In the beginning...

So, in November or December of 2009 a group of us were having a drink at Cunneen's in Rogers Park. I was sitting next to Ed. Ed has a lot of good ideas. Especially when we've been drinking. We began bemoaning the fact that we were in a rut. Same bars (no offense Cunneen's. Love ya!). Same restaurants. Same Same. Ed makes a decision. In 2010 we were gonna shake it up. New bars. New restaurants. New New! Now, I'm not super certain how everything went down. Drinking. But I do know that we somehow, together, came up with a magnificent plan. Every month a different neighborhood. Ed's the thinker. I'm the planner. And so I took it upon myself to make our drunken dreams a reality. And I picked a date. And I picked a neighborhood. And I planned. And I researched. And I made a map. And I made a packet. And on Jan 16 2010 a group of us met in the midst of a snow shower for our very first 'Hoods. Bronzeville! I knew nothing about Bronzeville before I embarked on this adventure. And by the time we'd gone to the museums, visited the coffee shop, walked the streets, ate the food, talked to the experts, soaked up the history...I felt like I was just a tiny bit closer to my hometown. Also? I was hooked. We have never quite made it to one per month. But we've kept it up. Over 6 years. 43 neighborhoods so far. And we're still kickin.

We take turns picking neighborhoods and planning our day.
The aim is to get a good a feel for the neighborhood NOW as well as its history.
So we have to eat there at least once.
We go to whatever museums the neighborhood has to offer.
We visit any historic districts or sites.
We shop.
We drink at a bar.
We admire the architecture.
We share all of the pertinent information with the group via a packet, that we carry with us and reference throughout the day.
We wear ourselves out.
We take a million pictures.
We experience a version of Chicago that we've never experienced before.
And then we do it all again 4-8 weeks later. Different neighborhood.

Here I mostly aim to chronicle our efforts.
I'll post our packet and a link to my flickr album of that neighborhood.

You ready?