Hello, again.  It was a fabulous weekend and, no, I didn’t do any vintage buying, but the things we did do had a real vibe and here’s my report.

Of course, Chicago (or almost any big city in the U.S. or Europe) has tons of history and vintage architecture to enjoy.  One of the activities we took in, besides walking the Loop area (so sorry to learn that Marshall Field’s has been sold to Macy’s!) and looking up, was to take a PedWay tour.  This is a walkway which connects many stores and other buildings (including the Cultural Center which used to be the public library.  A true vintage gem!).  Most of it is underground and contains many surprising features and places to go, shop, eat and most people don’t know about it!  There’s also a lot of municipal history and politics involved with this and your guide may not feel free to share it all with you, but you might be able to tease some of it out of him or her (we toured with Margaret).  Fascinating.

We got event tickets at VERY reasonable prices and saw:  Hank Williams – the lost highway.  Set between 1949 and 1953.  A good little history byte, GREAT music and entertainment, even if you are not a country music fan.  You’ll know all the songs.  Very intimate performance in a small theater.

Ditto for The Magnificent Quartet.  I might be getting some of these names not exactly right, but you can find them.  Set in 1956, it is the story of Sun Records, owned by Sam Phillips and its relationship with Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.  This little recording studio gave them their starts on fame.  Good story and, again, a history byte.  Great clothes, fabulous music.  You’ll rock.  Also performed in a small theater.

Cirque Shanghai:  Performed at Navy Pier.  A Chinese Cirque de Soliel, basically.  Never seen Cirque de Soliel (yet) and I understand they would be better, but this group was great.  SO disciplined, incredibly strong, great costumes and sets.  Their timing and strength are amazing.  So professional and executed to perfection – if not they would die.  We were very impressed and entertained.

The REDHEAD PIANO BAR (downtown, I think it’s 43 Ontario Street).  A nice little place – it’s part of vintage Chicago.  Fabulous martini concoctions of all descriptions, good old music by request and a lot of fun.

     Tomorrow I’ll have a little something that includes the guys and we’re continuing the little series of red things for the next 2 or 3 posts.  See you on Tuesday . . . . .

Morgana Martin, the Magicvintagespy