• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« KC Star hits a home run with its “new” online commenting policy
The Star and the governor drop the ball, instead of the axe, on Chris Nicastro »

The (fabulous) Land of Lincoln

December 11, 2013 by jimmycsays

I just returned from a four-day trip to Illinois, home to my favorite city — Chicago.

Patty and I have seen a lot of Chicago in recent years, what with our 25-year-old daughter Brooks having endured four or five rounds of in-patient treatment for anorexia at a residential facility in Lemont, IL, west of Chicago.

Brooks is on the upswing, and we hope she’ll be back home by February. In the meantime, we’ll keep making that jog east over to either St. Louis or Hannibal and then north to Chicago. (I think my next political campaign will be a push for an interstate between Kansas City and Chicago.)

This trip I made on my own. On Friday and Saturday nights, I stayed with friends in Downers (no apostrophe) Grove, also west of Chicago, but on Sunday night I went into the big city. Driving in the snow, it took me more than an hour and a half to traverse the 25 miles miles to downtown. I arrived a few minutes before curtain time for an excellent play called “Tribes” at the Steppenwolf Theatre on Halsted Street.

I spent the night at the Days Inn on the Near North Side, and on Monday I went to the Chicago Art Institute to see the museum’s fabulous collections of Impressionist paintings.

I thought about attending the Monday night football game between the Bears and the Cowboys but bowed out when I learned the temperature was going to be in the single digits.

The weather wasn’t too bad Monday morning and early afternoon, but about 2 p.m. an angry and frigid south wind started blowing. It came up while I was enjoying a deep-dish, sausage and mushroom pizza at Pizano’s on Madison Street. After lunch, I bucked that south wind and walked as fast as I could to where my car was parked, got on I-55 and headed out of town.

I spent Monday night in Springfield, where I’d never been before, and explored some of the Lincoln haunts before returning to Kansas City.

You know the saying, of course, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” Well, I’ve written about 350 words, and I’m going to let the following photos take care of the remaining 650…

P1030164

On Sunday morning, a skater and his dog played one-on-one ice hockey in Downers Grove.

P1030176

What better time to rake the leaves? (Sunday, Downers Grove)

P1030191

Same stuff (snow), different city (Chicago), Monday morning

P1030181

Street scene, Near North Side

P1030196

LaSalle Boulevard…That’s the Chicago Board of Trade building dead ahead.

P1030212

Michigan Avenue, near Millennium Park

P1030226

Skater: McCormick Tribune Plaza

P1030237

Bucking the frigid south wind Monday afternoon…Time to get out of town!

P1030248

The Old State Capitol in Springfield, built between 1837 and 1840. It was here that Abraham Lincoln served his last term as a state representative in 1840 and 1841. The building is distinguished by the locally quarried, yellow “Sugar Creek” limestone used to make its walls.

P1030258

The building that housed Lincoln’s law office. It’s across the street from the Old State Capitol. Lincoln had a very successful practice.

P1030264

One of Lincoln’s first law partners was Stephen T. Logan…Thus, “Logan & Lincoln.” He later practiced with William H. (Billy) Herndon, who wrote a book about their time together.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

3 Responses

  1. on December 11, 2013 at 7:37 am Thomas R Shrout Jr

    Try Amtrak between KC and Chicago sometime. Nice ride.


  2. on December 13, 2013 at 8:45 am chuck

    Love the pics. Hope your daughter is feeling better!


    • on December 13, 2013 at 3:23 pm jimmycsays

      Thank you, Chuck…I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who liked those photos!



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 512 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    <span>%d</span> bloggers like this: