Chicago, Kim and Ems Style: Part III

Saturday afternoon was short, as we had only a brief time between Hot Doug’s and heading out to Ravinia to see Rodrigo y Gabriela. We took a ride down Lake Shore Drive, and over to my old neighborhood, but then headed back home to grab a few things, and then grab the Redline to Argyle. Here, we stopped to pick up some awesome Bahn Mi sandwiches and desserts from Ba Le Bakery (Kim, check out their awesome website!) to take with us.

Now, I know I’ve lived in Chicago for a while, but I’d never ridden the Metra before. Being a bit of a public transportation lover, I was pretty psyched by sitting “upstairs” on the train, and the fact that the conductor actually walks through the train and checks your tickets (really, it’s kind of quaint and adorable). As the train filled up on the way to Ravinia, I started to realize that this whole Ravinia thing is actually kind of a big deal. Of course, when we arrived and saw the massive line waiting to get inside, this really began to sink in. After bucking an angry-mom-sounding park official, we joined the crowd of people cutting to the front of the line, only to wait another 20 minutes to get inside. Once past the gate, I had to admit it: okay, this suburban music festival, and, in particular, this band of which I had not previously heard, was a huge deal. There were only slivers of grass apparent between all of the blankets, chairs, and elaborate dining set-ups strewn across the sprawling lawn. I was completely caught off guard by the tables, tablecloths, five-course meals, and candelabra displayed at so many of the temporary sites created by concert-goers. I had never seen anything like this before in my life. Luckily, Liz and Matt had arrived when the gates had opened, a couple of hours before we’d arrived, and had staked out and set up a nice spot, with two huge picnic blankets, large enough to hold all four of us. We had brought a decent spread of food to add to their collection of munchies, and with several bottles of wine between us, we were set!

Rodrigo y Gabriela were tremendously good to the ears and the spirit. I couldn’t help but wish I could remember the flamenco I’d taken during a summer master class at Toledo Ballet in high school. The music was beautiful, the sky was full of stars, and the night air was perfectly comfortable. Everyone seemed content.

The evening was destined to expose me to new experiences, and so, settling in for the Metra ride home, I couldn’t hide my shock that everyone—and I mean everyone—on the train seemed happy. It was like a jovial community, where everyone smiled and joked and laughed with strangers as though they were old pals. Granted, most everyone had been drinking for hours ahead of time. But it wasn’t akin to the El at 2 a.m. People weren’t sloppy, or obnoxious, or rude. They were just having a good time, and I was sincerely impressed. I had completely underestimated the potential of Ravinia!