Tomorrow my son and I hit the road for Chicago – and the next day I’ll help him unpack at his new home, Northwestern University. I’m not used to dreading roadtrips but this one I’m feeling sad just thinking about – although I’m very happy and excited for my son.
Category Archives: 1) Home Turf
Places to stay/dine – chicago
A friend from Maryland visited Chicago on a perfect summer weekend and loved the place. She liked where she stayed (Homewood Suites on Grand) and ate (Volari, Buca/boka? and some place she thinks was called Bizoni.)
Trapped by the “Illinois Tollway Unattended Toll Plaza” experiment on I-88
So we’re driving late at night on I-88 through Illinois en route to Chicago and we pull up to yet another tollbooth with our money in hand, $1.90, all ready to dutifully pay – and instead no one is in the booth and we’re greeted by a little flyer that tells us to pay online or by mail.
So we go on vacation for ten days, come home and I pull out the little flyer and find out that we have now committed a VIOLATION because we have not paid our toll within seven days. This hardly seems fair. Is it really OUR fault that the Illinois DOT has decided to save money by closing this one tollbooth from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. – which is often when we manage to arrive in Chicago after a long after-work drive from Iowa?
Okay, we could have paid it within 7 days but we were away from home and computers and checkbooks – which is what a VACATION is all about !! What really irks me is that it appears from the wording that even if you DO pay after 7 days this still counts as a VIOLATION. And after three VIOLATIONS within 24 months you’re in deep do-do. So there’s really no incentive to pay after 7 days because you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Why not give people a wee bit more time to pay – or just increase by increments the fee if it arrives after 7 days?
When I finally found someone to talk to about this at the Illinois Tollway office, she told me I was okay if I just paid by mail – i can’t pay online after 7 days. So I’ve just sent in my check. But the wording below suggests otherwise.
Here’s the online info.
MISTAKES HAPPEN
You have 7 Days to Make Your Payment
- The Illinois Tollway grants a 7-day grace period to pay your unpaid toll.
If you DO NOT have an I-PASS
| Making a payment can be done online or through the mail. Choose one of graphics below to learn more.
If you live outside the United States you must pay an unpaid toll by mail. |
Have the required information available |
|
Use our Toll Calculator to determine the total cost of your tolls.
In the event of unknown plazas or direction, toll calculations will be based on the maximum charge (per toll) on our system for your vehicle category.
Maximum charge per toll:
- Passenger Car (2 axle) – $2.00
- Small Truck (2-axle) – $3.00
- Medium Truck (3-4-axle) – $4.50
- Large Truck (5 axle) – $8.00
Missed the 7-day Grace Period?
- The unpaid toll has now become a violation.
- Violation notices are issued when 3 or more unpaid toll/violations are recorded over a 24-month period. Fines will be assessed.
- Payment after the 7-day grace period does not remove that toll from violation status.
Failure to pay tolls can result in fines and possible suspension of your license plate and/or your driver’s license.
Pay by Mail
In order to avoid the incident from being recorded as a toll violation, the mailed in toll payment envelope must:
- Have all the required information filled out completely
- Be delivered or mailed to the Tollway within 7 calendar days of the unpaid toll.
It is recommended you pay by check because your cancelled check is your receipt.
You can mail your payment with unpaid toll information to:
Illinois Tollway
2700 Ogden Avenue
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Attn: Cash Handling Division
What is the Illinois Tollway Unattended Toll Plaza Pilot Program?
The Illinois Tollway has launched a pilot program designed to improve efficiencies and reduce costs at
mainline toll plazas when traffic volumes are low. At the Pilot locations, Open Road Tolling lanes will be
operational 24/7, however all manned toll booths will be unattended between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and
only the far right cash lane will be open to allow cash‐paying drivers to pick up a toll payment form.
Cash‐paying customers will be given the option to pay online or mail in toll payments within the 7‐day
grace period.
Where will this pilot be conducted?
The Illinois Tollway has selected two toll plazas – the Spring Creek Toll Plaza (PL 99) on the Veterans
Memorial Tollway (I‐355) and the Dixon Toll Plaza (PL 69) on the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I‐88).
Manned toll collection lanes will be unattended during the overnight hours of 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. when
traffic volumes are the lowest.
When does the pilot program begin and how long will it be in place?
As of February 16, 2010, the Unattended Toll Plaza Pilot Program is effective at the selected plazas. The
Pilot Program will be evaluated over the next three months.
Why not reopen the cash baskets at the Toll Plazas?
