Discover Chicago-DAY THREE

Kedzie Bridge

Portage Site Statue

Day three was the COMPLETE opposite from yesterday. The weather was cooler and there was less amount of walking. Overall today was a blast!

 I commuted my way to the CDM building in the Loop and just chilled there until everybody was there. We took the Orange Line to Pulaski. When we were traveling, I saw the railroad right next to the L to be very busy. There were a lot of SD-40s doing switching with some boxcars. I was even able to see Amtrak's "Illini" in action waiting by a station. Never really saw an Amtrak train that up close before. It had some horizon cars, amfleet cars, and two P42s in Phase V livery in a push-pull configuration. We got off and listened to the roar of nearby planes from Midway Airport.

We took the bus and made an epic trek toward the Portage Site. I never have even heard of this place until Ed explained it to us. I did not realize how this place is so important toward the founding of Chicago as a settlement in the 17th century. It makes me sad as to how this place is so under-looked because without this place there is no Chicago that we love and see today! We went around and saw some more bridges. We saw some draw bridges and a vertical lift bridge. Also past some intermodal yards, and saw some manifest freight trains in action! We also saw a parade of EMS vehicles who were welcoming a vet from their department that probably served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The bridges that we saw are the ones that I always see passing on the Dan Ryan. I never thought of seeing those bridges up close. After we saw those bridges we headed into Chinatown!

Western Bridge

 The place that we ate at Chinatown was THE BEST! When I went to Chinatown, the restaurant that I ate at had horrible food. The food there was terrific! I think I had the best orange chicken EVER! The donuts were pretty good and so is the rice and rolls. This was pretty much the highlight of my entire day. We took the red line back but I got off at Roosevelt and transferred to the Green Line home saying bye to my classmates that were in the same car as me.

 In the end, today was pretty epic. I am looking forward toward riding in a boat tomorrow. Oh yeah, as you can tell I am a very big nerd with railroading and trains.

Discover Chicago-DAY TWO

Cortland Bridge

Damen Bridge

Day two was very brutal. I was suffering from heat exhaustion. At first, I thought it was not going to be that bad, but once we started walking, the heat caught up to me. We walked around a lot under 90 degree weather. This placed a lot of strain on my body.

 We first visited a fast-food place called Hot Dougs. I never have even heard of this place until we actually saw it. The food there was very good and very cheap also. I think this restaurant needs to be shown on Channel 7's "Hungry Hound Special." It is a lot better than any of the hot places I am used to going to. After we ate, we went to go see a drainage tunnel. It was very interesting but smelled a little funky. We also saw some people fishing in the river.

 Later on, we saw some bridges. When we saw the Damen bridge, I never thought of it as a suspension bridge. I though it was just it was just a metal arch bridge. Never really thought that the support was very thick steel cables. We also saw an old railroad bridge that rotates at a 90 degree angle. We also saw a draw bridge that is actually used for barges. Later on in the day, we saw visited a brewery. It was very interesting and I never heard of third-party beers. There was one quote that I will never forget, "Treat your beer like you treat your bread." 'nuff said.

 In the end, this day really killed my body. When we able to leave and come back after 2 hours, I had a very bad nose bleed from the heat. After we were able to go home after the brewery, I again suffered from a nose bleed. This is a really bad way to start on our actual first filed excursion. Hope tomorrow will be completely different.

Discover Chicago-DAY ONE

Hello this is Rodolfo reporting on the events of "The Bridges of Chicago" for the Discover Chicago course at DePaul University.

 I first began with my commute to DePaul's Lincoln Campus. I took the "L" Green Line at the Oak Park stop and got off at Clark/Lake. Then I transferred to the Brown Line and got off at Fullerton. I walked to the Athletic Center, checked in, and got my U-Pass. There, I also met some of my classmates from some of the summer classes that I took. The entire group was later greeted by a warm welcome from the staff at DePaul.

 I am then met up with students from my Discover Chicago course. They all seem to be pretty cool people. We introduced ourselves and had general discussions. Then we had the BBQ at the quad. I then was acquainted with a buddy of mine from high school. After our conversation, I went back to the student center and chilled until it was time to go to the Loop.

 We took the Brown Line and got off at Adams/Wabash. We walked to the CDM building (my new home =p). We were given an overview of the entire course and given a schedule about the events going on this week. The events all seem to be very interesting. Then we were sent all on our merry way. All in all, I am very excited for this entire week!