You Better Wabash Out
Starting from the Lake/State blue line station and making my way up on the corner of State and Lake, I decided to walk down towards E Randolph St. On my left, a sign that stuck out from the beautifully designed white stone building, read “CHICAGO”. The sign was a dark red, that could possibly depict the color of blood, which caused the white lettering to stand out much more than any other color would have. The great Chicago Theater, always a pleasure to see.
As I walk and gaze up at the theater, I notice how the bulb lighting, that hugs that crevices of the building, makes its way to the side of the theater. An alley, specifically E Benton Pl, it had looked nicer than from the last time I had seen it. Steel poles equally staggered from one another. A black fire escape that had started from the very top of the building, to the very bottom. After gazing at the alley for a while, I had finally come to the realization of what had actually occurred here; the Iroquois Theater Disaster. One of the cities greatest tragedies. In 1903, the curtain had caught on fire, and had dispersed throughout the building. There have not yet been invented emergency exits, so during the pursuit of exiting, people either got stuck in the main door, or jumped to their death into Benton Pl. I am standing in the alley where hundreds of people plummeted to their death. As I stood there, I had envisioned everything. The fire, the diseased, piled up on one another like sardines in a can. It was horrific, yet I was walking on history which truly made it remarkable.
While gazing at the building, I had noticed a man in a blue jacket, accessorized with a red superman hat, walk past me with crutches. He seemed to not know how to walk with them though, considering he was still putting weight on both legs. His lower lip seemed to bulge and I he constantly kept on spitting out brown stuff; tobacco. How appalling.
As I walked further down State street, I notice the ginormous Walgreens building. It had taken up nearly half of the block. Their windows were so big and clear, that you can be looking straight ahead and your peripheral vision would still be able to picture the entirety of the interior. A waste of space may I say.
Looking ahead, I had seen a ginormous clock handing off the corner of a building. It seems to be made of copper and have gone through the process of oxidation; considering it is the same color/texture as the statue of liberty. It seems to be an older clock, since it consists of roman numerals. There seem to be flags installed and staggered within equal distance from one another. The Marshall Field department store, or should I say Macy’s, acquires Chicago-style windows. Chicago style windows are designed like a triptych, where the middle windows is much bigger than the two side windows. I noticed that people, or rather tourists, were taking pictures of the clock and the building itself.
I decided to turn left on to E Randolph St, where I realized the width of the pavement had been bigger than expected. It had room for abstract designed light bulbs that were embedded in the trees, and bushes. The lightbulbs had illuminated various colors, such as mint green, pink-red, and orange. After walking maybe half of the block, I had noticed on my left a fast-food place called “America’s Dog and Burger”. The setting before had just been stone, and now it had turned to big, clear windows. There was an advertisement on their window that had a picture of what seemed to be a big mac with fries. If that doesn’t describe America in a nutshell, then I don’t know what will.
While reaching Randolph and Wabash, I had caught my eye on the store literally on the corner of the two. The place was called “Tcby frozen yogurt”. The windows were bordered in green, which caused it to stand out from the brick and stone of the building surrounding it. It had 6 cakes in the stores window, that were designed with trending/popular figures; Michael Myers was one of them. I decided to walk in since I was enticed by it’s exterior. After filling my cup up with everything I like, I had placed it on the scale. It was $10, it was more than 3 CTA tickets.
After purchasing the overpriced yogurt, I decided to sit outside since it was in the mid 60’s. I had noticed that a bridge of train tracks had towered over me. Every now and the bridge would rumble due to a passing train. The sound compares to a plane lifting off the runway into flight, or like treacherous waves crashing right into me. Though the sound may be obnoxious to some, I have grown rather used to it; it soothes me now. As I looked around, I had noticed that people were captured by their phones, or by something other than the city. It’s like the features that have enticed me, didn’t really matter to them; it was just a simple structure to them. They didn’t truly intake their surrounding like I have, they didn’t relive history like I have, they didn’t even look up from their phones like I have.
Though I walked farther than just one block, I had noticed that my favorite place to walk in Chicago is not all enticing to most people in the city. Yes, it may have structures that are truly astonishing, but I have noticed that it is swallowed by spaces that tempt people to go inside rather than to walk around and adore the city; I never realized that until now.
Jacobs asks, “Why is a good steak house usually in an old building?” Why indeed? Based on your reading of Jacobs’s article, why is a good steak house usually in an old building? Are there any good Chicago steak houses in old buildings?
Good steak houses appear in older buildings because people are usually enticed to the exterior and the first glance of the place. That means if people see vines along the walls, big umbrellas, or even different looking cutlery they are more tempted to walk in.
Also, people are attracted to steakhouses in older buildings because they usually acquire some sort of history; they have their own unique story to tell. I mean you can eat at your local steakhouse food-chain, like longhorn steakhouse, but the thing is, you can get that steak anywhere you go. You are capable of obtaining the same exact experience anywhere.
When you go to a steakhouse in an older setting, usually, it’ll be an independent restaurant rather than a chain. Which makes that steakhouse devoted to particular area; it becomes in one with it. People want to attend a place that is itself unique and different from what they’ve had before. Along with that, you won’t focus on the quality of the food alone, when in a steakhouse in an old building, but on the atmosphere it presents.
