'Hoods #30: River North, Sept 7 2013

I designed the River North 'Hoods.

It was one of mine and Bill's "date" hoods. Just the two of us!

Highlights: We visited a little bit of all 5
subsections of River North: the gallery district,
the theme restaurant district, the Cathedral district,
a design district, and Kingsbury Park. (see the packet
for more specifics!)
-we started by waiting 100 years for donuts at
the donut vault. worth it! chestnut glazed, y'all.
-then the Merchandise Mart, where they were
having some sort of canned food stacking art
competition. a delight.
-Assumption Catholic Church. Mother Cabrini!
-Montgomery Ward Park, with that giant ring
sculpture!
-and then the old Montgomery Ward offices
-the Chicago Ave Bridge, looking all run down
-Cabrini Green public housing remains, next door
to the lamborghini service station. Really?
-the Green Door Tavern. Had a little pre-lunch Green
Door Ale (two brothers)
-Mr Beef, adored (apparently) by Jay Leno. to us?
no Al's
-the gallery art district
-Ed Debevic's, popular with high school students
everywhere. Last time I'd been, for sure.
-the anti-cruelty society where Jeremy and I
met a 7 year old bull mastiff we really wanted
but couldn't fit in our apartment
-the Ohio House Motel
-the Rock N Roll McDonald's the saddest of all
McDonalds
-Castle, formerly Excaliber, formerly the Chicago
Historical Society, where we we spoken to through
a PA and told we couldn't get it
-that big ol YMCA
-Holy Name Cathedral
-that below ground level Coffee Shoppe on Superior
that I like that's in an old house. Still regret not getting
that cronut.
-couldn't get into the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James
-those mansions right there, and including, the Driehaus
museum
-the Hotel Cass
-Bloomingdale's home store, formerly the Medina Temple.
Bill told a story of William buying a piano from there
as it shifted ownership.
-the Lambert Tree Studios. Still wanna get in there.
Supposedly a nice courtyard in the middle?
-the place where the Boy Scouts of America were
started
-Courthouse Place. Very Richardsonian Romanesque.
-Harry Caray's weird architecture
-Marina City
-One IBM Plaza
-Trump Tower (holds a different connotation now)
-billion dollar drink on the Terrace on Trump. excellent
views. Including that naked dude reading his newspaper
on his bed in his apt, in full view of the Terrace.

packet for River North Hoods

my pics of River North on flickr

Impressions: Super pretty. Super interesting. Lots of great and different architecture. Lots of history. If you can get past the douchbaggery and the tourists, there's a lot to do and see. Museums. Art. Food. Dranks. Church. Mother Cabrini. Incredibly walkable. It was a lovely date day for Bill and I :)

Here's that time I visited the Driehaus museum with Kelly and Jeff

and here's that time Bill and Josh's choir sang inside the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James