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My First Solo Trip To Chicago!

None of that Touristy Bullshit Here.

By Kendall AlexanderPublished 4 years ago 7 min read
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Dancing is Very Much My Life

In this post I am going to talk about my first solo trip to Chicago!! This is big for me because it was my first solo trip ever, but it will be the first of many solo trips because I had such great time! Okay, so to give you some context I was traveling to Chicago because I was accepted into a dance festival that was located there. I submitted my solo that I choreographed, and I was blessed to be able to perform it at the Trifecta Dance Festival. I treated this trip like a vacation so I’m going to tell you about all the events and activities I participated in. I traveled around the city using the train system, which is hella easy to navigate. I also rented an Airbnb in Lincoln Park for $348 for 5 days ( ya can’t beat that! especially I was procrastinated and rented it a week before the trip).

Bitch I'm on a Budget

My goal for this trip was to do as much free or low priced activities as possible, because honey I am on a forever budget! So my first night there I went to a Blues Bar called “Blue Chicago”. This place was a true “hole in the wall”, and it was perfect for solo travelers! The cover charge was $10 and the drinks were like $6 and up. I was excited to go to this bar because I’m a bit of an old soul who loves Blues music. After being there for about 2 min I couldn’t help but notice this couple in the front row, sloppily making out. Yes, it was gross. No, it didn’t look like it was enjoyable for either of them, yet they kept going. You would think that they would just sloppily make out at their table and call it a day, nooooooooo they brought it to the dance floor. No one was dancing btw, but they decided to escalate their make-out session into a dance that included grinding, touching, and a lot of tongue. I hope you are now disgusted as I was by the picture I painted for you. They were going on for so long that the man in front of me turned around and told me to take a sip of my drink for withstanding the site of the couple for so long. Also, in the same night the 65 year old bass player in the band that was playing was trying to hit on me after he finished his set. He told me he was a mailman and he wanted me to write a story about him so here is his cameo. Overall It was a good first night.

Whit Humor is Not Funny.

The next night I went to a comedy club. This was my first comedy club and again I was on a budget bitch so it was $10 to get in and $8 if you had a student ID. The venue was called “The Second City”, and it was a stand up comedy, open mic night type of thing. Not everyone was funny, but enough people were funny for me to feel like I got my monies worth. I don’t find white comedy very funny, and it still made me laugh. Do with want you want with that information.

Deja Vu

The next night I went to another Blues bar called “Kingston Mines”, to celebrate performing my solo that night. There I was at the bar chatting it up with the bar tender when I realized the band that was playing was the same exact band that played at the first bar I went to. I was minding my business having a good time when this old white man comes up to me asking if I was a dancer, and I said yes in a “who sent you type of way” , while look at him in a suspicious way (its a New York Thing). He then preceded to ask me if I wanted to dance, and I said “no”. What really irritated the fuck out of me was his response, which was “I’m a 60 year old white man, what do you have to be scared of?”……Sir, are you serious??? What do you I, as in a black women have to be scared of?? So of course I replied “You’re right, your kind has never given black people a reason to be scared”. He then walked away defeated with a scowl on his face. On of my favorite pastimes is checking old white folks

Cunty

The next night I was supposed to meet with my high school friend Edward after I watched a show in the festival. But he flaked last minute and I still didn’t want to go home because I looked cute bitch. So I decided to go to my first ever Drag Queen Show. The venue was called the “The Baton Show Lounge”, and the shows were everything you think a Drag Queen show is and then some. I can’t remember what the cover charge was, it could’ve been anywhere between $12-$17. You had to pay the cover charge and when you walked in you were required to buy 2 drinks. I bought the cheapest thing on the menu (because again, I’m on a budget bitch), which was wine. I didn’t know the Drag Queen Show ettitque at the time, but you basically treat it like a strip club when it comes to tipping the performers. Every performer does their song and you give them $1,$5, or $10 depending on how you’re feeling. So I had to get change but most people were giving $1-$3 to each performer so don’t worry about your bank breaking. If I could give all of my money I would, those performers were deserving of it. The host was 60 years old and still doing the damn thang okayyyyyy. When the first show was over the performers came down to the tables and started interacting and engaging with the audience. It was nice to know them and their story. They were all so beautiful and cunty, I loved the energy.

Team No Sleep

My last night there I finally met with my high school friend Edward (everyone calls him Ed, but I call him Eddie). We met in China Town for lunch and we ate Minghim at a dim sum restaurant. He then gave me a tour of his school, U Chicago, which is basically like a mini Ivy league school. While we were touring he was telling me about the obnoxious amount racism he goes through on campus. He also explained that the standards that U Chicago has for the students are so high that people either drop out or commit suicide. Eddie said that multiple student kills themselves each semester and the administration could care less. Also, the school feels like its designed for minorities to fail. Aside from the obvious atrocities we went a surprise party for one of his friends. All of this was very spontaneous, and while I don’t mind spontaneity I really had no idea where I was, who the people were going to be at the party, and how I was going to get home. I usually don’t have a good time meeting a lot of new people in one setting, but here it was actually really nice and his friends were super welcoming. I had such a good time, in fact that by the time I Uber'd my way home it was 3 am, which gave my 1 hour to pack, before I had to leave the Airbnb by 4:30 am to catch my flight. So I got absolutely no sleep but it was worth it.

Of course I did the touristy stuff too, like eat deep dish pizza, see the bean, and go to the Garfield Park Conservatory. My friend from college, Sam was an amazing tour guide. And my other friend Kari was able to fill be in about how things worked when she scooped me from the airport (Thank you girl!) But these are things that everyone does when they go to Chicago so I didn't feel like talking about it. Read about that shit somewhere else.

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