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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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 Hot smile)   Robyn volunteered to drive as we made our way to the northwest side of Chicago to meet my sister.

62 Pioneer Campground, IN summer, 20117

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)  

62 Pioneer Campground, IN summer, 20118

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!)

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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.

IMG_2185As 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. 

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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.

IMG_2190When 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.  Smile  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.

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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

29 comments:

  1. great blast from the past!..love the look of your 'old' house and the the 'dryer'!!

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  2. My High School in Wisconsin is no longer there. It was torn down about 20 years ago.

    Several years ago Craig and I were back in the Milwaukee for a wedding. We took an afternoon and drove by all the houses and apartments we had lived in as children and as a married couple. When we stopped to see our first apartment, there was a for rent sign up. We called the number and asked what the rent was now. We had paid $85 per month. It was now renting for over $700 per month. It was a third floor walk up.

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  3. Awesome trip in the past. An incredible looking school. Gerri's old high school was torn down this year and no longer exists. Glad you had such a wonderful day.

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  4. Thanks for a great post. I can't even imagine living in a city as large as Chicago, but like you say, it seems normal when you are experiencing it. It's fun to go back and visit old haunts.

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  5. What a great trip back in time for you, Judy. I loved the dark stormy skies over the city in your photos. Only been to Chicago once and really enjoyed it. Friends in Elmhurst, and Northwestern University is sooooo gorgeous.

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  6. I like Chicago and I enjoyed seeing your pictures and hearing about your past. Am I showing my youth? I never heard of that kind of hand dryer!

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  7. What a wonderful journey to the Principal's office. My grade school has been turned into an office building and they have added on and remodeled the high school I hardly recognized it.

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  8. For the most part it's always nice to go back & touch base with life's earlier memories. We had relatives in Chicaco & my Mother & I once became lost on the subway back in the 50's. You were fortunate to have someone drive you around in the big city. One does get a more relaxed perspective of the surrounding traffic chaos sitting in a passenger seat instead of the driver's seat. And isn't if interesting sometimes how old familiar places do not always look as you remember them.

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  9. Enjoyable post Judy. Thanks for the tour and memories of the old neighborhood. I think your grandmother and mine would have gotten along quite well.

    John
    relaxedrush.blogspot.com
    connectedtothevinephotography.blogspot.com

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  10. Thanks for the post and pics. I used to go to Carl Schurz HS, Hiram Belding Elementary, raised around Irving and Pulaski (formerly, Crawford) back before the freeway. I graduated in June of '62 from Arlington Heights HS, no longer a public HS, but still a private school. I left the last time in 1989. One of these days I'll get back, I still have family there.

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  11. I enjoyed hearing about your trip to the past, and love the pictures.

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  12. Great post and photos! It seems that you and I graduated the same year. I'm glad you got this chance to go back and explore your past, and thanks for sharing it with us.

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  13. We don't venture into the "city" very often ..the traffic is just too much...But I will say that Chicago has a lot to offer in the way of culture...But lately it has had lots of muggings by local gangs, which is too bad...It really is a fun city...

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  14. What a great way to relive you childhood, I too tried to visit some of my boyhood haunts when I was in Pa, But time waits for no one. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

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  15. Great memories for you, Judy. Glad you got to go back for a blast from the past, and thanks for sharing it with us.

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  16. I would love to see all the places where I grew up but that is too far away. All my family is gone from that city too. Nice for you to visit again.

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  17. Great pix, Judy! It is still John Hancock but the Sears is now something else. Even WGN calls it the Sears Tower, so old names die hard. Storms have taken a huge toll on many suburbs right now--no power since Tuesday night. Marianne is there interviewing for jobs, and Matt tomorrow. My Aunt's house where they are staying has no power but scored a generator so they can prepare for their interviews. My old neighborhood on Summerdale Ave shrunk quite a bit, too.

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  18. Maybe the expression that you can never go home again means that when you are back it is just not the same. I know that when I return "home" it just does not feel like home anymore.

    The views of Chicago were a great reminder of the our tour of the city in 2010.

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  19. My old high school is long gone. Dave's is now a private school but at least it is still there. It would probably take us days to drive past all the places we've lived in the Minneapolis area; we moved a lot!

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  20. Great trip down memory lane. My high school was so changed when I went to visit it a few years ago that it was a disappointing trip in many ways.

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  21. Sounds like a great visit back in time. Things do seem to get smaller. The "mountain" I used to sled ride down, now looks like a very small hill. Seemed rather dangerous back then though.

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  22. Sometimes it is great to go back and visit your roots, even if it includes going to the principle's office.

    Glad you had a good time reliving your wild and mis-spent youth... ;c)

    Paul & Marti

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  23. Great post and trip down memory lane. I've noticed how much the houses I grew up in seem much smaller today.

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  24. Beautiful High School!! I also graduated in '65! From Redmond Union High School, we had 121 in our class!! :)

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  25. Sounds like a fun journey down memory lane. It is amazing how the places we thought were so big when we were young look a lot smaller once we've grown up.

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  26. What fun. I lived so many places as a kid that I don't think I have many roots (or many memories) of anywhere. I did really love my school and best friend, Doris Jean Shoemaker, at the school I attended when I was maybe 8 and 9.

    It's amazing that all that was still there. Some of the places where I lived in the country are gone and almost impossible to even recognize.

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  27. It's amazing that all that was still there. Some of the places where I lived in the country are gone and almost impossible to even recognize.

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  28. I grew up around this area also and went to the Patio frequently, although much later (was born in 1988). I love the Patio. But if you haven't heard, it is in danger of being closed again, as it was for 10 long years until about a year ago. If you are interested in helping to save it, here is the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1911305952/save-the-historic-patio-theater

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