Mid Life Melanin MaMa

Meet The Real Chicago...

February 17, 2017

Thanks to #45 The Chi (Chicago) has been in the news almost everday. I have had the pleasure of living & loving the Chi off and on for 40 plus years.

Do we have our difficulties? Yes we do.

Are we any better or worse than any other cities around the country or the world? No we are not.

I've been around the world and back again. I choose to call the Chi my home.
We are not victims locked in our houses all day. How would people work?.

We are a city that loves, hurts, cries, and rejoices.

I've been almost all over the city and suburbs all hours of the day and night. I am aware of the realities of the city. As all should be.

Don't believe all of #45 (President T) current Alternative Facts.

If you don't know the Chi was the only city that did not tolerate the hateful propaganda of #45 and turned him away and stood in solidarity against him. Our #44 is from the Chi also.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Posted in the Off Topic category
This post is also published in the youlookfab forum. You can read and reply to it in either place. All replies will appear in both places.

34 Comments

  • replied 7 years ago

    I like Chicago (used to live there for a couple years and have family still in the area). But I really like looking at Chicago through your eyes. Lots of vibrant color and strong spirit.

  • kkards replied 7 years ago

    yes, thank you for reminding us that just because all we outsiders often see is the bad, it doesn't mean that good doesn't exist, it just means that we may need to look harder, or to different sources

  • rachylou replied 7 years ago

    I've only been to the airport! :( But I want to go out. Chicago always seems to have interesting food going on...

  • DonnaF replied 7 years ago

    Chi is a world class city; not much more to say.  I was impressed that they offer free 3D printing classes at the library as well as many music practice rooms.  DD says that theater is regarded as a legitimate occupation rather than something that you do on the side as a hobby.  It's a particularly great place if you're single Millennial; always something going on.

    And housing costs are AFFORDABLE!!!  For folks trying to rent or buy NOW.  I write this as someone who lives in the SF Bay Area where affordable means you must have purchased years and years ago (me) or your income needs to be well into six figures for a modest place.

  • Angie replied 7 years ago

    I've been to Chicago twice and LOVED it. Thanks for the heartfelt and authentic post about your city. I always enjoy your musings, Ledonna. Thanks for being an ongoing positive and hopeful voice. Much love to you. 

  • JAileen replied 7 years ago

    I love this quintessential American city.

    Back in the 80s I went to to Chicago on business. One evening we were up in the Sears Tower at dusk and watched the street lights come on. It was a magical moment. In 2006 we spent a few days in Chicago. We went to a Cubs game, to incredible museums, to Oak Park to see Frank Lloyd Wright designs, to Second City, and to Two Anchors for bbq. I loved every moment.

  • rabbit replied 7 years ago

    I've visited Chicago many times over the years to see my cousins, who have lived and worked there as young people.  I particularly love that Chicago is home of the Blues, and many other musical traditions.  Also it has the Art Institute (incredible museum and the  SAIC is one of the top two graduate art programs in the US), it's a visual arts mecca. 

    Thanks for sharing your pictures :)

  • Ledonna N. replied 7 years ago

    Rabbit this is so true. I'm luck y enough to work 2 blocks from the Museum of contemporary art. We were the only ones to have the David Bowie exhibit.

    Jaileen thank you for sharing. Its beautiful in the summer.

    Angie much love to you also.

  • Kate replied 7 years ago

    Thank you for these beautiful images of your city, Ledonna. 

  • cindysmith replied 7 years ago

    I haven't been to chi-town since the 90s. I remember there were dirty, gritty parts; really glamorous big-city parts; I remember the waterfront; we ate at Morton's; walked down the magnificent Mile...

    And the heat. I was in Chicago whatever summer it was in the 90s when it was just brutally hot, and a lot of people died of heatstroke, and the national enquirer ran a front page pic of Satan's face in the clouds over Chicago (which was ridiculous because I don't recall clouds while I was there)

    Thank you for sharing Chicago with us, LeDonna

  • catherine replied 7 years ago

    I love Chicago. My daughter, SIL, and granddaughter lived close to downtown for years. I loved their neighborhoods and always felt safe and happy on the Blue Line, wherever I went. I would like to live there. Your pictures make me so happy.

  • replied 7 years ago

    I've only had the pleasure to visit your city a couple of times - and both were delightful and memorable visits.  Mostly did the touristy things - museums, Millennium Park, architecture tour, etc.  Thanks for showing us what you love about your home!
    My husband and I really like Presidential Libraries and when a new one opens we always try to visit within the first year or so.  So I expect we will be visiting Chi-town again in 2020 or so, and look forward to it!

  • Echo replied 7 years ago

    I lived down in Wrigleyville for a while after college, and it's a beautiful city. And I was 100% with you until photo #10 (being originally from a little north of Chicago! ; p ). Love you, Ledonna, and I, for one, am not buying the "alternative facts."

  • UmmLila (Lisa) replied 7 years ago

    Thank you for showing us the real Chicago. (We already know and love the real you.)

