R and J in the USA

Once again leaving a state we didn’t want to say goodbye to, we crossed the Mississippi into Illinois. We found ourselves back in time in the storied streets of Galena. We entertained ourselves by finding the spot where yet another scene from Field of Dreams had been filmed and passed shops of every kind, including an entire shop dedicated to root beer. 

We visited a house lived in by President Grant and his family and were unable to find our way in or where the advertised house tours started. We read the plaques available to read outside with curiosity about another of America’s presidents we knew less about.

We made a quick stop in Rockford on our way to Chicago and arrived in the Windy City on the very last night of the Democratic National Convention. We didn’t go to the convention but found it fascinating to be in Chicago at a time where one of the events so associated with the town was happening. We took in the Chicago skyline and found a place to park for the night near the Lincoln Park Zoo. 

We enjoyed a beautiful morning in the city and Julie was fairly enamored with it right away. Any city where Julie can easily bike and swim while also delighting in the charms and perks of urbanity gets immediate points with her. She biked to one of the many nearby beaches and went for a swim in the massive and pristine Lake Michigan. 

We biked along the lake on its fantastic bike lanes alongside a separate path for walkers and runners into the downtown area and took in skyline views against the garden scape of Millenium Park. We gawked at the stunning Frank Gehry-designed amphitheater and joined throngs of folks in awe at the famous Cloud Gate statue (aka The Bean), taking pictures of it and of our reflections in it. We took in a delicious meal at a gluten-free restaurant and made it into the heart of Chicago in time for our architectural river cruise. Julie felt obliged to get a Chicago hot dog and “accidentally” ordered two. There were women selling mango on the streets. Julie gorged herself on the sweet treat while a riverboat took us through the most sparkling blue green waters of a river either of us had ever seen as we listened to the history of Chicago’s storied skyline and the river that ran through it.

Julie made another batch of chewy cookies with the van door open to the sights and sounds of Lincoln Park. 

At the Second City theater, we laughed our butts off during an improv show, looked at pictures of the litany of Second City alumni who had made us and the rest of the world laugh for decades, and Julie reconnected to dreams of her childhood and memories of her young adulthood when a life in comedy was something she had put some energy and effort into. Maybe it’s not too late.

We ran the Backlot Dash 5K in suburban Skokie, where the silent film industry had its roots. You can read about that in our 5K section.

At Starved Rock State Park, we learned the tragic native history that gave the rock its name.

After Starved Rock we arrived at Skydive Chicago, our Harvest Host for the evening. It is exactly what it sounds like – a skydiving facility. We got to watch stream after stream of people fall gracefully from the sky (in parachutes) and land even more gracefully on the landing strip right in front of our parking spot. We considered making the leap ourselves, and were almost brave enough to do it, but figured, especially considering time, to let the idea percolate before ever going for it (though Ryan had done it once decades earlier).

We then made our way to the part of the state affectionately known as Lincoln Land. We dove into Lincoln’s Presidential Museum in Springfield and found ourselves swept up in the American romance with one of the most incredible presidents and humans to live on this planet, at least in our estimation. We got to see more of the full picture, including the brutal criticism he suffered from all sides in the media of the time. He took ridicule and critique at a level of harshness that would make YouTube commenters blush. We were moved and humbled by the paradoxes, hypocrisies, and struggles of humanity against and towards its better angels that played out in American history and did our best to understand what it means and tells us about ourselves and life today.

While in Springfield, we also visited Lincoln’s grave, drove by the old state capitol where he served in the state legislature, and walked by his one-time home.

In Springfield we also took in the beautiful Illinois State Capitol. It had many similarities with Iowa’s capitol building, having shared the same designer. 

We rounded out our Springfield visit with a stop at the little Springfield airport, where Julie dropped Ryan off for one of his routine visits home to see his mom. Minutes were spent hugging and saying goodbye over and over. It turns out 24/7 together was not enough to make us wish the other would go away. We both knew, though, that as people that like time alone, once we actually got through the separation part, we’d relish the solitude.

Julie finished out the last day in Illinois solo, swinging by Champagne-Urbana to get a little glimpse of the University of Illinois and to get a much-needed refreshing boba tea to combat the raging heat. Julie roasted in the van until finding a bit of respite when the evening air came into her parking spot at a Cracker Barrel parking lot halfway between Springfield and her first stop in Indiana.

Julie said goodbye to Illinois solo and left with a feeling that we had only just barely gotten to know the state, leaving the entire southern portion of it unexplored and feeling that, though we had thoroughly enjoyed our time there, we left not having our finger on the pulse of Illinois as deeply as we had in other states. We enjoyed it. We had a great time there. But we left wanting to know it better than we felt we did.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this is, when we left Illinois, we didn’t have any strong “People Along the Way” encounters to write about. That said, we gathered two Illinois “People Along the Way” as the trip continued – one from Minnesota and the other in Alaska – that helped us fill out our Illinois experience. You can read about them in our People Along the Way section. In reality, how much can we really know any one place or group of places? Whether we have five days or five years, there is always more to learn, connect to, and understand. Still, we left Illinois content with what we were able to glean in our short visit.