Bees of Chicago

Chicago: Second Stop on the Road Trip

Sketch by me - Montrose Beach at night, Lake Michigan, Chicago.

Five years ago, one of my closest friends, Ali Noe, graduated high school. When asked how she chose Columbia art school in Chicago she replies, "I picked the furthest school I got into from home." Every year I would promise to visit her, but between expense and inconvenience, it never happened. Finally, I fulfilled my promise with our second stop on the road trip. Ali is a year older than myself, a working artist, and manages at an art studio.

Feel free to scroll down if you just want to look at food recommendations, but I'll start off with some art.

Studio Visits & Art

Although I could fill an entire blog post with Chicago's graffiti, I will instead focus on the Ali Noe perspective. She generously took off from work to show us some of her favorite parts of Chicago. We started off by visiting Autotelic Studios, a building filled with cluttered studio spaces, with a community garden out back.

Ali works primarily with bees, drawing comparisons between the hivemind and technology. The left side of this photo collage is her laser cut bees, the right side features bees printed onto an enormous pillow.

The pickle prize - the artists of Autotelic occasionally have a pickle-making contest, and the winner gets the pickle prize.

Beehive in a nearby community garden.

Later, we stopped by the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), which is free to residents. Luckily, they let us in when we claimed all of us lived at Ali Noe's residence. The museum was sadly empty, with its main gallery transitioning between shows. However, I adored two of the available exhibitions. 

First, I saw Keren Cytter's video installations for the first time. Cytter is an Israeli artist. She writes screenplays based off of television shows, often filming with actors the same day. Her work has a sense of immediacy and honesty. 

Anke just went fishing.
She left her parents at home.
The rest she carried in a plastic bag.
The day was hot and warm. (quote from Cytter's website)

I also responded positively to S, M, L, XL which was a collection of interactive installations. Kris Martin's T.Y.F.F.S.H (2011) was a crowd favorite, consistently surrounded by clusters of people photographing the hot air balloon from the outside. The balloon, inflated by fans, seemed to press against the wall of the gallery, but actually extended through the wall so that viewers inside could go all the way inside. But I found myself spending the most time and thought with Passageway (1961) by Robert Morris. Only one participant could enter at a time. I walked through a spiral passageway until I could no longer see my friends waiting at the entrance. It became progressively more and more narrow. I removed my hat to squeeze farther towards the end. My admission tag fell off as I pressed against the walls. I sucked in, but could go no further. I touched the end, just barely, with my fingertips from outstretched arm.

Finally, we visited the Museum Campus, a park in Chicago.

The roosters of the group standing in front of a Zodiac sculpture by Ai Wei Wei.

We could see Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline from the pier.

Food

Since we intend to cook and fish for ourselves the rest of the roadtrip, we splurged on food while in the city. Ali took us to some of her favorite spots. No matter where we went, we always heard other opinions from passerby. When we stopped at Glazed & Infused Doughnut, a stranger shouted to us that we should go to the place across the street - but I was more than satisfied.

We went to Honky Tonk one night for barbecue. I didn't take any photos because I was far too overwhelmed. Ali and I waited at the bar until a table opened up for all seven of us. We shared a beer that came with candied maple bacon, which was indescribably delicious - thick, savory, and sweet. For dinner we split two platters and some sides. I admit I took more than my fair share of ribs. After we finished eating, my beautiful elf boyfriend remarked "I didn't know I liked meat." 

Although it was no restaurant, I do want to give a nod towards Chicago's mulberry trees. My hands were perpetually stained purple.

Another night, we went family style in Chinatown with a heavy concentration on seafood. We split soups, Thai style shrimp, cuttlefish with glass noodles, and udon.

Cuttlefish at Joy Lee, set in Chicago's Chinatown.

Perhaps my favorite meal was last night (June 23, 2015). We went to the beach at Lake Michigan, opting for the dog section to catch up on some furry cuddles. For dinner, we bought food at a farmer's market to grill on the deck of our RV (yes... our tiny little RV has a deck). Everyone pitched in with food prep and cooking.

Salmon, kale, asparagus, mushrooms, and veggies (potato/celery/onion/carrot).

Parting Words

Ali Noe, everyone's favorite bee-obsessed friend, showed us an amazing time. So we made a card for her as a thank-you surprise. Each of us drew one bee, except my beautiful elf boyfriend (wasp) and Damon (poem).

BEES

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