look down 15,000 feet below to the river and streets, towering high above the other buildings around you. It felt like I was in the Matrix. So that is how Superman feels all the time (well, not the frightened part).
We had lunch in Chinatown (Kris' first time in any Chinatown) and had dim sum (I also introduced her to this). We got our fill, and headed to the Arts Institute where we gazed on famous works of art. My favorite was Dante Rosetti's Beata Beatrix, his replica of his own famous piece of the same name that hangs in the Tate in London (I saw that one too!). I didn't realize there was a second one done by Rosetti's own hand, so when I turned the corner and saw it, it was like seeing a good friend I hadn't seen in a long time. I sat and stared at it for a while.
We had to head back to the apartment because we had to make a call to our boss for work, but afterwards headed out to Millennium Park where the famous "Cloud Gate" rests, that is more commonly known as the Bean (it's big, it's silver, it looks like a giant bean) and other cool structures. We met up with Kris' friend Matt and the there of us headed to the famous Giordano's for their Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Good thing we had a boy with us, because those pies are massive! We still didn't finish a medium altogether. The remnants became Kris' and my breakfast the next day ;)
As we headed back to the apartment, Matt parted ways to head back to Moody Bible Institute where he is studying, and Kris and I walked down Michigan Ave. It was a gorgeous night to walk about the city. Chicago is really beautiful after the sun goes down (isn't every city? with those deep city lights--a la Sara Bareilles). On the way back to the apartment we stopped in front of Wrigley field to take pictures. Scott and Bella called us up just in time to go get some cupcakes, so they picked us up and I had an amazing red velvet cupcake to end my amazing day.
We had to be up by 4:30 the next morning to get to our school in Kenosha the next day. From there, I wanted to veer off course for a bit to visit the Jackson family home in Gary, Indiana. The house was taped off, so no one could go inside, and across the street were tons of memorabilia being sold. I bought a friend a shirt, took a few pictures, and went on our way.
After three days of shows in Indiana (our last one being a crazy one where our sound went out in one side of the speaker mid-show--headache galore), and a late start getting out of there, we crossed Ohio in one night to be here in Dillsburg, PA, staying with a lady from Kris' church from while she was going to school at Messiah College. Her name is also Kristen, and her husband is Bob. They are super sweet, have two bedrooms for us, food available for us to cook for ourselves, and offered for us to do laundry in their machines before we even asked! God is so good, and His people are awesome.
So, at present, I'm just waiting for my laundry to finish so I can stick it in the dryer, and then we are off to Gettysburg. I'm so excited; we didn't even plan to be going this weekend until we realize it was only 25 miles away! I read the Gettysburg Address again this morning, and it is just as powerful as the first time I heard as a kid. The cool thing about the East Coast is how old it is, how much of our nation's history is soaked into the grounds here. So cool.
