The Chicago Bucket List

It was a wonderfully sunny day with a nice cool breeze, me and @TheAW1 decided to hike a little bit from Gold Coast on the search for a suitable patio. On the walk west on Chicago Avenue, we were shocked to find Bar Louie without a patio setup on an idyllic day. We kept marching, and we kept coming up with big eyefuls of nothing, no patios! By the time we got to Milwaukee and Chicago, we only had twenty minutes left to get over to Mr. Brown’s Lounge to the Jamaica Me Yelpy event and hopped on the crowded bus filled with people giving out too many details of their lives to the general public via cell phone conversation.

We arrived to the party greeted by some of the best community managers in the world and Johnny T himself gave us a detailed agenda for the evening’s festivities from where to get food, drinks, what music would be playing when, and we were stoked. Inside, we found ourselves one of the first arrivals in a sea of familiar faces. As the bumrush of people began, I pulled out the papers and pen and started getting to work.

@raulito’s List

1. Smelt fish at Rogers Park on the lakefront

2. Go to the Air Balloon festival and ride an air balloon

3. Scuba dive wrecks on Lake Michigan

4. Go to the mine pit in Homewood

5. At the Fiesta del Sol, get a piece from the Pyramid of Meat!

@raulito’s list requires some specialized knowledge as I haven’t gone fishing since high school! Scuba diving sounds cool, but being a poor swimmer is probably very conducive to scuba diving or going too deep into water without serious risk of death! I’m really liking this Pyramid of Meat idea and @raulito’s pictures were more than enticing!

Preet’s List

1. Go to Calumet Fisheries and order smoked shrimp and smoked trout

2. Order Apple Fritter at Old Fashioned Donuts by 115th & Michigan

Preet likes good eats in the deep south, I’ve heard of this Calumet Fisheries….could it be the fish version of WINGS AROUND THE WORLD? Oh to dream!

@JillianneM’s List

1. Purchase illegal fireworks and blow them up on the Fourth of July

2. Check out the Ghosthunting Tour

3. Do a run or walk for charity

4. Eat alligator at the Taste of Chicago

5. See an indie film at the Music Box or go to the 24 hour horror movie fest

6. Perform slam poetry at the Green Mill

@JillianneM’s got some great ideas and there’s very few things more fun than blowing up fireworks. I’ve had the luxury of hanging out in the alleys of Logan Square during Fourth of July and watching some impressive displays of firepower! I really think performing at the Green Mill would be a total experience, but I’d need to write something great and rehearse it properly before defiling the stage.

Tim’s (Maryland) List

1. Go to Irazu and have dinner on the patio. Irazu is one of the few Costa Rican restaurants in the city featuring BYOB located in Bucktown. Go to dishes include empanadas, black bean and pork dish, casado, and of course the oatmeal shaek

2. Eat a turtle sundae at Margie’s Candies.

3. Head over to Hutten Bar

4. Chillax at Albion Beach

5. Do a walking route starting at Diversey Harbor, go west to Leavitt, south to Logan Blvd, west to Logan Square, south to Humboldt Park, head to Douglas or Garfield Park, then Western to 55th.

Tim’s final list is a bit ambitious and strenuous all the while posing great danger if done at the wrong time of day. I have driven past Irazu a billion times and have always seen the patio packed to the brim and the idea of an oatmeal milkshake is sounding very enticing right now. Margie’s Candies has long been on my hitlist of places to go check out, so this one may be quickly added.