Signs - Words of Advice from Whom, Exactly?

Saw this sign at a gas station recently. Made me chuckle. My husband was NEVER one to bestow gifts upon me. Funny, I knew this from the get go; yet I STILL married him. Hmmmm......

For more interesting signs, visit Lesley here.

A Beautiful Day to go Sailing

Have you ever heard of "Groupon"? Where you sign up (it's free) and you get coupons and discounts to activities and services near your area? Well, I signed up (while we were in the Chicagoland area!) and bought two tickets at $15 a pop (normally $30 each) to ride the Tall Ship Windy. She docks at Navy Pier in downtown Chicago.

We kept postponing the trip due to either weather or my back/hip issues, but FINALLY all was right with the world, the planets were all aligned, etc, and we went last week.

Since our campground is really in the boondocks, we had to DRIVE 20 miles to the nearest Metra train station. It took us just about AN HOUR due to construction and traffic and we made it with about two minutes two spare. I just about caught my breath when we heard the whistle of the approaching train.

One hour 45 minutes later (I TOLD you we were in the boondocks!) we arrived at Ogilvie Station in Chicago. A short bus ride later and we were at Navy Pier.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day; sunny, warm with temperatures in the low 80's, and a slight breeze. Chicago public schools were back in session and since we were there on a weekday, there was hardly anyone around.

When Navy Pier first opened, there was only one or two ships available for touring. Things have changed immensely. Now ships were lined up all along the pier. We had to walk about 3/4's the way down before we saw the tall masts of Windy.

Windy

Before boarding the ship, we were given general safety instructions. Then we were told that there would be three sections on the ship: if we sat by the stern (back) we would heard about the history of the architecture of Chicago; the people in the middle of the boat would hear pirate stories; and the aft (front) would not have to hear anything. We opted for the architectural stories.

I was a little nervous because, you may remember, I am afraid of water. I was hoping that it wouldn't be a rough ride and I'd be puking over the side of the ship. I ran down to use the "head" as they call it on a ship. Here's the bartender at the ready, although it was only 10:30 am! I guess it's 5 o'clock SOMEWHERE, right?

Here is our guide. I got a kick out of his belt buckle!

He offered to take a photo of me. Not the greatest one of me with the wind blowing my hair, but I love the background with the Chicago skyline.

You may wonder if I was flying solo. Uh, no. Unbeknownst to me (while I was in the bathroom!), Jim volunteered to hoist the sails! He was in his glory! (Jim in his hat and suspenders, as usual!)

Sails catching the wind

Mural on the ship

Yikes! Our crazy guide hanging on the ropes while telling us a story!

O'Captain(s), my Captain(s)

Some of the views from the ship.

End of Navy Pier

Navy Pier from the ship

Another tour boat passing by

Tallest building on the right - the new Trump Tower

It hardly seems worth it to take this fast boat out on the water with such few passengers!

This is a close-up as we are approaching the pier. That tall black structure with the white trim is the John Hancock building. You can see the 150-foot Ferris wheel. Tickets are $6 to ride. You only go around once, but the ride takes 7 minutes! There are 40 gondolas that hold up to 6 people each. The views are spectacular of the Chicago Skyline and Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, we didn't take a ride this day, as we have done so a couple times before.

More sights from Chicago to come! Stay tuned!

"C" stands for Cemetery, Chicago, and Capone - Part 2

To read Part 1 of this post, click here.

Continuing my post about Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, IL, and that it is filled with gangsters (24), religious figures (7) and baseball players (3), here is the beautiful Bishop's Hall, where five archbishops and two bishops of Chicago are buried.

side view

front view

Back to the gangsters.

From 1921-1925 a part of Chicago called "Little Italy" was run by a Sicilian Mob - The Genna Brothers, known as "The Terrible Gennas". There were six of them:  Angelo "Bloody Angelo", Antonio "The Gentleman", Mike "The Devil", Peter, Sam, and Vincenzo "Jim". (I like how many of the gangsters had nicknames!)