  • Meredith replied 7 years ago

    Love these gorgeous pictures and your fab town. Wish I still lived close enough to visit! Proud to say the people I know in Chi love their city and roll up their sleeves when they see injustice.

  • annagybe replied 7 years ago

    I haven't been to Chicago since the 90's. I want to see your Chicago

  • Ledonna N. replied 7 years ago

    I'll try to snap more pictures this summer. Little nugget will be about 4 or 5 months and i dont want to be house bound. I cannot wait to see the city through her eyes.

    Thank you for sharing memories and thoughts on Chicago. I say I hibernate in the winter but in the spring summer and fall is when everything thappens anyway.

  • Lucy replied 7 years ago

    Amazing photos! I've never been to Chicago *waves from Australia* but it looks awesome. 

  • BrieN replied 7 years ago

    I love going to Chicago.  So much to do - arts, science, city-buzz. great public transportation.  We saw Two Trains Running by August Wilson recently there... spectacular.   I love reading about your friends and community there, Ledonna. It sounds like such a vibrant life. 

  • Ornella replied 7 years ago

    This post is a feast for the soul. If I ever come to Chicago, I would be honoured to do a city tour with YOU! 

  • Summer replied 7 years ago

    Chicago looks vibrant, dramatic and exciting : seems like the perfect fit for you, Ledonna.

  • Style Fan replied 7 years ago

    Thank you for sharing your pics and the real Chicago Ledonna.  I visited Chicago in the mid 80s for a work conference.  I loved the city.  I have many friends who went to school there and they all love Chicago.  I plan to go back one day.

  • RobinF replied 7 years ago

    I love Chicago! I have family in the burbs so we go to that area often and sometimes go into town. Great public transportation (sadly lacking here in Mich), love the Art Museum, Milennium Park. I have a cousin getting married there this summer so another opportunity to check it out, should be fun. Thank you for reminding us that the public view isn't always the whole picture.

  • Eliza replied 7 years ago

    Ledonna - thanks for sharing your vibrant city with us. I look forward to getting there soon.

  • ma342 replied 7 years ago

    I lived in Chicago from age 3-8 and visited often as a teenager. I still have a lot of love for the city. Thank you for the photos. They brought back great memories and reminded me that I should plan a visit.

  • Janet replied 7 years ago

    I have been to Chicago three times and thoroughly enjoyed it each time! It's been too long, and I need to visit again.

    My beloved hometown of Baltimore gets a similar bad rap, but I LOVE it. Yes, there are problems and issues, but there is also a thriving music and arts scene, great restaurants, affordable housing, world class museums, and vibrant festivals. There are actually a lot of similarities between the two cities. High five and big love to CHI from BAL. :-)

  • Bonnie replied 7 years ago

    I know a few people who live in Chicago during the summer and leave during the winter. They all love Chicago but not in cold weather. Love your photos and hope to visit soon.

  • Ledonna N. replied 7 years ago

    So many misconceptions about Chicago. Thank you for taking a look and seeing a different viewpoint.

  • Beth Ann replied 7 years ago

    Living in the 'burbs for 18 years, I learned to love the City, and I've longed to hear people sing her praises.  Even more than I love the place -- I love the people.

  • Sara L. replied 7 years ago

    Great photos! I was born in Chicago and my extended family all lives there. My parents moved away when I was just a toddler. I've never seen much of it because when we would visit we just saw family and did family stuff.

    The last time I was there was 3 years ago for my grandmother's funeral. We drove for 2 days, stayed for one night, went to the funeral, and spent another 2 days driving home. My kids were troopers. It would have been great to stay longer but DH was starting a new job that week and we had no time.

  • Jaime replied 7 years ago

    Oh thank you for this. I have only been to Chicago once, but my SIL lives there and my darling nieces grew up there. Perhaps it is time for another visit.

  • Barbara Diane replied 7 years ago

    Thanks for again showing us how special Chicago is. I can hardly believe I haven't been there since 1995.

  • Sal replied 7 years ago

    I have never been to Chicago but my US based family and friends both rate it highly as a place to visit.

    I live in a provincial city that can get a bad rap too - for being boring, without a beach, and having a foggy climate.

    While in one way these things are true, in other ways they are so wrong and the people doing the  critiquing are often so ignorant and narrow minded.  I played a game on one of them once, by having a bet how long into our conversation he would bad-mouth our city, and then when he did, telling him I had won some money!!  

  • abc replied 7 years ago

    Love your beautiful words and even better photos.  It's cool to see a city you think you know through the eyes of someone else, a different artist.  Always loved Chicago, always will.  

You need to be logged in to comment

Categories

Blogroll

Archives

About

I'm a 44 year old Mid Life Melanin MaMa with my beautiful daughter who just entered her toddler years. I hope you will join us honor fashionable and Thrifty Adventures. As we discover a life that is full of fashionable color and joy. We hope to inspire you, make you think, but most importantly make you smile. So I invite you to Journey with us on this thing we call life.