Day 28 - From the beach to the blues

A warm day and calm winds made this a great day to explore the waterfront. Oak Street Beach was just across from our hotel, so we ducked through the tunnel and walked up the Gold Coast to the North Avenue Pier for a view of the city. This shot looks quiet but the area was full of walkers, joggers, runners, skaters, scooters, and bikers all enjoying the sun. From the chatter, this was one of the first warm days.

We walked back to Oak Street Beach, rented a pair of lounge chairs and settled. Young and old were doing beachy things, some active and some, like us, less so. A group of teens were being cool when they were thinking about it but mostly having fun when they weren't, splashing, squealing, touching - ahh, young love. A hot dog and a lemonade made the day.

Dinner was at the House of Blues. The half-hour walk from the hotel was through busy streets and street-side tables full of people enjoying the warm evening. The House of Blues is in an unusual building on the north bank of the river - more like a church than a restaurant-concert venue. There were three different bands playing - the line-up in the photo thankfully wasn't for the restaurant.

The guitarist and bassist from the Chicago band, Daisychain, were playing in the restaurant, covering faves from the 60s on forward and introducing some of their own stuff. The menu was a fusion of New Orleans and Chicago - we settled on steak and fries and a half rack of ribs. It wasn't fine dining, but it was a fine evening.

There are several schools in this area of Chicago - Northwestern University, the Moody Bible Institute and Loyola University to name a few. On our walk back to the hotel, we heard bagpipes playing and found the Frances Xavier Warde Catholic School had taken over the intersection of Chicago and State Streets - pretty big splash for what turned out to be the 8th grade graduation.

Chicago is a great city of music for all. It is definitely the standard bearer for the blues. Sun Records in Memphis gave us Rock and Roll, Motown Records in Detroit gave us soul, and Chess Records in Chicago gave us the blues. Chess: Spinning Blues into Gold by Nadin Cohodas tells us both the story of the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, as well as many of the early artists who have become household names, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Etta James, and Bo Diddley. A great read after visiting this land of the blues. 

We were inspired by the young women we saw on stage tonight. From the entire canon of music they have to choose from, these twenty-somethings are singing 60s protest songs. The themes were also reflected in their own music. We were bathed in nostalgia as we listened to this song, and realized how pertinent some of it is today. For what it is worth, listen to For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield.

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth 1967 - YouTube.