Well I'm here in my hotel in Chicago, and it's lovely ! I've just been in the pool, there's a bar and steakhouse next door, and there's a station up the road with trains into the middle of the town every 50 mins. I'm also within my accomodation budget of $100 a night, thanks to two very cheap nights at Super8 motels in the past two nights. I'm here for three nights and am really going to luxuriate prior to hitting the road again on Sunday and heading to St. Louis.
The drive today was really beautiful - over 80 degrees ! Ohio was a bit flat and dull, but Indiana was really lovely with views of lakes and woodlands. I stopped at a few places for a 'rest' (I love the term "restroom" !) and the people were really friendly. Then I came into Chicago and drove over this massive bridge - it was well wide ! Interstate 90 runs right through the middle of the town, so I saw all the skyscrapers and caught the mid-afternoon traffic. I then had a few interesting "diversions" around side roads trying to find the entrance to the hotel - sometimes Google Maps just doesn't quite match up to reality ! But it didn't cost me any time, since I gained an hour in moving into Central Time, so I'm now six hours behind the UK.
One of my main reasons for visiting Chicago is that I want to go to Lincoln Park, which is where Mayor Daley set his stormtroopers on demonstrating hippies outside the Democratic Convention in 1968. This was one of the most notorious episodes in sixties generational politics - for me the significance is that, when I followed this on the news at the age of 11, this was when I realised that all policemen were not wonderful and you couldn't always believe the Government. Then in November 1968 the US elected Richard Milhous Nixon as President, and the carnage in South-East Asia escalated further. Musically the mood of those times is best captured by the MC5's "Kick Out The Jams" album and also "Chicago" by Graham Nash and "Ohio" (which I drove through today) by Neil Young. Most people use Altamont as a symbol of the death of the sixties, but it really started right here in Chicago. From Mayor Daley to Nixon to Reagan and Thatcher.....oh what an ageing hippie I am !
Musically today was ace - I started with some blues by Canned Heat, including "On The Road Again" - one of my favourite songs ever. Then it was into Chicago's first album (before they became simpering wimp MOR drips), some Chuck Berry, and then Nils Lofgren's first album which is a forgotten gem. Finally, all through the centre of Chicago. it was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band - their anthem, of course, is "Born In Chicago" ! This music made me very sad - Mike Bloomfield plays some of the most adventurous guitar ever on "East-West" and, what with being Bob Dylan's guitarist at the time too (listen to his playing on "Like A Rolling Stone"), he was right there in the forefront of rock musicians. But after 1967 he could never find the right platform for his remarkable talents, and he eventually fell victim to drugs and died in the late 1970s a largely forgotten man. But true admirers of innovative rock guitar haven't forgotten you Mike - you were a trailblazer, one of many great musicians who have lit up my life over the years.
Off to the bar now for a nice relaxing evening. Then it's into the town tomorrow ! Will write again soon.
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