Is that an Olive Garden?

On a daily basis, I see Chicago tourists taking pictures of everything. And I mean everything. I'll be walking behind someone who abruptly stops, looks up, and takes a picture. I'll then look up expecting to see Superman, yet all I see is another building. Am I'm missing something? (It's kind of funny, because I wonder if all these pictures eventually become very boring slide-shows families around the world are subjected to. "Here kids is a brown building. Now here's a slightly different gray one...")

But I guess that's the thing about being somewhere you're not used to.... everything seems so cool.

I felt like a picture-taking tourist when I visited the lovely suburb of Evanston a couple of weeks ago. I needed to register for classes at Northwestern, and I talked Mike into going with me. As we were driving through the multi-million dollar neighborhoods, I started exclaiming, "My god, it's so green here! What's the deal??"

Mike: "Um, they have lawns, so it just looks greener."

Me: "Oh."

Me a few minutes later: "Wait, what's that crazy loud humming sound?"

Mike: "It's nature. I think it's locusts."

Me: "Oh."

Me a few minutes later: "Oh my goodness, they have a Red Lobster. Yum!" I immediately yell again, "And an Olive Garden right behind it! This place is heaven!" (Chicago doesn't have too many chain restaurants, hence the squeals of delight.)

We then parked downtown so we could eat dinner. It actually took me a second to figure out how to pay the meter. That's because it was a traditional meter box you put coins into it. In Chicago, all our meters were replaced by pay boxes where you put in your credit card, hit how long you'll be there and then print a ticket for your dash. City living actually made me forget the basics.

"She's Having a Baby" home

After dinner, I talked Mike into driving me around the neighborhood where John Hughes filmed the movie "She's Having a Baby" with Kevin Bacon and Alec Baldwin. (Every time I'm in the 'burbs, I find another John Hughes home. Jake Ryan, here I come!)

While we were driving around, we saw kids playing in the street and people sitting outside in lawn chairs just like in the movie. Isn't that cute? People were actually interacting with their neighbors. (For us, we don't know any of our neighbors and outdoor coversation is hampered by the loud sound of the El train whizzing by every 3 minutes.)

I guess the moral of this story is that everything seems much cooler when you don't see it everyday. Case in point: I almost took a picture of the city's first Chick-Fil-A the other day, because I was so stinkin' excited. Who needs city views, professional sports teams and museums when you have nuggets?????