summer in the city

I have been spending a lot more time in Chicago recently than I used to, and I find myself falling more in love with the city every time I'm there. Last night, on the recommendation of several people, I joined some friends in seeing The Decemberists play a free concert at Millennium Park. Arriving at 6:00 for a show that started at 6:30 was definitely not early enough, as the crowds were swarming already, but fortunately we were meeting some people who had been there since 4:00. Which was still not early enough to sit close enough to see the stage!

The concert was great--The Decemberists were joined by the Grant Park Orchestra, which was very cool. I was unfamiliar with their music prior to last night, but must say that I enjoyed their story-telling through song immensely.

The part I did not enjoy was the rain.

During the concert, it was more of a sprinkle, just enough to be annoying but not really to be a nuisance. That is to say, not annoying enough to make you leave. The real deluge came later.

Caren and I had not eaten dinner yet when the concert ended, so the whole group of us wandered a little ways down Michigan Ave to Chipotle. The rain had seemingly stopped by then....or so we thought until we were in line and Caren looked out the window and pointed out the sudden downpour. So it was on-again, off-again while we were eating. (We also had a slight delay at Chipotle due to a restroom situation--they require a key to get into the restroom, and the manager told us someone was in the women's restroom and to just wait until they came out. As far as I know, no one ever came out. So Caren and I took the plunge and used the men's restroom. It was fun to see the looks on the guys' faces when we came out.) But by the time we needed to leave it was of course pouring again.

So we ran for it.

It must have been hilarious to see six people jogging down Michigan Ave in the torrential downpour. By this point I was barefoot, since running in wet flip flops is never ideal.....running in flip flops any time is never ideal.

So the car ride home was fun. Caren and I felt bad for the guys, who had to ride the train back. I had to wring out my hair and my sweater before getting in the car.

And I think the rain may or may not have fried my phone. It wont' turn on anymore.

But it's a small price to pay for a good story....