Art Adventure and the Custer St. Fair

What: Art Adventure
Where: Ukranian Village
How Much: Free
How to get there: Red line to Clark and Division, Division St. bus to Damen

In the next month, I will be moving to the Ukranian Village or the surrounding area, so my friend Nicole thought I might like to check out the area and see some art in the process. The Art Adventure is a scavenger hunt of sorts. You start at one place and get a map that shows the local businesses that are showcasing local art. Then you walk around the neighborhood and stop in different bars and restaurants. Many of the bars had free beer, and some of the restaurants had specials. I met Nicole and Eric at Barista, where Eric's friend was performing poetry. I got a delicious $1 iced coffee and settled in. Two poets read and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Then it was off to see more art.

Eric and Nicole are posing with some robots made of industrial odds and ends. I think the one on the left was made of an old school VCR. There were about 12 of the robots in all and pretty darn cool.





Next we were off to the "afterparty" at the Sculpture Garden. The party proved to be very loud, very hot, and it smelled not a little like cats. We lasted only a few minutes before we headed off to the Club Foot. I'm proud to say that my new neighborhood has a shit fountain. You heard right.




What: Custer's Last Stand
Where: Evanston
How Much: $1 donation
How to get there: I scooted- you can take the purple line to Main

This was my third Custer St. Fair and I went with my friend and co-worker Marci on Sunday morning. The fair was the place to be as I saw two other coworkers as well- Brenda with her family and Amy with her fiancee Simon. Amy and Simon are getting married at the beginning of August! Simon made fun of the way I say "blog" with a Chicago accent. (Brenda, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

This is easily the best fair so far this summer with regards to free stuff and affordable but cute merchandise. There were lots of free goodies to sample. I tried a "fruit 2 day" drink that was delicious. I must admit that ever since those came out I have pooh-poohed them, being a big fan of real fruit myself. I was wrong. I also got some organic chocolate with chili in it that rocked my world and some chocolate covered vitamins I haven't tried yet.

The fair stretched through about 4 blocks and there was every kind of merchandise you can imagine. I ended up with two pairs of earrings ($10 total), two vintage ads- one for Pepsi and one for Shredded Wheat ($1/ea) and this bag.

Cheryl : Does this bag make me look like a hippie?

Bart: Yes.

Oh well. You can see why it spoke to me, and it will be an awesome bag to take on the scooter and also for toting the camera and other things I bring with to all the festivals.

There was lots of entertainment in addition to the good for sale. A circus troupe entertained children on one end of Chicago Ave and a large stage for bands was set up at the other. A native American pipe band played on the smaller center stage.

All in all, Custer's Last Stand gets an A+ from me in every aspect. The size, goods for sale, and affordability outdid every festival so far. So come on Chicago, step up your game. We can compete with the suburbs, can't we?

After Custer it was off to spend some quality time with an awesome guy- my dad.

So, that was 5 festivals in all this weekend. Now it's 11 on Sunday night and I have done absolutely no work for school. Two more weeks, two more weeks....

Next weekend is Chicago Summerfest, the Jeff Fest, the Highwood St. Market, the Fountain Square Arts Fest, Pride Fest, and the Green Music Fest. I will for sure be at the Pride parade on Sunday, and then the Green Music Fest at 7 pm to see Cloud Cult with Kim. Who's coming with me?

The Raven, Randolph St. Market,Taste of Randolph

What: The Raven
Where: Ravenswood
How Much: $5 donation goes to the Chase Park Advisory Council
How to get there: Red line to Lawrence, #81 bus, walk
The clock struck 3:15 and after a beautiful day bringing the kids to the park for ice cream, the stormclouds rolled in. By the time my train reached my apartment on Friday afternoon, gale force winds were blowing. I heard some windows were even knocked out of the Sears tower (oh sorry, the Willis Tower :P ) After a few hours of ominous green sky and pounding rain that I was afraid would break my building's skylight, the rain stopped and all was peaceful again in Chicago. Peaceful enough that I felt safe venturing to the Raven Festival in Ravenswood. This is a neighborhood I have never explored before, and it was nice to see. Restoration work was going on at a church across the street from Chase Park, where the festival was taking place. Whether due to the weather or location, the crowd at the Raven was scarce.
16 candles played 80s hits to a scattered crowd- although the few who were there had enough enthusiasm for a much larger venue and band.
Food vendors and carnival games stayed open until the fair closed at 10. Then it was off to get some Mexican at Garcia's, where I ran into Joe. Joe leads a theater group at the school where I teach and I run into him EVERYWHERE. Seriously, it's like he's stalking me.

3/4 of the way through my margarita, I looked out the window and gasped. It was again pouring rain, and the sky was lit with lightening although no thunder. My mom later told me that she and my dad were in the car on their way home from the airport when it started back up and it was the worst storm she's ever seen in this area. The calm, pristine and dry me from the picture at the top of this page turned into this at the end of the walk to the train:

I even asked the waitress for a to-go bag for my purse so that it wouldn't get wet! 10 years ago I would have made Bart stop and dance in the rain but luckily with maturity comes common sense and we ran for the train instead.

You're welcome for the free advertising, Dunkin' Donuts.

The next morning dawned sunny and hot, and I set off once again for the Randolph St. Market.

What: Randolph St. market and Antique fair
Where: West Loop
How Much: $9 online prepay or $12 at the door
How to get there: Red line to Lake, Green line to Ashland, walk to Randolph

This is the lovely Melissa posing for you at the Randolph St. market. This was the first fair I hit this summer and I couldn't resist going back. I will probably go every month, but I promise this is the last time you will have to hear about it.

Melissa found this stray elephant. Not sure how her cats felt when she brought him home, but he was just too cute to pass up.

The market was the same as last time. The theme for this month was supposed to be Americana but I only saw one booth that really adhered to that theme.

If you missed the market this time, head out on July 24 and 25. The theme then is "French Invasion". While you're there, stop and take a pole dancing class at Flirty Girl Fitness. I saw no less than 3 bachelorette parties.Antiquing finished, Melissa and I headed to the Taste of Randolph St.

What: The Taste of Randolph St.
Where:West Loop
How Much: $10 donation
How to get there: Metra to Ogilvie, walk

The Taste of Randolph St. held particular allure for me because I have spent a lot of time and money on Randolph in the past two years. I occasionally take swing dancing classes at Big City Swing. I have walked past the restaurants on this street a million times but never stopped to eat at one. The West Loop is an up and coming neighborhood- its fancy restaurants and swank gyms are offset by a distinctly warehouse feel. A meat market selling goat can be right next to an upscale sushi restaurant, for example.
Melissa and I managed to arrive about 20 minutes early and sneak in before they started asking for the donation. As a tip, this is a great way to avoid donating at any fair- just be in it before it starts. They can't stop you from wanting to go to the stores and restaurants along the strip. I thought it was silly that this foodie fair didn't start until 2 in the afternoon- many people were already out by then and I am sure that more than a few of them would have sprung for lunch.

Regardless, there were several vendors open early selling jewelry. Melissa spotted a tent by Nomadic Ant and realized she was wearing earrings she had bought from them several years ago. We decided to forgo the fair food and pick a restaurant along side the fair. There were two stages set up at either end of the fair.

After four hours of festivals, it was time to bid my social butterfly friend adieu as she was off to a date at Summerdance. Summerdance runs all Summer long until August 29 and features free classes in many different forms of dance. Bring a date like Melissa or be brave and find someone there!

That evening I hit the Art Adventure in the Ukranian Village- separate post to follow.