On August 22nd, I packed my bags after being home for less than two weeks and headed to the Windy City to visit Jonathan Starzyk PO’13, check out the city, and road trip to Claremont! Although Chicago was slightly disappointing at first, the city ultimately surpassed my expectations. We walked along the Magnificent Mile, and I was taken back by the number of floors that Burberry had, ate the famous deep-dish pizza, which was amazing, swam at the local beaches, went to Jazz in the Park, walked through Millennium Park and Museum Campus, petted goats at the zoo, biked throughout the city, and even went up the Sears Towers to the 103rd level to see Chicago at sunset. That view of the city was breathtaking as I looked over miles of Chicago to the north, south, east and west.
Our road trip started on Tuesday, the 27th, and we’re expected to get to Pomona by Friday, the 30th. Our first stop was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, a 4.5 hour drive from Chicago. I was really disappointed when we got there since there was no street parking, only a $6 parking garage nearby, and minimal lighting on the Arch. We couldn’t find parking so Jonathan parked on the street and we quickly snapped some pictures and continued to our next destination, the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma, the only tourist attraction in the entire state. We stopped at a rest stop halfway along the way around 3:30am because we were both tired and slept in the car for a couple of hours. That had to be the most uncomfortable sleep of my life, especially since my seat didn’t recline because the backseat of the car was loaded with luggage.
At 7:00am, we continued our drive to the Whale. After driving for a total of six hours from St. Louis to it, we finally arrived, snapped some pictures of the statue, which was literally a blue whale in a pond, and continued our long drive. Next stop: Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. I’ve never been south to Texas before, and I never thought I’d have a reason to go there, but here I was. The set of about eight Cadillacs halfway in the ground was really interesting, and put a different perspective to my definition of art. They were all decorated with graffiti of different colors, which made the cars look cool against a dirt background. It was around 8:00pm by the time we decided it was time to eat dinner, so we went to the Big Texan, a touristy restaurant along Route 66. It’s famously known for its 72 ounce steak that’s free if the customer can finish it in an hour, which is a rare feat. I didn’t order that option although I was tempted since I would’ve had to pay $72 for it if I didn’t finish the steak. We ate, checked out the gift shop connected to the restaurant, and took some touristy pictures of the place before heading off to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Once we got there past midnight, we stayed at a motel for the night and checked out the city in the morning.