We've been wanting to go to Chicago for some time now. Our friend Jason Palmer (an actor) has lived out there for many years. We hadn't seen Jason since our wedding four years ago, so just going to visit him was reason enough to make the trip. Then there is all of the other stuff that Chicago has to offer: Blues, cuisine, history, and a thriving international community. Our friend Tom had spent some time out there too, so I was curious about why Chicago was such a draw for artists.

I usually don't perform on our vacations, usually because the guitar is a liability and the gig monster (as Audra calls it) has the potential to rear its head. On this trip I thought I'd be missing out if I didn't play at least one show, so I set up a solo performance at Uncommon Ground, a well known coffee shop with a songwriter series.

Our travel arrangements through AAA included Amtrak for transportation. We could have gone by car, but we really wanted to try a train since it was one of the few forms of transportation we haven't used for long trips (next will be pack animal or a cruise).

We left from Harrisburg around 4:30 on 6/21. The train ride into Chicago was filled with numerous observations. As we passed through the station and boarded the train, I was immediately struck by the lack of security. During previous air travel experiences, I've been asked to open bags and take off my shoes. With Amtrak, there were no metal detectors, scanners, sniffer dogs or visible security personnel. This was disconcerting, and it's reason #1 we do not plan to take the train again. (Reason #2 is the 4-hour delay on the way home... read on).

When we first got on the train, Audra and I were not able to get seats next to each other, but instead were seated across from each other with the aisle between us. Audra was seated next to a non-conversational black man, while my seating partner was a more lively black lady named Rebecca. We were seated in this manner for the first few hours of the trip.

Rebecca was on her way to Dallas, TX but she was originally from Liberia. I mentioned the Sankofa conference that we attended and we talked about some of the story telling we were exposed to. One of those stories was about a greedy member of a community who wanted to attend two feasts at once. The topic of greed came up when Rebecca told me she left because of the greedy wars in Liberia.

Audra and I were eventually moved to another car where we could sit together. This car was filled with several Mennonites from Central PA. In fact, it appears to be at least one, maybe two whole families.

There were two guys sitting in front of us. They had been talking to each other, but you could tell they just met on the train and didn't really know each other. Gibson, the one with the backwards studded-leather baseball cap, saw my guitar and asked me what type it was. After a brief answer (Taylor), he seemed satisfied and went back to his other conversation. We could tell he had been drinking, so I was relieved when our exchange died out quickly. Gibson's buddy was Fender - I acquired their names simply from listening to their conversations. Neither one of them was carrying a guitar. I was not christened with a guitar-based nick name, but I guess I will dub myself Taylor.

Through additional listeneing, I learned that Gibson's other name was "The Demon", he was from NJ (which he hated) and that he was a Slayer fan. Along the way, we passed a sign that read "Atheist Nation - God is just pretend" to which The Demon said "Thank You!"

Our suspicions about Gibson's drinking were confirmed when he pulled a Smirnoff Ice from his backpack. Fender had also been drinking, but it appeared that he bought his on the train. Fender was a chef between jobs, just out of the military. I just looked on as Gibson the Demon used profuse amounts of profanity to tell his stories while the Mennonites just walked through the coordinors with smiles on their faces.