I got sent to the Principal’s Office! :(

Today was my big adventure of traveling back in time to the “hood”.  (that’s my old neighborhood for you older readers )   Robyn volunteered to drive as we made our way to the northwest side of Chicago to meet my sister.

Since we were traveling from Indiana, that meant we had to go past the new White Sox stadium (it’s no longer Komiski Park)…and then skirting around the ‘Loop’ with Big John in the distance. (I also don’t think it is called the John Hancock Building any more)  

We had agreed to meet at the intersection of Austin and Irving.  I got out of the car to take a few pics of my old stomping grounds.  Top left is the old Irving State Bank that is no longer in business.  Top right: I found the old Ackerman’s Bakery building, but it is now a formal dress shop.  Bummer.  Bottom right: the Patio Theater is still there and showing movies.  As a kid, I went there every Saturday for a double feature with cartoons for 25 cents.  Bottom left: that’s now a restaurant.  When I was a very young child, my grandmother and I used to walk to this building so she could get her medicine. (I later figured out it was a liquor store, and her medicine was a pint of whiskey!)

Then it was on to see the house I grew up in.  It and the streets sure seemed a lot smaller than I remembered them being when I lived there.  Boy, the houses sure seem awful close together.  The house actually looked a lot better on the outside than when we lived there.

As we went on to visit my high school, we drove past Ole Anthony Thorp Elementary School.  Back in the day, this was the boys playground, and the other side of the school was the girl’s playground.  We were always separated before school and during recess.  Robyn found that very odd. 

When we made it to Charles P. Steinmetz High School, I couldn’t get a shot that took in the whole school, and I’m too tired tonight to figure out how to do one of those panoramic things.  I’ll just say it is a very big school.  When I attended, there were over 3000 students in attendance.

When we went inside, we were confronted by a security guard and metal detectors similar to what you find at airports these days.  Things have certainly changed over the years.  I explained that I was a graduate from January of 1965, and just wanted to look around.  That’s when I was sent to the Principal’s Office!  It’s been a long time since that has happened to me.    I must admit though, that I knew just where it was!  It turned out that it was the first day of summer school, and no one was available to accompany us around.  In this day and age, you just can’t wander around alone.  The office manager did attempt to escort us outside, but once we found out that she went to the same high school as my sister, Pam, she was quite chatty and let us see the auditorium and a few other things.

She even let us use the faculty ladies room where we found this old time foot operated hand dryer.  Some things change, other things remain the same…

 

All in all, it was a great blast from the past for me.  I can’t get over the mass of humanity in such a large city.  It seemed normal to me when I was growing up, but now it just seems overwhelming! 

 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy