I can remember Sloppy Joes when I was a kid and loved them. Occasionally, they would appear on our school lunch menu and we all thought they were a special treat! It helps that the sandwich is popular with all ages. Even today, the Sloppy Joe is considered a budget-friendly and kid-friendly food.
Sloppy Joes became popular in the 1930s as a way for families to stretch their food a bit. Inexpensive cuts of meat combined with a tomato sauce and fillers like onion could feed a lot of people, especially when you served it on bread for a complete meal.
How they got the name is under debate. Some claim the name originated from either a bar in Havana, Cuba that was popular with Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s or a bar in Key West, Florida both named Sloppy Joes. Another guess it that they were often served in the 1930s by restaurants called “Sloppy Joes” and in turn the sandwiches were called the same. Others say its because the fact that the sandwiches are messy to eat as the reason for the name.
Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, Florida. (Photo from National Trust of Historic Preservation)
They may be messy but they are simple and delicious to make. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still look at them as a special treat.
Ingredients:
1 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup green pepper, minced
1/2 cup onion, minced (red onion preferred)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup ketchup
1 Tbls. tomato paste
1/3 cup water
1 Tbls. brown sugar
1 tsp. mustard
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Dash or two hot sauce, optional
Directions:
Heat butter and oil over medium or medium-high heat. Add beef. Cook until brown and crumbly, about 5-6 minutes. Drain beef, leaving a teaspoon or so of fat in skillet. Set beef aside.
In same skillet, with heat on medium, add onion and pepper, cook 2-3 minutes until it begins to soften, add garlic, cook 30 seconds.
Add beef back to pan with tomato paste, stir well. Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until it reaches desired thickness. Remove from heat. Serve on toasted buns.
Thanks to my niece Jennifer for supplying the recipe. I know what I’m serving for dinner tonight. Yum!
A group of professors held signs on the Georgia Tech campus as regents met to discuss changes to state tenure review. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
ATLANTA (GA Recorder) — Georgia’s tenured public college professors could soon face more scrutiny if they want to keep their titles, but some professors say planned changes to the state’s post-tenure review system will cause talented academics to look for jobs in other states.
A Georgia Board of Regents committee Tuesday unanimously approved changes to the way the state’s approximately 7,500 tenured professors are evaluated. The full board is set to vote Wednesday.
About 50 professors and allies waving signs protested outside the meeting, which was held on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, said they want the regents to leave the state’s tenure system alone.
Under the proposed changes, a faculty member who is found not to be meeting expectations in two subsequent annual reviews or a post-tenure review, which takes place every five years, will receive an improvement plan from their supervisors. If the professor does not meet the requirements of the plan, “the institution shall take appropriate remedial action corresponding to the seriousness and nature of the faculty member’s deficiencies.”
The university president will have the final say on that action, which could include “suspension of pay, salary reduction, revocation of tenure, and separation from employment.”
The changes also give the regents power to take over tenure decisions from a university if it determines they are not rigorous enough in their review process.
The changes are necessary to update language that was written 25 years ago and to promote faculty career development, said the university system’s Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Tristan Denley.
Former Chancellor Steve Wrigley created a working group to reexamine the tenure rules last September, Denley said.
“What’s clear from the work of the working group was that we really needed to create a process which was much more effective at being able to build faculty careers across a lifetime,” he said. “But the process was, I think, generally considered to be sort of onerous, time-consuming with really very little benefit. And so creating a new, clear process that really enabled institutions to provide the support that faculty need across their careers was an extraordinarily important piece.”
The process included comments from over 900 faculty members, Denley said, and the university system has also incorporated public feedback since the changes were introduced.
Language that seemed to allow for professors to be terminated without cause was struck, Denley said, and language stating that faculty would have a say in creating an institution’s policy and be a part of the process for reviewing professors who are being considered for punishment.
The version of the revisions the regents will vote on will explicitly state that faculty will play a role in creating the policy and judging their peers, said Regent Erin Hames.
“Our committee today and the full board will vote on these proposed policy changes, but then there’s much work to be done at the campus level that will be part of that shared governance structure and faculty will be involved in terms of individual procedures on each campus,” she said.
Tensions have been high this semester between professors and system leaders as some teachers want to require masks in their classrooms, but the state will not allow them to do anything more than strongly encourage them.
