.Chicago.

Woke up this morning at 0630. I wanted to make breakfast for Jared and his roommate, but they insisted that I not (not in an insulting way though). So last night I said my goodbyes so I didn't have to wake anyone this morning. And my heart goes out to Jared and his roommate Matt for taking me in last night.

So I set out for Chicago after grabbing a cup of coffee and one last view of Nashville. It's a pretty rad looking town in the early morning. And I've come to the conclusion that Tennessee is a beautiful looking state, in general.

No storms this go round, and no construction until I got near Chicago. Mapquest is a piece of shit. They don't give you alternate routes when there's construction. So I ran into three snags, and had to fight my way through. So Mapquest can fuck off.

Indiana, lots of corn fields. Louisville seems like it'd be a cool city to stop in for a day. From the interstate I could see lots of old buildings, and old buildings are pretty fascinating. Gary, Indiana is an industrial hub-and-a-half. Gary Works, which is owned by U.S. Steel, calls Gary, Indiana its home.

Chicago...Chi-Town. What a dope city. I got into town around 3, and walked around for a couple hours. It was really nice walking around a big city. Cities like NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco have a certain feel to them. Anyway, I knew I was going to be going out to dinner later that night, but I HAD to have some Chicago deep-dish pie. AND IT WAS DELICIOUS. Tons of sausage, cheese, and tomatoes. After walking around and snapping a few photos I headed down to Navy Pier to meet up with Justin at the tattoo convention. Tattoo conventions are...interesting. But anyway, it was way dope kickin' at the booth with my boy, Baba, Rick Walters, and some kids from St. Louis who were super cool kids. Let me tell you about Rick: he's a tattoo legend. He's been in the business for over 50 years. And when you talk to him, it's like taking a ride in a time machine. And he's a fucking crack up. After the convention we went out to eat at some cowboy steak house where the waiter had the mouth of a sailor. You could tell he enjoyed our company: when we left he thanked us for not being stuck-up bluehaired assholes.

Awesomeness of the day:
1) Rick Walters
2) The Piano Bar
3) The Chicago sky line
4) A wicked case of drivers arm from yesterday

Next up: Ann Arbor to see Mr. Jeff Zuck and to get tattooed, then on to Pittsburgh for the night.