Welcome to the South side of Chicago, son!

We finally get to Chicago and realize that there are no RV parks closer than 50 miles out. So we opted for a cheap hotel in the South Side of Chicago where we stayed at a Motel 6 with plenty of parking lot space for the Yella. We went to the front desk to check-in and got weird looks from all the staff members, but they quickly turned on a smile for us and handed our room key with the directions to the elevator. We went up to the room, unpacked a bit and then realized, we should get something to eat for dinner and then hit the sack for our big day into the city tomorrow.

We took the elevator downstairs to the lobby, still getting weird looks but smiles from the staff and went out the front door to see what we could find by foot. We looked left and then right out on the street and saw only a McDonalds or a Wendy's. We headed down to where the McDonald's was on the corner to see if there was anything else down the other street. Ryan and I were walking like normal, like usual, but something felt funny to us. We couldn't put our finger on it, so we just continued on. We got to the McDonald's where there was a parking lot full of cars with loud rap music playing. We took a look down the street and didn't see much of anything. So we opted for the healthier of the two evils and chose Wendy's. We walked back down the street where we came from and this is where we started putting the pieces together.

All the weird looks from the motel staff started to add up when we realized that we were the only two white people for about twenty blocks in this neighborhood. The light in our heads went on: Oh, were in the South Side of Chicago! WoW!!! Well, no big deal to us, so we strolled right in to the Wendy's, again only white people, and proceeded to order a lovely dinner. Everyone was staring at us and with good reason too. I mean, when is the last time they saw white people just walking around and eating Wendy's in the South side of Chicago. I felt like an alien a bit, but then I realized how a black person must feel when they are the only black person in a room and that happens much more often for them than us. We opted to get our food to go, so we could eat in our bed and these people could eat their food in peace without having a couple whitey's in their restaurant. It was just more comfortable that way for everyone.

But really, Ryan and I felt fine and had no problems at all. I think people are too quick to judge an area in regards to its demographics and if they took a minute to walk a few blocks in that neighborhood, they would realize they were just fine too. (Well, hopefully! hehe)

So, we chowed down and hit the hay for an awesome day in Chicago!