The Lost Archives: Des Plaines with Aunt Sandy and Family

After the warm hospitality provided by Kevin W. and his family, I headed north about 50mi to visit my great Aunt Sandy and her family in Des Plaines.  I arrived just after mid morning at Aunt Sandy's place, and we had a nice chat while I settled in.  She put me up in her own room, which I thought was very gracious and accomodating.  I tried to fight it because I felt bad putting her out of her room, but sometimes the most gracious thing you can do is accept someones gift.  I was very appreciative.

We got to talking about her involvement in the Des Plaines Citizens on Patrol.  What she does through this organization is to support local law enforcement and fire services in the execution of their duties.  If there is a fire, the Citizens Fire Corps will arrive at the scene and provide support such as directing traffic and sealing off the area so the firefighters can focus on doing their job.  In a big city like Chicago, it is cool that the citizenry can be involved in a way that is more reminiscent of small frontier town.  She showed me a few pictures of her more interesting calls.  Also, she showed me all of her gear that she keeps, which was totally awesome.  They have some pretty heavy duty gear so that they can direct traffic, stay dry, illuminate things, etc.  She keeps it in the back of her car, so she can quickly respond when she is paged.  Definitely an awesome thing to do in your spare time.

Next, we planned out the agenda for the day.  One continuing theme throughout my journey was that I wanted to see family and connect with my ancestral roots.  Therefore, I wanted the first item on my agenda to visit the gravesites of my great grandparents, Nina and Papa.  I was fortunate enough to have them around during my childhood and teenage years.  It was always a special treat to come stay at their place in the heart of Chicago.  They were both from Italy.  My grandma didnt speak english until kindergarten.  So they moved to Chicago and started a life.  They lived in the same house their entire time in Chicago (I think), and I was lucky enough to get to know them.  I have fond childhood memories of my sister and I playing in the basement, having Papa make Kiddie Cocktails for us at his in-house bar (grenadine and sprite), and poking around his wonderful garden in the backyard.  The grass was growing over the headstones, so we trimmed them back a little bit.  In my mind, it is important to pay my respects to them.  They lived long and full lives, and they have great kids and family.  I hope to be as lucky as them. 

Next, we headed over to my cousin Tom's house.  He escaped from work for a bit to host us for lunch.  We made some sandwiches and hung out with his dog.  I also got a tour of his place.  Pretty awesome digs.  Big backyard, indoor pool.  Not too shabby at all.

After lunch, Aunt Sandy and I headed over to the local bowling alley for a few friendly frames.  I think Aunt Sandra is a member of a bowling league there or something, because she gets free games/the most absurdly low rates on bowling I have ever seen.  We rolled the ball around and had a great time.  Oh yeah, not to mention Aunt Sandy has her own bowling ball....serious stuff.  During our fun, my cousin Tammie and her daughter Rebecca stopped by to say hi to me.  They had a busy night ahead of them and wouldnt be able to stop by later for dinner, but they wanted to see me at least a little bit.  I appreciate the effort.  It had been a long time since I had seen either of them (Rebecca was probably a baby the last time I saw Tammie).  I got caught up on their lives.  Rebecca was charming and she told me all about her competitive ice skating.  Apparently, she is quite the pro and both Rebecca and her mom spend a lot of time on the road traveling with their ice skating league.  Thanks for stopping by!

 After a satisfying nap, we moved along with our evening plans.  My cousin Tom and Julie (plus family) were coming over for dinner.   We started preparing the food (it was mostly Aunt Sandy....she is the pro) which was polenta and red sauce.  Now you have to imagine that the daughter of Italian immigrants has a pretty mean spaghetti sauce, and you would be correct.  As a matter of fact, she was using the same pot and spoon that my great grandmother used to cook her sauce.  What a cool thing!

My cousin Julie came over with her family.  I had not seen her family since Kyle was a baby and her youngest Kevin had not yet been born.  I had a great time with these two.  I talked NFL football with Kyle, and Kevin brought over his awesome remote control car.  It was great to hang out with them both.  We ate some dinner, and Kyle had to leave early because he had a broomball game to attend (lucky...i wanna play broomball).

Tom and I spent some more time playing with Kevin and his remote control truck.  We took it into the street to give it a spin.  We took it off jumps, rode it to max speed, trekked off-road, and flipped it on the curb.  We had a great time.  After the delicious polenta, we had to set a little bit and digest.  We played around with Aunt Sandy's beloved cat Ginger.  What a sweet little kitty.  So willing to cuddle up with you.

All in all, it was a great evening.  We ate some delicious food, and I got to spend some very quality time with family I had not seen in quite a while.  I am really luck to be able to have this time in my life.  Many thanks to Sandy, Julie, Tammie, Tom, and families for their hospitality and time spent during their busy schedules!

The next morning, I woke up and had a pleasant breakfast with Aunt Sandra.  I cleared out her room, and headed along to my next stop:  Iowa City, IA to visit my friend JJ.  Aunt Sandra, thanks so much for your warm hospitality.  I was afforded comfortable lodging and delicious food, thanks for taking such good care of me!

On my way out of town, I drove into Chicago for a brief stroll down memory lane.  I went to my great parents old neighborhood and drove around to see all the sites I hadnt seen since my childhood.  The last stop was a visit to my great grandparents old house.  The whole neighborhood was getting pretty rough the last time I had been there, but now it is gentrified.  Its weird to think that the hipsters/yuppies that live there now have no clue about the history of the Italian immigrant family who spend 60+ years living in that house before them. It was nice to see the house in good shape.