Tuesday’s protesters represented at least eight schools, including private universities that would not be affected by the regents’ decision, said Kennesaw State University associate professor of conflict management Heather Pincock.
For Pincock, changing the system will make Georgia’s schools less attractive to job-hunting researchers, who may decide they could work in other states without as much oversight.
“The key thing here is that by weakening (tenure), it discourages talented faculty from coming to work here in the public system in Georgia because it will mean they may not be able to research the things they want, they may not be able to pursue the research agenda they want,” she said. “That means faculty with great research and grant money are going to leave, they’re going to not accept jobs here. That is going to hurt the reputation of the universities in Georgia.”
Kennesaw State American studies professor Rebecca Hill said she’s worried that giving the unelected regents the final say on tenure would open the process up to politics. Georgia governors appoint the members of the Board of Regents.
“The Board of Regents, who are not academic experts, are not classroom teachers, are trying to create a rule which would allow them to supplant the people who are experts in reviewing faculty, to allow them to say, ‘Oh, your review wasn’t rigorous enough, so we’re going to review you instead.’ So if the BOR doesn’t believe climate change is real, then they could say, ‘Well, we don’t think your review is rigorous enough, even though the scientists in that person’s department said this person doing research on climate change is doing good work,” she said. “That’s the level of politicization of the decisions that this proposed change could make happen.”
Carol Ann Epperson, age 79, of Cornelia, Georgia went to her heavenly home on Monday, October 11, 2021.
Ms. Epperson was born on October 17, 1941, in Anderson County, South Carolina to the late Walter L. and Elizabeth Stallings Epperson. She was a member of Cornelia United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, was head of UMW and was also very active in many other aspects of the church.. Ms. Epperson was retired from the Habersham Board of Education with 36 years of dedicated service at Cornelia Elementary; she was named Habersham County Teacher of the Year in 1986. Although Ms. Epperson did not have any children of her own, she considered her students to be her children and loved each and every one of them. She also had membership with Cornelia 3 Arts Club, Alpha Delta Kappa International Teacher’s Sorority, Delta Kappa Gamma International Teacher’s Sorority, The Torch Club: Piedmont College, AARP, and the Eastern Star.
Survivors include her sisters and brothers-in-law, Jo and Doug Walter, of Cornelia; Debbie and Jerry Burrell, of Mt. Airy; nieces, Tara Walter Brookshire and Kevin, of Clarkesville; Wendi Burrell Woods and Ray, of Cornelia; nephew, Brad Walter and Amy, of Stuarts Draft, VA; great-nieces, Ava Brookshire, Audrey Walter, Megan Walter, Tyler Woods; great-nephews, Seth Walter, Jacob Woods, and Jameson Brookshire.
Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Friday, October 15, 2021, at the Cornelia United Methodist Church with Pastor Ben Wilcox officiating. Interment will follow in Yonah Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., October 15, 2021, at Whitfield Funeral Home, North Chapel.
Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made in Ms. Carol’s memory to the Cornelia United Methodist Church 275 Wyly Street, Cornelia, Georgia 30531.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, North Chapel at 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Telephone: 706-778-1700.
Rev. Russell (Russ) Talmadge Barker, age 89 passed away Monday, October 11, 2021. He was born September 17, 1932, in Norcross, Georgia, and passed away in Columbus, Georgia. He grew up in the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home now located in Palmetto, Georgia, attended Mercer University and graduated from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He served as a Hospital Corpsman in the U. S. Navy and was active duty in the Korean War.
Russ was ordained to the ministry on January 7, 1962. He pastored Dover Baptist Church while attending seminary followed by Altizer Baptist Church in Huntington. West Virginia. Russ and Earline returned to the Atlanta area in 1968 where he pastored Bouldercrest Baptist Church for 14 years. He then became the Director of Missions for the Atlanta Baptist Association and retired in 1999. After retirement, they relocated to Habersham County where Russ served as interim pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church and subsequently pastored Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Demorest until his retirement in 2016.
Russ is predeceased by Earline Boles Barker, his wife of 52 years.
Russ is survived by his wife Susan Bowles Barker. He is survived by his three daughters Sheri Wreen of Snellville, Georgia, Lisa (Art) Ridgway of Melbourne, Florida and Cathy (Ron) Swenson of Dawsonville, Georgia. He has 4 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, please do an act of kindness for someone in need in Russ’ memory or memorial donations may be made to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, 505 Water Works Rd., Palmetto, GA 30268, or to a church or charity of your choice.
