Monday was a “work day”, I woke up fairly early and got online, catching up with work e-mail, keeping current on projects, anything except covering ground toward my destination. This was supposed to be one of two off-road days, but since that didn’t work out on Friday, this was the only one.
It wasn’t actually a day off the bike though, since cousin Trudy (actually, my dad’s first cousin) had been asking for a ride ever since she visited Seattle for Juliette’s Bat Mitzvah 5 years before. My bike at the time was a Sportster 883 and it had some trouble with a full sized adult as a passenger, but the Road King would be no problem. Trudy hat sat on a Harley before, but never actually ridden a moving motorcycle of any kind. Our family has some history with motorcycles, with another of my dad’s first cousins riding a motorcycle back in the early 80’s (maybe late 70’s?) and keeping it a secret from his parents, and the rest of the family. When he had an accident, the story that everyone told was that “Sam fell off a roof”, I was quite young and had no idea that it was a ruse, and to this day have no idea how many people believed that story.
I told Trudy that in all my years living in Chicago, and many visits back there was one landmark I had never got to see. It isn’t on most tourist maps, and I doubt that most visitors know it exists, let alone care to see it. Trudy didn’t know about it, and she was game to check it out.
The home of Chess Records, where Phil and Leonard Chess more or less “midwifed” the contemporary electric blues by recording and releasing music by Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, and of course the second recording they released was Muddy Water’s “Rolling Stone”, which gave 5 young blues fans in England a name for a band that would change rock and roll. Classic songs that would be covered by blues and rock & roll artists for decades were recorded here, including Little Red Rooster and Johnny B. Goode. Eventually British blues bands came to pay tribute, and record here as well, including the Yardbirds and Rolling Stones.
If you aren’t familiar with the story of Chess Records, the film Cadillac Records gives an introduction, but a somewhat historically warped view, as Ebert’s review points out ““Cadillac Records” is an account of the Chess story that depends more on music than history. This movie sidesteps the existence of Phil Chess,and focuses on the enigmatic, chain-smoking Leonard and the director doesn’t go out of her way to indict Leonard’s business methods (did the singers know their Cadillacs were bought with their own money?)”
2120 South Michigan is in the south loop, not an area I really have ever had any reason to visit, and not near anything, but far enough to have been inconvenient when I stayed in the loop area for other reasons. Turns out it is a lovely area, with some casual restaurants coming in and it was easy to find parking as well as a fine lunch at a Mexican restaurant and a sunny day for pictures.
Just a short visit during my lunch break from work, then back to the computer, and then dinner at a small Italian place around the corner with a glass of wine and some nice fish. I had really wanted to go out, maybe visit some friends, but the wine sort of put me over the edge, and I went to bed, ready for my last 2 days riding.