Hidden Treasures

If we lived in Chicago for the rest of our lives, I am sure we would not discover all of the city’s hidden treasures. But yesterday we found another one – the Mercury Theater. We attended a wonderful musical there, called “The Christmas Schooner”, for Ron’s birthday.

The building that houses the Mercury Theater opened in 1912, as a silent film nickelodeon called the Blaine Theater. With the advent of “talkies”, the Blaine moved to a larger space down the street, and eventually became the Music Box Theater, which is still in operation today. The original Blaine lived many lives for the remainder of the 20th century, and housed numerous retail operations and even a carpet-cleaning business. Thankfully, a veteran Chicago theater producer purchased, renovated, and re-opened the theater as the Mercury in 1996. It has been operating as an active live theater since then.

Little of the original Blaine Theater still exists, although they salvaged several stunning plaster pilaster busts (pictured) that now flank the house, which has 292 seats. The seats themselves were recovered and refurbished from a 1933-era Boston movie house. The interior walls are a warm, exposed brick.

This wonderful “hidden” treasure is within walking distance of our condo.

“The Christmas Schooner” is a beautifully produced and performed show that had us completely engaged for two hours. A mini live orchestra provided the musical backdrop. The costumes for the actors, portraying subjects from the 1890’s, were spot on and visually effective.

Creative staging allowed the action to transition credibly from the captain’s living room to the deck of his ship. The ship’s anchor was raised and the sails hoisted, and we believed. We laughed and we cried – glued to the storyline and the professional performances. I’m sure we will recall the experience for years to come.

What a delight to stumble across this hidden neighborhood treasure!

Our Neighborhood, On Foot

I know I’ve mentioned before how much we walk around our neighborhood – allowing the car to stay in its parking space for weeks at a time. Today, I’ll give you a little walking tour around our frequent haunts.

We have 2 grocery stores we frequent most often. There’s a Jewel/Osco .6 miles away, where N. Broadway and N. Sheridan meet, and a great Whole Foods just .5 miles south on Halsted. We use a backpack, canvas bags, and/or a rolling cart to get the groceries home.

This afternoon, we both have an appointment to get hair cuts at Barberella. Jane’s quirky small salon is .3 miles away on N. Broadway. Just around the corner, ad additional .1 miles from home, is Elite Dental, where we’ve been fortunate to find a good dentist who takes our insurance.

The Uptown branch of the Chicago Public Library is .4 miles away. Today I need to pick up a book I had transferred from the main library downtown. That may be a good excuse to stop at the Bar On Buena – a neighborhood tavern on the same block that grills up a superb burger served with sweet potato fries.

Wrigley Field is an easy .7 miles away. It’s so nice not to have to worry about transportation or parking. When the Cubs game is over, we slip out of the crowd and stroll home. On the way home, we often stop at our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Fornello Trattoria, after which we toddle the remaining .4 miles. Or, if we feel like Mexican food, El Mariachi has a lovely outdoor courtyard, and is just .2 miles south on Broadway.

From our front door onto Montrose Beach on Lake Michigan is almost exactly a mile. It’s a little less to the first tee at Waveland Golf Course in Lincoln Park. On a nice day, the 1.4 miles to the Diversey Driving Range is a breeze.

In even the very worst weather, we can bundle up and make it the .2 miles to Dollop Coffee Co. for a morning brew. This eclectic coffee shop is housed in an old pharmacy with exposed brick walls, tiny black and white tiles on the floor, and broken down overstuffed chairs and sofas. We prefer it to Starbucks.

For a reasonably-priced and filling breakfast, we head to Arnolds diner (.1 miles). SOS Cleaners is on the same block; and even though we are infrequent customers, the ever-gracious Korean owner knows us by name.

We got our H1N1 shots at the Howard Brown Health Center (.4 miles). For prescriptions, we walk .6 miles down Broadway to Walgreens. We take a bus downtown when we need to visit our doctor.

There are multiple bus stops within a block of our home that take us just about anywhere we need to go. The closest el station (the Sheridan stop on the Red Line) is an easy .5 mile trip. (It’s the 42 stairs up to the platform that get your heart pumping!)

We love our little neighborhood around Bittersweet Place. Looking forward to spring, when we can enjoy it even more.