Due to Covid, a private graveside service will be held in Hillside Gardens Cemetery. The service will be livestreamed to the Hillside Memorial Chapel & Gardens Facebook page.
Police Chief Josh Ivey (left) awards Corporal Michael Tanksley (right) with the "Officer of the Year" award for the Alto Police Department. (Alto Police Department)
The Alto Police Department is mourning the loss of Corporal Michael Tanksley, who is remembered as an excellent officer, dependable friend and loving father of two.
“He was just one of those people that no matter who you were, all you had to do was ask, and he’d be there,” Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey says.
Tanksley and his son, Wyatt, shared a special bond and wonderful memories at the Alto Police Department. (Photo courtesy Josh Ivey)
Corporal Tanksley, who turned 40 just last week, had over twenty years of law enforcement experience and had been with the Alto Police Department for over 2 years preceding his death on Friday. Tanksley passed away due to COVID-19 complications after contracting the disease in the line of duty.
Tanksley was the Alto Police Department Officer of the Year in 2019, as well as held awards for speed enforcement and seatbelt and car seat protection, which he was particularly passionate about. Ivey says he enjoyed working with families to show them how to properly install car seats and share the importance of making sure it was done right.
Tanksley was the father of two, his son Wyatt and daughter Maci, whom he loved deeply. Ivey says some of his favorite days at the police department were those that Tanksley would bring Wyatt to work.
“He would come by here on his off days and bring Wyatt,” Ivey says. “And Wyatt would sit in that chair [in Ivey’s office] and he eat candy out of the jar.”
Alto Police Cheif Josh Ivey wears a mourning band over his badge in memory of Tanksley, who was more than an employee, he was a friend. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
He says sending Wyatt home with his dad after they’d spent time together, full of sugar and with his pockets full of candy, always made them laugh. He says he treasures those memories and those days are one of the things he’ll miss the most.
“His family said ‘to know him was to love him,'” said Ivey. “[Over] the last couple of days, I’ve realized that. He was my employee, but he was my friend.”
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the Whitfield Funeral Home South Chapel. Interment will follow in the Yonah Memorial Gardens with Honors by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard and Masonic Rites by Clarkesville Masonic Lodge No. 325 F & AM.
A livestream of the service will also be available on the funeral home’s Facebook page.
A two-vehicle wreck Monday evening near Turnerville claimed the life of a Clarkesville woman. 69-year-old Elizabeth Ann Peterson was fatally injured in the crash just after 5 p.m. at the intersection of Tom Born Road and U.S. 441/GA 15.
Peterson was driving a Honda CR-V west on Tom Born Road when she failed to yield after stopping at the intersection, the Georgia State Patrol says. She pulled into the path of an F-250 traveling north on U.S. 441/GA 15.
The pickup, driven by Eric Douglas, 44, of Franklin, North Carolina, struck the Honda on the driver’s side.
“Both vehicles traveled North on GA 15 before leaving the shoulder and striking the guardrail,” the accident report states.
Peterson was trapped inside her vehicle and had to be extricated, according to Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black. EMS transported her by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, where she died about an hour later from her injuries.
Baldwin Assistant Fire Chief Shaun Benfield discusses upgrades to the city's fire training facility during the city council meeting on Oct. 11, 2021. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
The City of Baldwin has given the green light for a new firefighter training facility in the city. In a unanimous vote at their Oct. 11 Baldwin City Council meeting, the council voted to bring upgrades to the city’s training grounds to create a high-quality training facility to prepare firefighters for high-stakes scenarios.
Baldwin Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Shaun Benfield went over the training facility with the council, which will include upgraded training equipment and activities. The facility will include training for ladder rescues, vehicle fires, confined space rescues, flammable liquids and more.
The new training facility will allow Baldwin firefighters the opportunity to train closer to home and will be available to other fire departments, too. The city will allow other municipalities and counties usage of the training facility.
The city once hosted weekend-long training for firefighters, Benfield says, and he hopes that updates to the training facilities will bring back some of the unity firefighters felt during those days.
“I am so pleased that this would provide an opportunity for training for other agencies surrounding us,” Councilwoman Alice Venter said. “I love that Baldwin will be the place they come to and will be known again for our training facilities.”
The closest training facility with the resources the Baldwin Fire Department’s training facility will offer is in Dawson County, about 50 miles away from Habersham County.
