from under his feathers: eight days in chi-town (photo journal)

Hey friends.

Well, we're back. We drove home all day Monday - left Chicago around 7AM Central time and arrived home at 8PM Eastern time... so I guess it was a 12 hour drive, including about three stops or so. The kids were agreeable and well behaved, and the weather was perfect. The drive couldn't have gone more smoothly. Kentucky and Tennessee are just breathtaking to drive through.

Each day of our trip went something like this: wake up, feed and dress the kids and then ourselves, load up into three cars in Palos Park (Pookie and Scott's house) and drive 30 minutes to La Grange Park to work in The House* all day until about 6PM when we call it a day, load up again, go out to eat somewhere and try to beat the kids' meltdowns, drive back to Palos Park, rush to get the kids in bed, sit on the couch, watch TV and pass out. Repeat that process about seven times and that was our trip.

*The House was built by Jason's grandfather (he passed away in his forties in 1966). Jason's mother grew up in The House. His grandmother lived in The House until Jason and his mom moved her (or rather, sneaked her) down to Georgia where she lived for the last eleven months of her life. She passed away four years ago today - April 11th, 2008. She was buried on April 17th, 2008, three years to the day that her second husband of forty or so years, Jason's Poppy, passed away. La Grange Park was only carved by dirt roads when The House was built. It was one of the first built by Jason's grandfather, Jerome Chrastek, who later became a successful commercial and residential real estate developer in the Chicagoland area... the son and daughter of immigrants from what is now the Czech Republic, Jason's grandparents were full blooded Czech and their life here was the quintessential picture of the American Dream fulfilled... Jason's grandfather fought at Okinawa in WWII, went to Purdue on the GI Bill and became an engineer, and as a a result of his successes in real estate development, the Chrasteks lived a very comfortable life.

The purpose of our trip was to continue the process of going through everything in the house, box up what needs to come back to Georgia, get rid of trash and sell what could be sold. I talk about our trip as if it were monotonous... but the contrary is true. During our first trip so many mind-blowing historical treasures were recovered (see my last post for a few pics)... I remained in a state of awe as each item surfaced. The house is like a time capsule for the last eighty years... antiques toys, gadgets and gizmos, photos, and all sorts of vintage collectibles literally came out of the woodwork. This trip was equally as amazing. We spent this trip working on the basement, which at one time was a bar and entertainment area of the home, and later turned into a storage area.

The family enjoyed access to the latest and greatest toys and technologies of the day... a beautiful Rockola jukebox still sits in the basement corner... thousands of records were boxed up... all types of cameras and movie cameras, projectors, a Recordio to record voice, kitchen gadgets like an ElectroMatic food slicer, JuiceoMat, beautiful art-deco styled roaster, old blenders and ice crushers from the bar from the 50s and 60s still in perfect working condition... and then there were the vintage linens, dishes, barware, furniture, endless numbers of percolators and pots and pans, and clothing... it was truly a delight to not only see and touch those items but to be able to take some along with us.

We stayed until Easter when we decided to take the day off and celebrate. We went to Greater Chicago Church which is about the best party time I've had with Jesus in a looong time. The church building itself was built in the 20s in Oak Park, IL which is where Frank Lloyd Wright lived and built several homes... it is absolutely breathtaking inside. The service was so sweet... the front was filled with worshippers and dancers, and a prophetic artist as well. At one point the folks up front broke out in a spontaneous session of the Electric Slide during worship! It was beautiful... truly refreshing after a hard week.

Here are some photos from the week. I hope you enjoy them.