Looptopia
My sister Emily's graduation weekend began on Friday night. The entire family flew from the east coast to Chicago. We arrived on different flights, but we stayed in the same hotel near Moody Bible Institute. I was excited to see my family, but the excitement didn't set until Friday.
My dad and I met at O'Hare. We rode the "L" into the city. "L" is short for elevated train. Our stop was a quick walk to the hotel. Emily was at Midway picking up the rest of the family. We decided to find dinner without the girls.
Emily informed us of Looptopia. It was billed as America's only all night cultural festival. The Loop, or business/financial center of Chicago, had been transformed into one large stage. Each street corner boosted a separate performance. A concert stage was installed at a central square. The Chicago Cultural Center was holding numerous performances. People lined all the streets. All this only blocks from our hotel.
Amazing as the scene was, we needed food. It was almost 10 o'clock, and we had not eaten dinner. It was tuff to find a non-chain eatery, but we discovered Pizano's. The wait was only about thirty minutes, but we could pre-order our pizza and wait at the bar. I had no problems with those options. We ordered a thick deep dish with veggies. We also tried a local brewery, but it was just OK. Our second and more enjoyable beer came from Fat Tire in Colorado. Before we realized, the hostess sat us.
Chicago pizza is dense. If you order thick crust, the dough is soft, thick and chewy. On top of the doughy goodness sits a thick layer of cheese. Toppings lie on top of the cheese. Finally, a gallon of sauce finishes the pie. Amazing. As we finished up the last pieces, Emily, Jocelyn and Chelsea arrived at Pizanos. We finished our food and joined the party of Looptopia.
Pizanos is just up the street from the Cultural Center. Emily said we should check out the inside events. On the ground floor, two guys from the Barrel of Monkeys ensemble were running a collaborative story dubbed the Big Story. An easel held a life size legal pad for authors to pen portions of the story. For the first few pages, the story had some coherence. By the time I added my two cents, each author was being completely random. I mentioned the awesome Chicago pizza, and people should stop by Bawlmer for heroin and crab cakes.
After my sisters had their chance at the story, we waited in line to go upstairs. On the second level, a stage was setup for performances. We had a chance to listen to a three piece traditional Indian ensemble. One player was on the sitar. The rest were playing percussion instruments. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a straight on seat. I would have liked to have a better view of the sitarist fingers. The music was very interesting and intriguing. You could tell when the sitarist was jamming out from the dynamics of the sound and the players expressions. It was a very different concert experience. The room was as amazing as the show. Every inch was intricately decorated with mosaics and stone carvings. Numerous phrases in different languages were highlighted. In the center of the room was a Tiffany stained glass dome. The inside of the dome was inscribed with, "Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn." Very cool.
After we made our way out of the Cultural Center, it was past midnight. I would have loved to continue the adventure, but I was really tired. Everyone was feeling sleepy. We did need to arise very early on Saturday. Graduation was scheduled for 10am so, we walked back to the hotel. How good was our luck? Em's graduation weekend coincided with such a cool event as Looptopia. The festival was a great way to begin the weekend festivities.