The council is excited to support their public safety departments’ growing needs, as well as share their departments’ hard work with their community.
“[We are] showing citizens and young people that these are honorable, noble, important professions in our community,” Councilwoman Stephanie Almagno said. “You are the first responders, you are the heroes, you run into things that I would run away from. If we can show Baldwin, and we could show young people […] that this is a viable employment route for them.”
The training facility upgrades will cost $23,000, which will be funded by fine revenue from the city’s speed zone outside Baldwin Elementary School.
Workers sort through ballots in Fulton County's election warehouse during the 2020 election cycle. (Stephen Fowler/ GPB News)
Georgia election officials continue to pour cold water on claims of fraudulent ballots in the 2020 election after investigators failed to find “pristine” counterfeit absentee ballots that were allegedly counted in Fulton County.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office reported results of the investigation in a court document filed late Tuesday in a case that seeks to inspect Fulton’s 147,000 absentee ballots to find proof of fake votes.
“Based upon interviews with the foregoing witnesses, as well as other witnesses who were interviewed during the course of the investigation, and in the inspection of approximately 1,000 absentee ballots and ballot images, the Secretary’s investigators have been unable to substantiate the allegations that fraudulent or counterfeit ballots were counted,” the filing read.
Investigators looked into claims made by Suzi Voyles, who worked the county’s risk-limiting audit and claimed to see a batch of “pristine” ballots that looked suspicious. Voyles is now running for Congress as a Republican in the 6th Congressional District.
After interviewing Voyles two separate times, investigators checked several batches of absentee ballots that she claimed were marked by computer instead of by hand. But they found no irregularities or any ballots that appeared to be counterfeits.
The court filing also found no evidence to corroborate claims that workers at State Farm Arena counted fraudulent ballots that were hidden under a table or that they scanned the ballots multiple times.
Investigators reviewed security footage that showed a ballot bin placed under a table earlier in the day before being removed and counted later that night. This particular false claim was most prominently made by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in a December 2020 committee hearing and has been repeated by many Republican lawmakers through the present day.
Lawyers for the state also explain that claims of ballots being scanned multiple times is a function of the scanning process.
“Witnesses told investigators that the ballot scanners were frequently jamming, requiring them to make multiple attempts to clearly scan all of the ballots in each batch,” the filing reads. “In order to tabulate the ballots, the scanners must first get a clear scan of the entire batch of ballots. Scanning is simply one step in the tabulation process.”
Judge Brian Amero asked for an update about the investigation into certain claims as part of an ongoing lawsuit, filed by election conspiracist Garland Favorito of VoterGA, that seeks to prove that Fulton’s thrice-counted ballots include counterfeits.
Favorito recently spoke at a rally, put on by former President Donald Trump, that included numerous speakers falsely claiming that Trump won the 2020 election.
At the rally, he cited affidavits and claims made in the lawsuit against Fulton’s election board members that have now been disproven by state election investigators and falsely called the proposed inspection an “audit” of the votes.
Favorito is also suing to attempt to ban Georgia from using its current configuration of Dominion Voting Systems machines that print ballots with QR codes in future elections.
The plaintiffs are seeking a long-shot strategy to only dismiss the Democratic election board members being sued to allow the inspection to move forward since Fulton’s two GOP board members do not oppose the review.
A hearing is scheduled for November in the case.
This story appears on Now Habersham through a reporting partnership with GPB News
Early voting for the Habersham County Municipal General and Special election has begun, and election day isn’t too far off. The ballot will cover the election of city council and commission seats, the election of a new Habersham County Commissioner and a city-by-city package sale of distilled spirits referendum.
The referendum, if passed in a municipality, would allow municipalities to issue licenses for the sale of distilled spirits, such as brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka and whiskey.
Important voting dates and times
Mail-in early and absentee voting begins today and the last day voters can request an absentee ballot by mail is October 22. The dropbox for absentee by-mail ballots is located inside the Elections & Voter Registration Office.
Early, advance and Saturday voting will only be held at the Habersham North Voting Precinct, located at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center. Early voting begins Oct. 12 and goes through Oct. 22, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Saturday voting will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 16 and Oct. 23.
Advance voting begins Oct. 25 and goes through Oct. 29, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Election day is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2.