Angelo "Bloody Angelo"

Antonio (Tony) "The Gentleman"

Vincenzo "Jim"

Mike "The Devil"

Peter

Sam

The Genna gang was involved in bootlegging and were selling their alcohol outside of their territory for cheaper prices. This pissed off the Irish gang (of course!) Dion O'Banion, the Irish gang leader, went to the head of the Unione Siciliana, Mike Merlo, and John "Johnny the Fox" Torrio, head of the Chicago Outfit, to get them to stop the Genna's from doing this. John Torrio refused. This pissed of O'Banion even more. His gang started hijacking the Genna brothers shipments of whiskey. This was a big NO-NO.

John Torrio ordered the Gennas to murder O'Banion, and so it was to be. November 10, 1924 was the last day O'Banion walked on this earth. After his murder, all hell broke loose and started a five year gang war.

What I find ironic is that many of these gangsters who were enemies are all buried at the same cemetery!

This is the Genna family mausoleum.

A close up of the door. Notice the Italian flag!

I peeked in the window and took a picture of the beautiful stained glass window along the back of the mausoleum.

This is the O'Banion family grave site. These photos are from www.findagrave.com

Newspapers gave him the name of "Dion", but his real name was Dean.

On the way home from our big cemetery visit, my sisters and I stopped at one of our favorite hot dog joints, now famous for being named "BEST HOT DOG IN THE COUNTRY" (listed in Rachel Ray's magazine March 2010). We just know that we've been going there most of our lives, especially during our high school years, because it was not too far away from our school!

Hot dog with everything!

You will not find ketchup here.....in fact there is none available in the store! Customers have to go to the local McDonald's if they want ketchup!


SIDE NOTES:

We have moved locations and are now in central IL. The wi-fi here is very iffy. I can spend up to 8 hours trying to comment on blogs AND post on my blog. It is VERY frustrating! So just know that I am reading your posts, but may not comment as often as I like because I CAN'T!!

I stumbled across a "Cemetery Tour" of the two cemeteries I have spoken about - Mt. Carmel and Queen of Heaven. It will be on 10/1/11. I have made reservations for four: my daughter and I will drive up (about 2 hours) and my sister and aunt will meet us there. We will actually get to go inside Bishop's Hall (not open to the public), and see some other graves. The tour includes breakfast and lunch. Then the four of us plan to go BACK to the cemeteries and do our own exploring. I can't wait!

Sunday Bridges - Little Stone Bridge

Little stone bridge found in a fancy-shmancy subdivision filled with Mcmansions. I don't think my "candominium" (a.k.a. fifth wheel) would fit in here!

For more bridges, visit Louis!

"C" stands for Cemetery, Chicago, and Capone

Last Sunday two of my sisters, Pam and Linda, and I, picked up our last remaining aunt, Aunt Lee, and went to visit our relatives graves. It wasn't so gruesome, really. I've mentioned before my love of cemeteries. Some of our relatives are buried in a couple of old, fabulous ones - Queen of Heaven and Mount Carmel, both located in Hillside, Illinois.

They are filled with very ornate and beautiful tombstones. I could have spent a whole day there wandering around but since we had our aunt with us, I only got a chance to grab a few photos.

Here are some large crosses that caught my eye. Enlarge the photos to see the details.

 

This cross TOWERED above all the rest of the grave sites; I imagine that it was about 10 feet tall at least. My aunt said that the family had owned a funeral parlor, so they could afford such a large stone!

Another beautiful stone.

We first went to my grandparent's grave. My Aunt Doris is buried alongside them.

After some searching, we found my Great Grandfather's grave. It was leaning forward a bit, but otherwise, no worse for wear. Although my aunt SWEARS up and down that the grave stone was smaller and had been moved. She even felt that it really wasn't his! Pam reassured her that the date of death on the stone was the same as our great grandfather's.

We visited one other grave site of relatives, which, ironically, again my aunt had said was moved. I took pictures of all the graves for my siblings and me.

