mojosmom: (Hyde Park)
mojosmom ([personal profile] mojosmom) wrote2010-07-26 08:14 pm

Yesterday was gorgeous!

Still cool(ish) from the rain Friday night/Saturday morning.  There was a street fair ("Celebrate Hyde Park") a few blocks from me, so I went over there early in the afternoon, listened to some music, checked out the various vendors, and had turkey hot links from Pearl's Place (a really good local soul food restaurant).    There were the usual obligatory face painters and balloon animals, and everyone was dressed to party, including dogs:


Dressed to party

In the evening, I went to the Goodman for reading of Yamaha 300, part of the Latino Theatre Festival.  The play was not great, but the acting was.  A couple of us decided to go for drinks afterwards, intending to go to the bar at the restaurant attached to the theatre, but they were closed.  Their website says they close at 7:30 on Sundays, but that's really ridiculous when there are plays on.  If they want to close the kitchen, or just serve cold meals, fine, but their bar could do a good business!   In any case, we decided to go to the Trump Hotel.  We had a drink at their outdoor bar, which I would recommend doing once, for the view, which was fantastic.  It's on the sixteenth floor, and overlooks the Chicago River, with a great view of the top of the Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower.  However, it's ridiculously expensive and the service is rough (which may be due to the fact that they recently opened, or that they have apparently hired the servers for their youth and looks rather than their abilities).

On the way over, we checked out the fake destruction lying about for the filming of Transformers 3, which has been disrupting traffic for a couple of weeks now. 

Oh, I should say more about the Latino Theatre Festival. This is the 5th year Goodman has been doing this; it's curated by Henry Godinez, who is an artistic associate at the Goodman, and, not coincidentally, a co-founder of Teatro Vista. It runs for several weeks, and they bring in artists from all over the Spanish-speaking world. This year they managed to get a troupe from Cuba. Some of the productions are fully staged, but they also do a lot with plays in progress, having readings and the like. They also associate with other organizations, like the Grant Park Music Festival, for off-site events, and there are various discussions and events pre- and post-performance. Best part? It's almost all free.

[identity profile] islandmomma.livejournal.com 2010-07-27 03:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like a very cool weekend! I just hope you will make it to the outdoor bar in the Trump Hotel at least one more time - when I finally make it to Chicago - drinks on me!

[identity profile] cathepsut.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Five more days until I'm in Chicago, wehee!

[identity profile] mojosmom.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 11:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Call me! Do you still have my contact info?

[identity profile] cathepsut.livejournal.com 2010-07-30 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Starts with a 77 and ends with a 73...? :-)

[identity profile] mojosmom.livejournal.com 2010-07-30 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, that's my cell phone.