Voting locations:
*Habersham North Precinct (City of Clarkesville Precinct)
Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center
120 Paul Franklin Road, Toccoa Hwy
Clarkesville, Ga 30523
706-839-0234
Habersham South Precinct (City of Cornelia Precinct)
Cornelia Community House (TEMPORARY LOCATION)
601 Wyly Street
Cornelia, Ga. 30523
706-778-8585
Demorest Precinct (City of Demorest Precinct)
Concord Baptist Church
250 Alabama Street (old Demorest Elementary Cafeteria)
Demorest, Ga 30535
678-936-9664
Town of Mount Airy (CITY VOTERS ONLY)
City Hall, Old Schoolhouse
1231 Dicks Hill Parkway
Mount Airy, Ga 30563
706-778-6990
City of Baldwin Precinct (CITY VOTERS ONLY)
City Hall, (Old Habersham Bank)
186 Highway 441 By-Pass
Baldwin, Ga 30511
706-776-5256
Mud Creek Precinct (Town of Alto Precinct)
B. C. Grant Baptist Church
1405 B. C. Grant Rd (fellowship hall)
Alto, Ga 30510
706-778-5703
Amy’s Creek Precinct
Amy’s Creek Fire Department
6357 State Hwy. 17
Clarkesville, Ga. 30523
706-754-5913
*The Habersham North Precinct will be the only precinct offering early voting.
A federal judge in Atlanta on Tuesday sentenced former Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck to over 7 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen handed down the 87-month sentence after a jury convicted Beck in July on 37 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud.
Beck was indicted months after being elected to statewide office in 2019. Prosecutors accused him of masterminding a scheme to steal more than $2.5 million from the Georgia Underwriting Association. Beck managed the state-chartered private insurer for years before taking office.
In July, an eight-day trial ended with jurors convicting Beck on 37 counts after less than two hours of deliberation.
Beck was suspended from office in 2019 and automatically removed upon his conviction. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed John King to run the office and the Republican is seeking a full term in 2022.
The Habersham Chamber of Commerce has named its 2022 board of directors and appointed Harold Pickett, Georgia Power Superintendent as chairman.
In addition, seven local business and community leaders have been elected to serve alongside the existing board.
“The incoming board consists of the most diverse collection of talented individuals and industries from throughout the region,” explains Chamber President, Mary Beth Horton. “This is especially important because we must have a team that represents everyone within our community in order to achieve the vision for what we aspire to be as a business community.”
Executive committee members are Harold Pickett, Georgia Power Company- Chairman; Kelly Woodall, Tallulah Falls School- Past Chairman; Joey Duncan, Duncan & Kitchens, LLC -Treasurer; Clayton Foster – WCON, Habersham Broadcasting – Chairman-Elect; Tim Ash, United Community Bank, Chairman- Elect Designee
Returning Board members include MaLisa McOmber, Southern Seasons Inn; Perry Rettig, Piedmont University; Kesha Clinkscale, Habersham Medical Center; Randy Brooks, The Orchard Golf & Country Club; and Jim Weidner, Oliver & Weidner.
New Board members include Lauren Anderson, Anderson Carpet One; Leslie Foster, North Georgia Technical College; and Tommy Thurmond, Habersham EMC. Those elected to serve a second term include Trudy Crunkleton, City of Clarkesville, Clayton Franklin, Fieldale Farms, Jessie Owensby, City of Cornelia and Guy Ramos, Headwaters Realty.
Esteemed critic Roger Ebert wrote in a review for the Chicago Sun-Times that the film, Sleepless in Seattle was “as ephemeral as a talk show, as contrived as the late show, and yet so warm and gentle I smiled the whole way through.”
He could have just as easily been describing his hometown of Chicago. It’s all that and so much more.
I’ve been there twice. The first time with my son during his senior year of high school for spring break. Most of his friends opted for Panama City, Florida, THE spring break destination for students in Georgia. But my son, Robert, longed to visit Chicago and Pier Park, experience the skyscraper architecture, home of House Music, and deep-dish pizza.
As a student of film, in high school and later as his major at Georgia State, that visit was perfect timing. Right outside our hotel, they were filming Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Many of the scenes were shot across the street near the Trump Tower and, yes, we caught a glimpse of Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and director Michael Bay.
Eleven years later I returned to visit my son who now calls Chicago home.
