What's up, everyone? Well, another week has begun and spring break '11 has officially ended! What a spring break it has been! I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break if you so happen to also have been off on your own Spring Break adventures. My dad left earlier today, and it was a really good visit with him. We ended up going to the Indiana Sand Dunes yesterday, which was in this book I had recently bought called 501 Must Visit Wild Places. Well, now only 500 to go! It was really cool though. The dunes are on Lake Michigan and when you look out on the lake from the beach, you can see Chicago far off in the distance. It's really beautiful and definitely would love to go back again! I learned a cheap train goes right to the national lakeshore, so it won't be too hard to go back! Anyway, we drove out there and first went to an area of the park called Lake View, which is this stunning beach/dunes. It was a really beautiful lookout and the dunes covered quite a bit, even getting on the roads in some areas. Some sand covered benches too. It was pretty sick! There were also some big ass birds in the air stationary in the wind, looking around. It was a pretty cool sight to see, and also bird watching is very popular there. There are over 350 species of birds there, so you're bound to see a bunch of interesting birds, even though it was pretty damn cold and windy when we went, but still, even we saw a few cool birds. It's famous for the great blue heron, as it has a nesting ground in the park, and there wing span is about 6.5 feet. Unfortunatly, we never got around to going to the nesting ground but it's on my to-do list! I still need to wander around there and adventure, as our time was limited there, though I had a GREAT time there. We also got to climb to the summit of Mt. Baldy, which is this 126 foot sand dune (the biggest one in the park) and it was really awesome up there (despite the nuclear power plant next door, but just try to ignore it!...err...)! It was a really cool place, so I can't wait to go back!
We also went on the Chicago Ghost Tour at night (the black bus you see around Chicago that says Ghost Tours). I was always fascinated with paranormal stuff, ever since I was really young. It still all fascinates me, and throughout my childhood and growing up until now, my dad and I would always go on different ghost tours when we were traveling, most of them being major cities.historical places in the US, such as San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Gettysburg and we also went on a London one back when I was in high school and I went on a Prague one when I was there last summer. And, of course, now I have also gone on the Chicago Ghost Tour (or at least one of the main ones) and it was really well done! We stopped at a lot of cool places that I knew of but didn't know how to find, such as the spot where the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre happened, where the SS Eastland tipped over on July 24th, 1915 and killed 844 people in the Chicago River. It's the largest loss of life shipwreck disaster on all of the Great Lakes. It's really a sad story. There is a historical marker there now on the river walk on E. Wacker, so that's pretty cool. So anyway, yeah the tour was really awesome and our tour guide was really funny and really nice so yeah, a good tour to check out here in the Windy City!
This morning, we went to the Jane Addams Hull House (which was also on the ghost tour!), which was pretty sweet! Jane Addams, of course, was the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and was a political and social activist and was very important and influencial in the Progressive Era and VERY important for Chicago. I could go on about her, but you should definitely check out the museum if you are in Chicago. It's actually only a house, which is all that remains of the whole settlement besides one other building next door and the small courtyard. So it's not that big but it's really interesting about hearing about life in the settlement and how Jane Addams helped all these children and lower class and working class kids and adults have a meaningful life where they did what they loved to do and how she was nice to immigrants who came to Chicago and much more! So check it out, it's right on the UIC campus, and you can get there by the Blue Line and getting off the UIC/Halsted stop. There should be directions if you look up the website! So enjoy!
Also had lunch with my good friend Nick which is always a treat and then my father drove me back to my apartment and went to the airport to fly back to NJ!
A good trip had by all! And now, if you didn't know before and probably now know, I am a bit of a history buff and I love love LOVE the outdoors! : )
Well, today, I also got to listen to The Rising by Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002. Now, this is a GREAT album. It is Springsteen's response to the September 11th attacks and the effects it had on the nation. But, it is also a message of hope when the country seemed to be losing it. I read an interesting story today that I didn't know about the album. Supposively how Springsteen got inspired to make the album was when he was driving somewhere a few days after the attacks on 9/11 and a car stopped next to him. The person in the car rolled down his window and said to Springsteen "we need you now". This was said to be confirmed by Bruce, so I thought that was really cool! That's a cool way to get inspiration, and that person who said that was right, we needed some hope at that time, and that album certainly brought it to many people. So thank you, Bruce and the E-Street Band! Speaking of which, this is his first album with the E Street Band in 15 years (or 18 if you don't count Tunnel of Love) so that's really cool! And they do an AMAZING job on this album! This is also the album that I heard my first Bruce Springsteen song off of, "Further On (Up The Road)". My dad used to play it a lot in one of his mix cds and I always loved everything about it! So that song holds a special place in my heart. Anyway, this album is filled with amazing songs and has a very hopeful, upbeat vibe to it, but still has the struggle within it, especially when the theme is the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. And, of course, it also has the classic Bruce sound! So this is a great album to check out, and it is an important album for the folks like us that went though the 9/11 attacks. Though I didn't listen to the whole album until later in my life, I did know quite a few of the songs from that album as I grew up, either from my dad or from the radio. And as I listened to the album tonight, it made me go back to those times and the times of the September 11th attacks. I live ten miles from NYC and you can see it from my town, and I the day like it was yesterday. It had a very big impact on the area around me, and in my town. It also had it's own impact on me, and have my own story to tell about it. Alas, it is 4:42 in the morning and I should really get some rest, so I will save that story for my next post.
Anyway, my favorite songs from the album: "Lonesome Day" (a video for it listed below), "Into The Fire", "Waitin' On A Sunny Day", "Empty Sky", "World's Apart", "Let's Be Friends (Skin To Skin)", "Further On (Up The Road)", "Mary's Place", "You're Missing", "The Rising", and "My City Of Ruins". So yeah, this album is one to check out for sure!
Well, that's all for tonight! My next post will feature: My 9/11 Story and probably a review or two.
You all have a good night! : )
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