1. In four mornings, son and I will get on a plane–okay, THREE planes–to Urbana, Illinois, where my older sister & family live.
2. In five mornings, I will hug son good-bye and travel with my sister (in her cool Prius; think she’ll let me drive?) to CHICAGO, where we’re staying for two nights, basically two days, and many, many research stops.
- Hull-House museum (the ORIGINAL house from which Jane Addams grew the incredible undertaking that was her settlement house.)
- Chicago History Museum
- Spertus Museum & Library
- Chicago Public Library (1913 Chicago Tribune ON MIRCOFICHE!)
- The house my grandmother lived in until she came to California. We won’t go in, but we will DEFINITELY see the balcony she and her twin sister slept on during hot summers.
- MAYBE the cemetery where her older sister is buried, the one who died during the big influenza wave. I have some phone calls to make about this one.
- Macy’s. NO, I’m NOT just going shopping (note the JUST). This Macy’s is in the building that was the original Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago–total glitz and glamor.
- Who knows WHERE else.
3. We’ll probably eat, too. Any can’t-misses in downtown Chicago? Chicago foods I HAVE to try? Throw recommendations into the comments!
4. In 7 days, we will drive back to Urbana, where I will spend the next few days hanging with nephews (and TOTALLY owning them at Pictionary, thank you very much!) and trying to process all the information I collect in Chicago. Can you say BRAINTWIST? I will also post MANY photos on my blog, assuming I can get them from camera to laptop.
5. In 11 days, I will get back on three planes and come home. In 11 days, it will also be my birthday, and I can’t think of any better way to celebrate than to come back to California, full of history and images and FEELINGS to weave into my WIP.
Excited? Me? Oh, no. 🙂
Becky Levine 