October 8, 2019 will the 148th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. You might know the story of a cow wrongly accused of burning down the second city’s entire commercial district which resulted in 300 deaths; 100,000 people homeless; 17,500 buildings destroyed; and $222 million in damages (more than $4...
Although I once briefly mentioned the Hobo Museum in a post nearly five years ago, I didn’t share my own photos from a personal visit I took a few summers ago. So considering it is the blog’s fifth anniversary week, I guess I’ll stop being lazy and get on with...
Every detail of the central London top-floor flat at 23 Brook Street, where musician Jimi Hendrix and his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, lived between 1968-69 has been recreated. There are Persian rugs on the floor, a Victorian shawl above the bed, and newspapers and a clamshell ashtray on top of the...
Once upon a time I told you about the mysterious statue of six-year-old Inez Clarke (1873-1880) in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery. Well, just a bit north is another Victorian cemetery called Rosehill where another beautiful monument can be found. It is the grave of Frances Pearce Stone. Depicting a reclining mother...
I skipped last year (I guess I must have been temporarily dead) but I try to always go to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, which has an annual Day of the Dead exhibit (check out 2013 photos here and 2012 photos here). It is the only Latino...
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Eastland Disaster, the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes. Western Electric employees, families, and friends were to cross Lake Michigan from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana, for a picnic. But the SS Eastland, docked at the Clark...
After visiting the Surf Ballroom, I knew I had to see the Buddy Holly Memorial Crash Site (well, at least that’s what it’s called on Facebook for those who like to check-in) in order to complete “The Day The Music Died” pilgrimage. This is the cornfield where Buddy Holly, Ritchie...