When we went across the street to Queen of Heaven Cemetery to see my Aunt Nell and Uncle Tom's grave site, Aunt Lee told us that they had been buried to the right of the St. Thomas statue.

So Linda and I got out of the car and began to search for their graves. We walked up and down the aisles searching. It was very warm that day, and the sun was beating down on us. We could NOT find their graves. Linda gave up and went back to the car. I continued to search. Pam got out of the car and searched to the left of the statue and immediately found their graves.

Aunt Lee said (you guessed it), that the statue had been moved! My sisters and I had a good laugh about that!

But back to Mt. Carmel cemetery.

I had recently stumbled upon a great website, quite by accident, called www.findagrave.com. You can find if and where a person is buried in a particular cemetery anywhere in the world, and the part I really like is, if there are any famous people at that cemetery. This is going to be my newest quest: To take pictures of famous people's graves. Odd, no? Illinois actually has some famous people buried here, like John Belushi, Michael Todd, Burl Ives, just to name a few.

I knew we were going to Mount Carmel so I looked to see if anyone famous was buried there.

Lots of gangsters. (24)

Religious figures.(7)

Baseball players.(3)

What a combination!

The most famous gangster, of course, is Al Capone. This is the family monument.

Surprisingly, Al Capone's grave stone was small. People constantly visit his grave and leave coins, cigars, flowers or even a bottle of alcohol. There was only a penny on his grave when I took this photo.

      You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.  - 
                                                          AL CAPONE


Capone was crime boss of the Chicago Outfit, which made their money smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and through prostitution. Capone was quoted as saying, "When I sell liquor, it's called bootlegging; when my patrons serve it on Lake Shore Drive, it's called hospitality."  Although he engaged in illegal activities, he also contributed a lot of money to charitable organizations and was considered a modern day Robin Hood. His reputation with the public tarnished after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and after the photos were made public of the seven victims (from the rival Bugs Moran gang) that were slaughtered.

Ironically, Bugs Moran was late for the meeting with his gang members and escaped being killed. He was quoted as saying, "This looks like Al Capone's work." Although Capone wasn't charged for the murders,the FBI was brought in, and the now famous Agent Elliot Ness. Capone was later charged with tax evasion and sentenced to federal prison for 11 years, most of which he served at Alcatraz. 

Official mugshot

Alcatraz

 

Did you know that Al Capone claimed to be haunted by a ghost? Although Capone was responsible for the deaths of over 500 people, only one of them, James Clark, brother-in-law to Bugs Moran, AND a victim of the St. Valentine's Massacre haunted him from 1929 to his death. In 1931 Mr. Capone even hired a psychic to try to get rid of the ghost, but to no avail. His bodyguards would hear Capone talking to someone in the room and bust the door open, just to find him all alone.

Ralph, older brother of Al, was known as "Bottles" Capone because he lobbied the Illinois Legislature to put into law that milk bottling companies had to stamp the date that the milk was bottled on the bottle.

Ralph was placed in charge of the Chicago Outfit's bottling plants during Prohibition. The Outfit was attempting to monopolize non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks (specifically ginger ale and soda water, commonly used in mixed drinks) during this period when the sale of alcohol was banned. Ralph Capone made large profits for the Outfit and became the dominant soft drink vendor other than Coca-Cola during the 1933 World's Fair. In April 1930, the elder Capone was included in Frank J. Loesch's Chicago Crime Commission "Public Enemies" list. He was Public Enemy #3. His older brother Al, was Public Enemy #1. (Wikipedia)

Salvatore, a.k.a. "Frank", older brother of Al, and a member of Capone's gang. Was killed by police officers near a polling place on election day, April 2, 1924, where he had been intimidating voters who were opposed to the party that was backed by the Capone mob.

Youngest sibling and only sister to Al, named after an Italian princess.

My great Uncle Tony worked for Al Capone as a bodyguard; but many people worked for Capone back in the day.

TO BE CONTINUED