We spent four busy and fun days in the windy city. I’ve been behind on posting due to having so many pictures from Chicago and so much to report, so I might be a tad terse. Forgive me.

July 26th

The first night we met up with my old friend Stephanie Axne:

We had a good time chilling with her and her friend and her brother.

Then we called it a night.

July 27th

The next day we ate some breakfast at a really cool breakfast joint, the name of which I have forgotten. (Steph – if you read this, totally say the name of the place in the comments OK?) Besides the delicious eats, one of the highlights was this picture in the bathroom.

All the other pictures were roosters.

After breakfast, Steph put down some nice vocals for one of my songs, and then we were off to Gino’s East to introduce JH to Chicago-style pizza.

You have no idea how I’ve been craving Chicago-style pizza. The only place I could find it in Korea was at a Pizzeria Uno in CoEX mall, which had “Chicago style pizza” as a single menu item! Omaha doesn’t even have it. Not even at Old Chicago!! Seriously. Needless to say, the pizza was a huge highlight for me.

“What’s so special about Chicago-style pizza?” asks Attractive Girl attractively.

Actually, the fact that you don’t know decreases your attractiveness.

“Really. Did you know,” she asks coquettishly, “that I want to discover everything about the world, including Chicago-style pizza? Also, I value correct spelling and grammar.”

Okay, you’re still pretty attractive then. But I can’t answer your question.

“Why not?” Blink blink.

Chicago-style pizza must be tasted, not explained.

“But-”

No. That is my final word. You just have to go eat some. I would totally take you out on a date to eat some but you are only a narrative device. Too bad for you.

“Sigh… I wish I were real.”

We all do, believe me. But getting back to this post… after dinner we headed out to meet our next host, a happening dude by the name of Matt Lederhosen. We had some milkshakes, went to his house, chilled with him and our laptops, went to sleep. (INTERESTING FACT: that is not actually his last name, but it does start with L.)

July 28th

The next day we were off to see the city. We drove to the south side (where I had a session later),

hopped on the train toward the city,

got off said train once we were in the city,

and proceeded to take random pictures of stuff:

Not pictured: I had a good time taking JH to Ed Debevic’s, where the serving staff is rude to you. It was quite a change from polite Korea.

Then we were back to the south side to record my old friend from WU, Rob Leveridge. Rob and I used to make music together back in the day, when he had long hair and we were rock stars. Rob now has short hair, but he’s still a rock star. In addition to being a rock star, he works for Chicago Theological Seminary. We recorded in his office:

Rob had brought all kinds of fun toys, like a wave drum (never heard of it before), a frog (kind of like a guiro), and of course his guitar. He layed down a nice assortment of tracks for a few songs.

After that, I went downstairs to record this absolutely nasty-sounding old Steinway I had seen down there. The room wasn’t climate-controlled, and I believe the piano hadn’t been tuned. Ever.

There was also a chapel in one of the older sections of the building which sounded amazing. I wanted to record the Pakistani drum that Rob had brought with him in there. Unfortunately, there weren’t any power outlets nearby, so we weren’t able to record. Here is a nice bittersweet view of the space:

Finally, it was off to our next host, an extraordinarily helpful fellow named Taylor Brennan. We shot a few holes in the breeze there before going to sleep.

July 29th

Taylor is a singer (with a broadcasting degree… how cool is that?), and he broadcasted some nice vocals for several songs.

We took a break for food with Taylor and his girlfriend Kim and their other roommate Nicole.

After lunch, Kim joined in to do some group vocals with Taylor!

Then, it was back into the city for some more sightseeing!

Seriously, friends, we walked a lot. My feet and legs were already killing me from the day before, and then we walked several more miles seeing the city again. We walked all the way up the Magnificent Mile too. And, we were really hungry. Would you believe there are no restaurants on the Magnificent Mile?! It’s pretty much true. Finally, near the John Hancock building, we ate at the food court in Macy’s, at California Pizza Kitchen.

Then, we hopped in the John Hancock building up to the 96th floor for what is considered the best view of the city (for people without airplanes).

We came outside as a storm was busy beginning. We got rained on pretty hard as we ran for the subway station, where we discovered that the northbound train we needed was rerouted due to construction, and we had to go to a different station. Another run in the rain. Then a ride on a train. Then we walked back to Taylor’s place, passing closer to Wrigley Field this time.

July 30th

On this day, we woke up, loaded up, drove out, ate some Chicago-style hotdogs, and were off to Kalamazoo.

I am proud to report that we never had to fill up the tank in Chicago, where gas is like 40 cents more expensive. Yay not doing that!

COMING SOON: Another exciting adventure! Stay tuned!