#2 HYDE PARK EXPRESS

This one is another rush hour run; how I hate those! I have to get up early. It runs from Navy Pier south to 60th and Cottage Grove and back - kind've. There is a trick to this one that I didn't see until I had already gotten down to the route's end at the Fountain of Time sculpture by Lorenzo Taft which is at the very west end of the Midway at The University of Chicago. And if you have never seen this, DO! It is just as interesting on the other side. But to begin:

On Thursday, August 28th, I had to rise at an ungodly hour because in order to get to Navy Pier and hop on the very last bus leaving there at 9:10am , I had to get up to Navy Pier in the first place. Again, as this bus takes me even closer to those relatives in Woodlawn, I had planned to spend another day with them and return on the evening rush hour bus. I sweated bullets on the #124 from the train station, fearing I wouldn't make it in time.

Well, I did make it, but as I took out my camera to shoot the front of this bus, it just wouldn't work - something about "power off" showing in the monitor. Well, shoot! I tried again, and again, no luck. Then I remembered a tip about computers, reboot. So I take out the chip, put it back in, and lo and behold! all is right with the world (and the camera).

Bus route -morning - From Navy Pier, it goes west on Grand, north on Fairbanks, west on Ontario, south on Michigan, west on Wacker, south on State all the way to Balbo which takes a considerable amount of time, east on Balbo, south on Columbus, and then it is an express from Roosevelt on down Lake Shore Drive, exiting at 57th, passing The Museum of Science and Industry to Stony Island, where it turns south to 60th, west on 60th to Cottage Grove, where there is that turnaround by the Fountain of Time. And it is anything but an express, taking from 40 to 60 minutes, one way.

One thing I wish to observe here - buses that stop where other buses do loose time because they have no way of knowing whether the people there want that bus or are waiting for some other bus. They pull in, nobody is interested, and then they have to try and maneuver back out in traffic. This seems to me horribly inefficient. Could there not be some system of flags or lights? Something?

On Balbo, this bus passes right between the Blackstone Hotel and the Hilton, and passes the Merle Ruskin Theater, now owned by DePaul, and used for student productions. It also passes Hyde Park Hospital on Stony Island.
One neat thing: a family got on somewhere on State Street and exited by the Museum of Science and Industry. And when I returned home on the 3:45, there they were, ready to head back. The very same family.

As I have a friend who works on Navy Pier, this seemed the perfect opportunity to have dinner with him when I returned from the Woodlawn people, planning on taking the last bus at 6. But it slowly dawned on me as I was riding south, that that would not do at all, because in the morning it exits the Drive at 57th, and in the evening it enters the drive at 57th to head back north, but in the morning, from the sculpture, it returns up Cottage Grove to 51st (Hyde Park Boulevard) east to Lake Park, and enters the Drive on 47th. And does this same thing in the evening from Navy Pier. It exits the Drive at 47th, and repeats the morning route. This makes perfect sense, as there are a lot of high rises and apartment buildings along Lake Park and 51st, so the commuters get on in the morning and off at night, in most cases, right in front of where they live.

But for me, now, I figured I would have to do the whole route again in the evening, just to get that 47th Street part. So when I got off the bus at 10am I sat on the bench there, poring over the CTA map and eating a banana. And the very nice bus driver did not pull out to go to his garage before pausing and asking me if I needed any help, as I'm sure I looked thoroughly befuddled. I must admit it took me some moments to straighten this all out in my mind.
So at 3:45, I was waiting for the bus to return to Navy Pier via 47th. When I took a picture of the front of the bus, as I plan to do with all, the driver immediately got off and took a picture of me with his cell phone. Pretty smart, I thought. You never know.

I ended up taking four buses in all, one down in the morning, and one up in the evening, then another complete round trip. And I learned that each of these buses immediately returns to its garage after one run; none make a round trip. Odd.
As we came up the Drive around 4, the city was enveloped in haze, pollution, smog, something. Which was too bad, as I think that view of "Sweet Home Chicago", coming north on the drive is one of the best anywhere. Night and day.

When I returned to Navy Pier the first time, I had to get on another bus which left at 4:40. Now, Ontario was almost at a standstill. Lots of people got on going down State this time, including a woman in a wheelchair. I have ridden buses in NYC, and there it is a big production to load a wheelchair on to the bus. The driver gets out of his chair, goes to the rear, unlocks some mechanism, which then gets the chair on the bus, he then locks the mechanism, returns to his chair, and the bus finally pulls out. Here, it's a snap. No fuss at all. NYC could take a lesson from us! Southbound now passes that very same statue of Drexel on 51st that the #1 bus ended with. When it turns south on Cottage Grove, it passes the University of Chicago Hospital complex before that turnaround, one solid hour later. This bus was jam packed, people crammed in the aisles, standing all the way down the Drive.
The driver on the last return trip was very strange, however. I cannot explain it. He absolutely dawdled almost all the way up, sitting for two or three lights twice, once in front of Hyde Park Hospital, and once at Balbo and Wabash. Just sat there. He never got over 35mph either, not even on the Drive, just creeped along. Way weird. But - when he got to Wacker (where I got this nifty shot of Trump Tower), he just took off like a bat out of hell, turning right on a red where none was allowed, barreling his way up Michigan Avenue, and when he turned west onto Ohio - well, he almost mowed down a whole bunch of pedestrians crossing the street. I saw one woman raise her arms and yell something. I know she thought the bus was going to hit her.

And now some observations and thoughts:

Because I was riding up and down State Street four times, I had plenty of opportunity to take in the state (no pun intended) of American dress in public. And I was appalled. ( I will tell you here that I am just as guilty of all the criticisms I am going to lay on us, and am just as overweight too).

But as I watched all these people, I saw that practically none were decently dressed. Flip-flops, t-shirts, men in shorts that looked like Jack's Giant owned them, poor posture, just sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. And I thought how many times have I gone to the grocery store in my filthy gardening clothes. Women on State Street were wearing clothes mostly much too tight, slowing off every bulge and ounce of flab. Even men in khakis and shirts don't look finished somehow. A jacket is needed. And posture? Can't we at least stand up straight? It's bad enough we're all overweight; can't we at least dress decently? Not look as if we just stepped out of the shower? Where is our pride in how we look, how we present ourselves to the world? Yes, I know we should never judge anyone by their appearance - but we do. Let's face it, a first impression is sometimes the lasting one. Shouldn't be, but sometimes is. And you know as well as I do, that the way we are dressed affects the way we act. Who behaves the same in shorts and a "t" as they do in heels and a nice dress? Or sloppy shorts vs. jeans and a jacket? We dress casual, we act casual. I think our manners are deeply affected by our outward appearance and grooming. And I don't think you eat as much when you have on nice clothes. At least, I don't. And let that be a lesson to me.

To sum up: On the #1 bus, coming back to Union Station was a very obese young woman (I do not judge; by most measures, I am morbidly obese myself) wearing a bright green t-shirt that said "I'm full of excuses; which one do you want?"

I came home and shaved my legs and put on make-up.

Second one down.