Days 2: Toledo to Chicago

Thursday started out with breakfast at our hotel, and drove on the Ohio turnpike until we reached the Indiana toll road, where we encountered what is now funny. Our first toll both was broken, and the first person in line at the automated machine clearly had no idea how to get help for it. We must have waited almost ten minutes, and by this time I was cursing out Indiana, the people in line, and the toll booth worker who was slow as molasses. We got out of the car to find help but obviously the moment we exited the vehicle, someone came to help. We finally got through, and then drove to Michigan City, Indiana, where we shopped at some outlets for a few hours. Surprisingly, Evan bought more than I did. I was a reserved shopper, mostly because I doubt that my car could fit any more purchases. At the Movado watch store, we asked for advice about eating, and were directed to this really cute restaurant called Swing Belly's. We had a great lunch looking on the water, and then we were off. Frankly, I can't remember what happened after that... So I'll let Evan take over.
-Sarah

After Michigan City, we swung over to Gary, Indiana, which is an exceptionally weird place. We had quite an experience when we stopped for gas and basically tore the car apart when we realized we couldn't find Sarah's camera. We didn't find it until later in the afternoon, but I think the search got us some curious stares from the citizens of Gary. Gary itself is your standard run-down industrial town--pretty much classic Rust Belt. Very friendly, though. We saw probably half a dozen signs welcoming us to Gary. We also saw this fire risk sign while it was raining all day, which was pretty ironic--the fire risk wasn't low, it was totally nonexistent. If we had a flamethrower and took it to a can of gasoline, I don't think we'd get a spark; it was that wet.



We continued on to Chicago while blasting some Kanye West, to get in the spirit of the town. And it's a nice city. We drove up Lake Shore Drive, right along the lake, and it was beautiful even though it was extremely grey; the waves looked like they would overtop the seawall (they didn't,) but it was still a great view. I can only imagine how awesome it is when it's sunny and nice. Sunny and nice are two words I would not use to describe Chicago when we drove through. The city itself is pretty--lots of interesting architecture and all that--but the weather was miserable, in the 40s, cloudy and windy. I'll pass it off to Sarah, who's going to talk about where we spent our afternoon:

We had some time to kill because we were going to pick up Evan's cousin Seth at the airport around 8, because he was graciously letting us stay at his home. So we drove to Oak Park, a suburb of the city. It was the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway, and also home to the Unity Temple designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright also had a museum and house in the neighborhood. The main avenue was exceptionally charming. We stopped for a coffee at Starbucks, and explored the town a bit. Evan and I agreed it would be a great place to live. After driving by the important landmarks of Oak Park (which is also Betty White's birthplace.. I can't omit that.. I love Betty White), we picked up Seth from the airport and drove to an Italian restaurant called Agío near Seth's home. It was quite good, especially the hazelnut gelato we had for dessert. We then went to Seth's apartment, played with his new dog Comet, and crashed. It was a great day.