The Lost Archives: Westfield and Elwood, Illinois

 After leaving St. Meinrad Indiana where I hung out with my buddy Jeff, my next destination was Elwood, IL to visit my friend Kevin W. with a short detour in the small farming town of Westfield, IL where one of my grandfathers grew up.  I crossed the Illinois border pretty quick, and I was greeted by miles of corn fields.  Its easy to be dismissive of the scenery as boring, but I felt like I was passing through Illinois at a great time to see the corn.  I dont know a lot about corn, but I think the corn was ready for harvest, which the browned husks looked very reminiscent of "amber waves of grain."  The endless brown corn rows rocking in the wind is a pretty cool sight.  Unfortunately, it was late enough in the season that a lot of farmers were already clearing their fields, so some of the fields were just miles of dirt, but that was a minority of the farms.

After battling traffic back ups on isolated farm roads, due to construction, I eventually made it to Westfield, IL where my grandfather grew up.  The first thing that greats you in the town square is the giant grain elevator where the local farmers come to drop off their produce.  As you can tell by the city limits sign, its a pretty small town and its in the middle of nowhere.  As I drove through downtown, it is apparent that the once boomtown had fallen on harder times.  Decaying and vacant buildings made up most of the town square. I was surprised to see that the most central buildings in the small town had brick walls that had collapsed a long time ago, and never been repaired.  It certainly projected a feeling of sadness. 

My next task was to try to find my grandfathers childhood house.  I called up grandpa, and he was able to give me a loose description of where the house ways.  It had been a while since he had been back here, and many things had changed, but I think I was able to find it based on his description.  It is important to me to connect to previous generations of my family.  This place represents a whole chunk of my grandfathers life that only existed as an abstract thought in my mind.  This trip provides a much needed connection to reality. 

After finding grandpas childhood home, I stopped by the local cemetary to see if I had any relative buried there.  The cemetary was actually pretty huge, so I briskly walked the rows and hoped that my last name would jump out at me if it crossed by gaze.  After 20min or so, I didnt see any relatives, so I hit the road.  After talking to my grandfather later, he told me no one was buried in Westfield. 

I spent the rest of my time in Westfield seeing the sites and looking at quaint farmhouses.  My grandpa suggested that I stop by the local post office and drop his name.  Apparently, there is an old lady that has been working at the post office forever that grandpa was friends with back in the day.  Unfortnately, the post office was closed at that time, so I didnt get the chance. 

After a while, I hit the road towards Elwood, which is just south of Chicago.   Apparently, it has one of the largest warehouse districts ever, and something like thousands of tractor trailers pass through Elwood every day.  Also, Elwood has a strong connection to the Blues Brothers.  You make recall that the two main characters in the movie are Elwood and  "Joliet" Jake.  The towns of Joliet and Elwood are right next to each other. 

As I pulled up to Kevin's house, his dog and family gave me a very warm welcome.  After a some introductory banter, Kevin asked what I wanted to see in Elwood. Hahaha, I laughed.  I have no idea what there is to see.  So I told him, show me the coolest things in  Elwood.  He mentioned that I could see the famous Joliet correctional facility, and that he would drive me by the entrance where Jake exits prison in the very beginning of the Blues Brothers.  I thought this was super cool!  Lets do it!

On the way to  the prison, we passed by his high school, which looks almost indistguishable from the prison!  Awesome.  Finally we made it to the gate.  It was night time, and Kevin told me this was a pretty rough area, so we shouldnt linger too long.  I got my picure and we moved on.  It was a pretty fun moment though.  I love seeing movie related stuff along the way.

The opening scene to the Blues Brothers

Next, we drove to a place called Portillos Hot Dogs.  Kevin said it was a pretty legit place to get some dogs and whatnot.  We spent the next couple hours chillin and eatin dogs.  I went back for seconds because I was hungry, and lets be honest, I am putting on the weight for this trip. Why hold back?

After dinner, we went back to Elwood to visit a local watering hole, Watson’s Diner I think.  Apparently there was quite a bit a drama that went down in downtown Elwood.  Something about the oldest and most popular bar being burned down by someone.  It was the community gathering place, and in the absence of this bar, many places have tried to fill the gap, but none of them have had the wide appeal to all demographics that the original place had.  We were also celebrating Kevins big achievement.  He got a new job!  After finishing grad school, he scored his first gig post school.  With his architecture expertise, he will be working for a firm that works with the warehouses.  It sounded like a pretty cool job, and we drank a few beers to celebrate. 

After the beers, we went home and slept.  The next morning, Kevin's  family treated me to a very nice breakfast and I really enjoyed the conversation with Kevin and his mother.  Kevin and family, thanks so much for your hospitality.  You were an excellent tour guide and host….I had a great time. 

On my way out of town, I stopped to snap a pic of the old timey post office in Elwood, and I got to drive down a stretch of historic Route 66.  A jaunt down Rte66 was a goal of mine for the trip, so I am glad I got to check it off the list.  There are still 50's style diners left over from the glory days of Route 66.  Given more time, it would be cool to stop at a few.

Next up: Des Plaines, IL to visit my great aunt and her family!