Coming from Montpelier, a "city" of 8,000 Vermonsters, Beloit's population of 35,000 is big by my standards. Still, life on campus is pretty quiet when you hold it up next to hubs like Chicago and Madison. Needless to say, campus during the summer is even quieter! I suppose our motivation for the trip was to see some people. Lots of people. As many people as we could find with our country mouse eyes. After a month on a campus without my social fix from Student Activities, visiting speakers, and my near, dear friends, I found campus too quiet for my taste. So, Michelle and I went to Chicago to be part of the crowd.
After a quick stop at the Farmers Market to pick up lunch supplies, we drove down to the train station in Harvard, Illinois to the peaceful sound of tires on Colley Road:
After two hours on the train and thirty minutes of walking the streets to the whiffs blues drifting up from the waterfront, we found ourselves smack in the middle of the hubbub:
The best thing about living in the Midwest (next to the fried cheese curds) is the ease of public transportation. It gives you cheap access to Milwaukee and Madison and the big city itself. There are few things as satisfying as an afternoon under the trees in Grant Park with a couple friends, a loaf of zucchini bread from the Beloit Farmers Market, and live blues! We found a couple great spots to sit throughout the day. Here is the view from where we sat behind the SoCo stand:
While relaxing in the shade was a wonderful break, things around here are only speeding up. I'm headed back into Chicago to visit a couple friends next weekend and then it's off to Vermont to visit my family and before long it's the fourth of July. The warm season for Midwestern adventuring has just begun...
- Julia
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