Exact change baskets were eliminated from mainline toll plazas when
Filed under Illinois, interstates
A little Lollapalooza in Des Moines
Des Moines is getting some mighty nice spillover from the massive Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, where my 18-year-old son is no doubt having the time of his life, along with his half-sister. Two bands that are playing to thousands of people in the Windy City this weekend will play on much smaller more intimate stages in Des Moines soon after. The Black Keys play at the funky old Val Air Ballroom here on Sunday and even more surprisingly, Phoenix plays at People’s Court, a smaller venue in downtown Des Moines, on Tuesday (we’ll be there…and maybe at the Black Keys too – I’m a fan of the theme song they wrote for the new HBO show “Hung,” which also is set in my hometown of Detroit.)
Filed under Chicago, Des Moines, Iowa, music
Cycling and swimming along the Chicago Lakefront – Xoco – Taste of Chicago
Chicago on a beautiful summer day is hard to beat – and boy did we get lucky on Tuesday. The temps were in the 70s, bright sunshine, light breeze. My sister and I rode on the bike trail along the lake front south from North Beach down to around Hyde Park area – great trail, easy riding, little congestion (on a Tuesday), stunning views of the lake and the city, riding past sandy beaches and landscaped gardens. I borrowed a bike but there is a bike rental at North Beach (and a few other places) – and the rental place has a free air pump, which we made good use of.
On the return trip, we stopped for lunch at Taste of Chicago – crowded but not as bad as a weekend. We “tasted” some good Thai dumplings, a so-so Greek sausage, and an icky Ukrainian dumpling (starchy dumpling with what looked like tomato soup atop it). Later, I swam for the first time at the Oak Street Beach – the lake was cleaner and warmer than expected with a nice sandy bottom and manageable waves. Laid out on the beach for awhile. Very nice.
For dinner, I went with E and M to Xoco (“cho-ko”) the new Rick Bayless restaurant – we picked just the right time to go: 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. We’d heard about long lines and limited seating but this time worked great. We stood in line for maybe 5 minutes, got our food right away, and sat at a high top table on stools outside overlooking the street. Well-managed place. Food was interesting – supposedly it’s Mexican “street food” but smarted up with artisanal ingredients – the sources for the food – the bread, cheese, meat etc – were prominently displayed. The Woodland Mushroom torte was a favorite. The Ahogada – which some critic likened, accurately, to a Mexican version of an Italian sub, was messy and hot and tasty (golden pork carnitas, black beans served on crusty bread face down in a tomato broth with a “spicy arbol chile sauce” (wisely, this is not offered for take-out.) We tried one of the caldos (soups) – the pork belly vermicelli which was interesting but not our favorite although the avocado was especially creamy after floating in the thin broth. The churros were outstanding – a lighter, less greaser version of what we’ve had in Spain. The hot chocolate wasn’t our cup of tea – I’m sure it’s authentic but too sweet for us (we had the Almendrado – a chocolate shot with almond milk.) Very good guacamole (made according to the recipe used by Xoco’s fancier sibling next door, the Frontera Grill) with “just made” (of course) chips. The homemade Mexican vanilla soft serve ice cream tasted pretty much like regular vanilla soft serve…But overall, the place felt unique and fresh, like something truly new and ambitious – and reasonably priced. We spent $60 for three – granted we didn’t have any alcohol.
Next time I’d like to try the Pepito and one of the griddle Tortas (our two tortas were cooked in a woodburning oven). Also would like to try the carnitas and the cocoflan (which they didn’t have when we visited.)
Transporation between Chicago and Traverse City, Mi.
I’m trying to find an economical (as always) way to get my son from Traverse City, Mi. to chicago (and ultimately Des Moines) in mid-August. He can take the megabus from Chicago to Des Moines for $10 (I LOVE that bus!) but the first leg of his trip is problematic. No bus service of any kind, as far as I can tell. A one way plane tix is over $600. Another option is for him and his older sister (who is 25 so she can rent a car) to rent a car at the traverse city airport for $115 and drive back to Chicago. Then he’ll catch the bus from there. Wish there was a megabus between Traverse City and Chicago!
Dining in Chicago – some new favorites
I discovered some more great places to eat in Chicago during my visit there last weekend. They include:
– Shaw’s Crab House. This bustling, old-fashioned place, serves a tasty one-pound Lobster Boil for $22 in a lively dining room with attentive waiters. There’s also a cool bar that’s good for lunch – and has live jazz at night (or at least the Sunday night we were there.) The soft-shell crab got good reviews too.
