Chicago Police Taxi Service

I was looking through old photos and came across some of them from my time in Chicago and thought that they had a story that had to be shared! After a 18 hour long, non stop drive through from Colorado to Chicago I couldn't justify wasting one of my few days in Chicago sleeping off the long drive, so my friend, Nate (a local) and I set off to see what the Windy City had to offer. In order to make things more interesting for him, the tour of Chicago became a tour of the great drinking spots Chicago has to offer, with a side line of seeing the sights. I can definitely recommend this way of seeing a city. It is, however, going to take some help from Google maps to piece together the walk we did through downtown Chicago. Our trip started with a walk down Michigan Ave towards Navy Pier where we enjoyed our first beer at the Billy Goat Tavern, a Chicago landmark for their burgers, which I don't eat... the beer was good though. It is also from this place that the alleged Curse of the Cubs originated. (Owner of the Tavern was asked to leave Wrigley Field during a World Series game because his goat's odor was offending fans. As he left he declared that the Cubs would never win another World Series, which as to date has not happened).

We then headed to Millennium Park to see the face fountain (a fountain that displays the faces of local Chicagoans), found another bar and of course stopped in for a drink, or two. We continued wandering through the streets of downtown Chicago, stopping for a beer whenever the need overtook us. Naturally this means the walk became a bit of a blur after a while. However, I feel that most people would agree when you are in a new city, sightseeing is the smallest part of visiting. You don't learn about a city through sightseeing, it's the experience, the feel of a city that leaves the lasting impression. Chicago is a city that is vibrant, clean and pulsing. The people love their city and you feel that wherever you walk.

Towards the end of the day we decided that one cannot come to the Windy City and not see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field so to Wrigley Field we headed where we met a few other friends, fortunately a lot more sober than we were!!!

We bargained for some cheap, yet pretty good seats in the stadium to go watch the trail end of the game. It was my first time watching a baseball game, and it was everything I was expecting. The Cubs killed their opponents and the stadium was full of drunk, happy supporters. I probably cannot explain a single baseball rule but it was still great fun and the atmosphere was enough to make anyone cheerful!

After the excitement of the game we headed across to the Cubby Bear for the after celebrations. What an atmosphere! They had a fantastic, cheesy band playing while serving cheap beer in plastic cups. The evening became a blur of dancing, drinking, celebrating that only ended when the bar closed and we were forced to call it a night. My friend and I literally stumbled out of there, very thankful to our slightly more sober friends for looking after us! About 5 meters outside the bar my friend passed out, right in front of the Chicago police! Backed up by a lot of drunk bravado, I entertained the police with tales of being an excited tourist from South Africa and how Chicago was the best city in the whole of the USA!!! This gave Nate's girlfriend enough time to rouse him from his stupor and convince him that it was time to get a train back home. It was a very eventful trip back home, though I don't remember it. The consequences however, are still very clear in my mind!!

I ended up getting angry with everyone and wanted to get away, pretty sure that I could find my way home if I got off at the right stop. So at the stop I charged off the train, leaving everyone behind. Well when I arrived on the street did anything look familiar? Of course not!! I'd been walking around Chicago in a sleep deprived state, now not only was I sleep deprived but rather drunk too! The following is guide on how to find your way back to your hotel when you are lost on the streets of a strange city at 3am.
Step One: locate a bus stop, when you determine that the buses are no longer running, look at the map they usually provide at the bus stop to determine your current location and the location of your hotel. When you realize that you are too drunk to make sense of the moving letters on the bus map, move to step two.

Step Two: wander into the middle of the street and look at all the buildings, landmarks and street signs to see if anything looks familiar and could possibly lead you back to your hotel. That this point you should also resign yourself to the fact that you may be walking for a few hours to find your way back home. If nothing looks familiar move to step three.

Step Three: look completely lost and confused while you are standing in the middle of the road, if you are in Chicago the chances are that a cop car will pull up within the next few minutes and ask if everything is ok. This is when you pull your best attempt at being a helpless, lost tourist (Which shouldn't be too tough because thats exactly what you are). The police will then ask where you need to be. If this happens you are pretty much guaranteed a ride, and a lecture, most of which you will have forgotten in the morning anyway.

This way you get a ride home from who knows where to your hotel, saving a significant amount on taxi fare, as the Chicago Police are not in the habit of charging drunk people for giving them a lift. And as Matercard would say, the look on your friends' faces when you ride up to the hotel yelling out the window of a cop car "those are my friends!!" is priceless.

I have to end this entry with a thank you to the Chicago Police who seem to do fantastic job of keeping the streets of Chicago safe! I never felt scared while in Chicago and I think the huge police presence has a lot to do with that.