Native Tourist

Vacations are amazing; I don't think that's up for discussion. You get to see new places or visit old favorites, meet new people or see old family, try new adventures and ignore work emails, all under a mindset that allows for complete relaxation and carefree fun. When approached in the right context, vacations are not just a break from the common scenery you've been consumed with for monotonous month after month, but it can be a break from life. Even if month after month doesn't feel the same, especially in Chicago where the temperature can change 50 degrees in the same week, there is still a certain amount of mystery and excitement that surrounds a getaway of any kind. And that getaway could just be taking a few days to bum around the house, do a few projects, some yard work, some shopping, and just taking advantage of down time in your own house and in your own bed. Some might call this a stay-cation, but it elicits the same feelings of carefree relaxation.

One option that isn't often considered is what I experienced on Saturday. A good friend of mine had an old friend coming to visit that wasn't too familiar with downtown Chicago. Now, I have had a Chicago address for exactly two years. I've ridden the Red Line from 95th to Howard, I've been to movies in Millennium Park, I've swam in a pool 44 stories above ground, and generally, done a decent job making my way throughout neighborhoods, buildings, pubic transits, and establishments in my time here. So while it seemed like I was an ideal candidate to play tour guide, what transpired made for such a memorable day, 3 cameras couldn't even capture everything.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about being a tourist in your own backyard, seeing it as a foreign land instead of your stomping grounds, and allowing yourself to treat your time like there's no plan, no schedule, no sense of responsibility, and just letting loose.

So what happened? We took the Red Line down to Chicago Ave, walked past The Water Tower (ya know, that thing that survived the damn Chicago fire), and headed north to the Hancock building. At the base, it's as overwhelming as ever. The 40 second elevator ride left my ears in a constant state of popped, but the views from the observatory were worth it (even if the views from my brother's roof are half as impressive and kind of ruined the surprise). We (the girls) did some Michigan Avenue shopping, which albeit wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, it still felt very touristy. And after passing on the 45-60 minute wait for Uno or Due (deep dish pizza places), we walked over to Portillos for a magnificent Chicago style late lunch, officially kicking off our drinking, and sending the day into a level of fun that didn't dip the rest of the evening. We bounced from bar to bar, hitting up Clark St Ale House, Mothers Too, Benchmark, Market (briefly), Bon V, and Exit, taking in the trendy to the chill, the fratty to the hardcore.

Like I said, it's less what we did, and more how we did it. Granted, one member of our crew was actually from out of town, while another member resides in a distant suburb, but my brother and I are Chicagoan city dwellers that explored and partied like we weren't from here. It felt like a mini vacation for me, even though I traveled about 10 miles, round trip. I had the fun, the rush, the excitement of trying some new things and meeting some new people, but I had the comfort of sleeping in my own bed. There are thousands of exciting adventures in the world that I want to try, there are hundreds of cities in dozens of countries that I would love to visit, and there are experiences that will be so far out of my daily life that I can't help but to call them exotic, but I think it's important to be able to appreciate what is lying in your backyard. And while you might explore the surrounding area often, even as I described, to do it like you're on vacation is something more. Experiencing the familiar in an unfamiliar way can be enlightening, worthwhile, and refreshing. And that short statement can be applied so many ways in so many parts of life, it's up to you how you use it. Let's see what you can do.