Proud Mama moment
Let me set the stage for you. Robert is my #1 son and only child. Engrossed in my television career, I did not have him until I was 35. Had I known that being a mom was the most incredible experience in the world, I would have done it sooner and had more than one child. However, I think God knew what he was doing for our family.
Robert is working with a therapist at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital to navigate his first set of prosthetics.
When Robert was five years old, he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. He went to bed one night and literally woke up the next morning dying. He was in pediatric intensive care for two weeks and two months later had to have both feet amputated, one just above the ankle and the other just below the knee.
Not only did Robert survive, he has thrived despite a lifetime of challenges including proper prosthetic fit, constantly growing and changing prosthetics the way most kids outgrow shoes, mobility challenges resulting in weight gain, insurance nightmares, and on and on.
Today, he has a great job directing videos with doctors around the world regarding various medical technology and advances. Robert has excelled and is my proudest achievement!
Robert and his Dad for the move back to Chicago June 2021.
I was supposed to accompany him and my husband to move him to Chicago in late June but our beloved dog got very sick and I ended up staying home to care for her.
I was sad to miss that trip because I had looked forward to it for months.
Our overdue visit in early October was wonderful to say the least and I smiled the whole way through.
A little history
Chicago is a great city to visit. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live there, especially in the long winter months. The cold weather suits Robert perfectly. As a double amputee, basically wearing two sets of legs between the inner and outer sleeves, the chill is welcomed.
The Fort Dearborn monument near the Chicago River on Michigan Avenue.
The history of the city is fairly amazing. I love the architecture, the old and the new, which provide an aesthetically pleasing view. Chicago is home to the world’s first skyscraper and the Willis Tower, commonly known as the Sears Tower, one of the world’s tallest structures. There is a monument near the Chicago River to commemorate Fort Dearborn, in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed during the War of 1812 but the monument is now a Chicago landmark.
Later, Chicago would rise from the ashes following the great fire of 1871 which destroyed a third of the city and left more than 100,000 homeless, thus the nickname Second City.
Chicago is the third largest city in the U.S. and is home to an estimated 2.7M residents.
Chicago’s motto, “city in a garden,” was adopted in the 1830s and alludes to the city’s impressive and historic park system.
The downtown area is known as “The Loop,” which refers to the area encircled by the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) elevated (‘L’) train tracks and operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system. On an average weekday, 1.6M rides are taken on the CTA.
Chicago is known as the United States railroad capital, with more major railroads serving the city than any other place in America.
Approximately 60 museums, nearly 200 art galleries, and 20 neighborhood art centers and more than 250 theatres, 225 music venues, and 200 dance companies are located in Chicago.
Chicago can boast of the first automobile race, Wrigley Field, which is the second oldest ballpark, the first planetarium, the first Ferris wheel, and the home of the brownie, the Twinkie, and deep dish pizza. How about that!
It’s also home to the world’s largest Starbucks, five floors that include a rooftop lounge.
A sensory overload
The sights, the sounds, and the flavors of Chicago might be more than you want to take in. It’s loud. It’s beautiful. It’s delicious. I grew up most of my life in the country but I appreciate all that this vibrant city has to offer.
You could eat your way through Chicago and never gain a pound. In spite of one of the best transportation systems of any large city in America, there is a lot of walking to be done. We walked almost two miles each day but I didn’t complain. If my son could do it as a double amputee, I was determined to keep up.
I kept thinking of Frank Sinatra singing about this amazing city: “Chicago, Chicago I will show you around. Bet your bottom dollar you have some fun in Chicago.”
Snapshots from Chicago
1 of 7
The mix of old and new architecture is breathtaking in the ever changing skyline.
Andy's Jazz Club was on my wish list and the music did not disappoint.
The city provides lawn chairs for visitors to sit a spell and admire the Chicago River.
The massive, mirrored Trump Tower reflects some of the surrounding skyscrapers.
Robert on the Riverwalk.
The sun set was captured on a riverboat cruise.
Uno's was the first deep dish pizzeria in Chicago.
“It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago—she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.” —Mark Twain, author and humorist
After five days of soaking in the sights, sounds, and flavor of this magical city, I was ready to head home to Georgia. I plan to return in the spring and can hardly wait for the Chicago I will see then. Thanks to my son, Robert, for being the best tour guide ever. I’m still smiling!
Thanks to my niece Jennifer for supplying the recipe. I know what I’m serving for dinner tonight. Yum!
