South side walk

Today, I had several things to do, so I started by collecting some shopping that was waiting for me, and then went to the Borders bookshop in the centre of town.  I'd forgotten that Borders had collapsed, and this store only had 6 days left and they were selling off the books, the bookcases, the shelving, in fact anything that was removable.  Unfortunately, this meant that the books were rather muddled up and although there was mostly a separation between fiction and non-fiction, the genres were mixed up and the authors no longer in alphabetical order - which makes it very hard when you're trying to find books by a particular person!  In the end, I was unsuccessful and went off for lunch at Harry Caray's.

I didn't notice that the Red Line train that I had boarded was an express.  I'm sure it wasn't an express when it arrived at Lake where I got on, but it sailed several stops past where I needed to go, so I had to travel back again and I was 15 minutes late for my reservation.  Fortunately, it didn't matter.  I remembered that when I went up to the north beaches, the driver came on the intercom at one point to indicate that the train was turning into an express and missing out several stops to pick up time.  I must have missed it in the bustle of everybody getting on and off.

My steak was perfectly cooked and I made sure that I didn't over order the sides, because I remember that they are large.  Apparently, I just missed one of the Cubs players who had dropped in for lunch.  The waiter explained that visiting players often visited when they were in town too and they see quite a few Chicago Bears NFL players too, especially during their season.

After lunch, I took the train down to the loop and walked out to the lakeside to walk south.  I passed a marina full of expensive looking boats and the harbour, which sounded like wind chimes as all the ropes and anchors chinked together as the boats floated up and down on the water.  I passed the large Buckingham Fountain that was very impressive, and nearby there was a many blowing bubbles from a very large bubble making frame.  The largest ones were around the size of a young person and they floated through the air until they hit something.  By the time I got to the field museum, there were worrying spots of rain starting to fall, so I made my way to the Roosevelt subway station to return back to the North side where my hotel is.