– Taza is a fast-foody Middle Eastern restaurant at 176 S. Franklin Street, a block south of the Chicago River (handy for designers attending the annual NeoCon show at the nearby Merchandise Mart – which I also visited, tagging along with my sister-in-law, who is a designer in NYC). A no-frills place with food shoveled into styrofoam-ware and served over the counter by cheerful men who are very generous with the free samples. The falafel was perfect – not too hard or soft or greasy. Also good chicken and turkey schwarma. Gyro meat and the lentil soup looked very good too.
– Brats at the Old Town Art Fair – served in a churchyard. Big juicy grilled. I ate it with a spicy topping of sauteed peppers and celery (that has an Italian-sounding name starting with a “g”) It was dubbed “mild” but had quite the kick.
A review: the Megabus from Chicago to Des Moines
I planned to blog from the road yesterday – specifically while cruising along Interstate 80 from Chicago to Des Moines in the Megabus but alas, the bus’s much-ballyhooed free WiFi was on the blink. The driver didn’t know why but said this happens occasionally. Otherwise, the bus ride was just fine – and for the $10 fare, better than fine. (Some people paid as little as $1 for the ride, a few others got two tix for $8 total. Fare comparisons dominated the chitchat amongst passengers. )
The bus departed on time (5 p.m.) from Chicago at the crowded Megabus stop just south of Union Station and Jackson Street, on Canal Street – and it arrived in Des Moines about 35 minutes late, which was no big deal. The bus was clean, the seats comfortable, the air not too cold or too hot. The driver was courteous and informative, taking the time to fill us in on bits and bobs, like the one scheduled pit-stop at a small gas station on I-80 near Davenport.
A few minor quibbles, some beyond Megabus’s control, that have more to do with the nature of cheap bus transportation in general. The bus stop in Chicago was somewhat chaotic, with a large crowd fanning out across half a block as a succession of buses pulled up – one bus going to St. Louis, another to somewhere-ville Ohio, another to Ann Arbor/Detroit and my bus to Iowa City/Des Moines. As one of the older passengers correctly noted, this open air bazaar – with no visible crowd control and no benches to sit on or lines to stand in – is relatively OK in pleasant weather, which we had yesterday early evening. But it might not be so OK when it’s raining or snowing or bitter cold.
Many passengers, as expected, were young people in their late teens and 20s some tattooed and pierced, some black-clad Goths with dusty white faces, two chic geeks, some inner city kids wearing droopy pants. Great people watching and reminded me of my lost-youth, riding the Magic Bus in Europe.
But on my bus there was also a large multi-generation Asian family with a pushy patriarch, a Mennonite woman, some middle-aged couples, a few moms with kids. I worried at first when the watery-eyed man in front of me took a sip from a liquor bottle inside a brown paper bag but he was well-behaved throughout. So was the little girl who sat on the lap of the teen-ager beside me. The rowdiest passengers were some women in their mid-30s who laughed and talked loudly, as if they riding their very own party bus after hitting the bars on Division Street (which come to think of it was probably where they had been.)
There were other annoying sounds and smells but that’s to be expected: a rattle-and-squeak from somewhere in the back of the bus near the bathroom, pulsating iPod musak from somewhere in the bus’ mid-section (the Ipod must have been cranked up to blow-your-eardrums-out volume), smells of fried chicken, McDonalds (from the pitstop in Davenport), a fully-loaded brat, and corned beef (my bad. I brought the sandwich with me from a Chicago deli.)
Next time, I’ll remember to fire up my Kindle – or at least bring the cord so I can plug it in. (There was an outlet below my window but my cord was in my suitcase in the bowels of the bus.) And I’ll remember to leave my novel out of my suitcase. I’ll also remember to fire up my phone (which was also losing juice.) Thank God my iPod was still working.
All told, it’s great to have a viable and inexpensive new option for getting to Iowa City and Chicago from here.
Filed under Adventure travel, bus service, Chicago, cost-saving travel, Des Moines
Old Town Art Fair – Chicago
I discovered a part of Chicago today that I thought I knew. Wrong. It’s Old Town – which I thought of primarily as Wells Street near North. But after wandering around the Wells Street Art Fair today, I discovered the Old Town Art Fair a little northwest – in a neighborhood I’d somehow missed all these years, around Menominee and Wisconsin. Beautiful residential area. Fun art fair too.
Filed under Chicago
TakeBetsywithyou 