Our One-Day Whirlwind Trip To Chicago - Part 2

 This episode is Part 1 of the Chicago recap. Find Part 1 in episode 70 last week.

Word of the Episode: Porta Potty

• Definition: A portable, temporary toilet facility.
• Etymology:
  • “Porta Potty” comes from portable potty, but its popularization is linked to a brand name, much like Kleenex.
  • “Potty” derives from “pot” (as in chamber pot) with the diminutive suffix “-y/-ie.”
• In other cultures, “toilet” is the more common term; in ASL, “toilet” is used rather than “potty.”

Chicago Trip Recap – Part 2

Ancient History Museum Visit

• Officially: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum (near University of Chicago).
• Focus: Mainly Middle Eastern antiquities with artifacts, statues, and ancient texts.
• One child loved it; others were grumpy from heat/walking.
• Entry is donation-based, allowing the family to re-enter.
• Highlights for the hosts:
  • Ancient writings about everyday life.
  • “Ancient book” made of stone tablets fascinated their child.
• Kids got silly over anatomically accurate figurines—signs of entering adolescence.

Navy Pier & Surroundings

• Rode the Centennial Wheel (Ferris wheel with skyline & Lake Michigan views) — some enjoyed it, others (especially the mom) were anxious about heights.
• Lunch at Giordano’s (deep-dish Chicago pizza) — appreciated but all preferred New York–style.
• Enjoyed Ohio Street Beach — cold water, skyline views; a highlight for dad.
• Nearby Polk Brothers Park splash pad — big hit with the kids.

Millennium Park

• Visited Cloud Gate (“The Bean”) — initially dad wasn’t enthused, but it became one of the top highlights.
• Bought ice cream treats.
• Stopped at Crown Fountain — large artistic waterfall display, but less fun for play than Polk Brothers splash pad.

Plans Cut Short

• Intended to visit Chicago Bulls stadium and Leaning Tower of Niles, but:
  • Bulls shop/museum was closed.
  • Heavy traffic (possibly from an accident) made it impossible to head north without risking missing their flight.
• Chose instead to head toward Midway Airport, with a couple quick pit stops.

Return Flight – A Possible Mid-Air Close Call

• Dinner at the airport.
• Mom reports seeing a helicopter very close beneath the plane’s wing mid-flight and believes the pilot may have adjusted course to avoid it. Passengers nearby noticed too; dad and other kids were unaware.
• Landed safely, retrieved their car, and drove home just after midnight.

Takeaways

• This episode used conversational, humorous storytelling that ties small linguistic explorations to lived experiences.
• The trip was a packed, whirlwind adventure completed in under 24 hours.
• Hosts invite listeners to share thoughts—especially about Chicago pizza recommendations—and whether the itinerary was truly “flabbergasting.”

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Any views expressed on this podcast are those solely of the hosts and is for entertainment purposes only. None of the content is medical advice or financial advice.

Special thanks to Tim Wright aka CoLD SToRAGE for his permission to use the song Operatique.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 71 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So we will momentarily get to the exciting description of the porta potty and the remainder of our Chicago adventures, but before we do, we do have a brief word or phrase of the episode, and that word or phrase is porta potty. OK. So the definition of porta potty, I think is pretty well understood that it is a mobile bathroom of sorts that portable potty where that can be moved around to different venues or whatever the case may be, but is for all intents and purposes a temporary bathroom, not a permanent fixture. OK, yeah. And then the etymology of this is a little bit interesting because as you said, porta potty is short for portable potty, but the phrase porta potty actually came about because that was one of the most famous companies that produced that particular style of bathroom, porta potty. Oh, so it's like Kleenex. When you talk about a Kleenex, that's actually just a brand, right? Exactly. So when you say porta potty. You're actually typically referring to that historical brand name rather than a specific thing. And then potty is not all that complex of etymology either because it is basically the word pot that has the TY or the TIE suffix added to the root word pot and in terms of the bathroom usage that came from chamber pot. OK. So the chamber potty. Right. And then that's combined with portable and the company name Porta Potty, and that is our word or phrase of this episode. Would people know, like in other cultures, the word pot. I mean, I feel like here in the states, when you say potty, it's kind of like a funny word, but everyone knows what you're saying. It's not a sophisticated word or anything, but it's what you say to children or to be silly. So would other cultures know the word potty or what do they refer to it as? I think typically it would be called toilet. I think that's what you would see in a lot of typical translations would be toilet versus whatever that word is in other languages and cultures, but. We're an English podcast for the most part and really within English, even American, but maybe if there's any of our international listeners out there, you can let us know if we've stated any of that incorrectly, but I think toilet would be sort of the common term used -- cross -- culturally. OK, so if you're going in Canada to get some poutine, you may stop and use the potty while you're there. I suppose so. In sign language, you say toilet. It's a tea and you just shake it for a toilet. So like it just reminded me of that when you said most people say toilet because that's what it is in American sign language. -- Well -- then that corroborates my theory. So we will continue on about our experience at the porta potty in Chicago. Sounds good. And it was not a quote unquote construction site restroom. We were not using the restroom that the construction workers were using. We were using restrooms that were set up temporarily while the restrooms were under construction inside the building. Oh, OK. I thought these were his restrooms. I don't know if the construction workers use them or not, but these were actually specifically installed for the public to use while the other ones, right? It was like the Taj Mahal of porta potties. It was a trailer. That had power and lights and you would go in, it was air conditioned, it was beautiful, it was modern decorations, it had flush toilets, running water, it even had music. Oh, no, I did not know any of this. I did not go. I know you took the kids and I thought he was just giving us being kind to us because we were obviously struggling. And so he's like, hey, go over there, there's a bathrooms you can use. So, yes, they were indeed very nice. So like we said, the museum is adjacent to the University of Chicago and the exact name is the Institute for Study of Ancient Cultures Museum, and it was focused mainly on Middle Eastern art and antiquities. There's also some other things from the Far East but mostly Middle Eastern. So one of our kids loved it. The other three weren't super into it. And like we said before, this is the most grumpy part of the trip, so they were grumpy. So you left pretty quickly into it, to take the other kids out just because they were so grumpy. And I stayed back with the kid that was enjoying it. And he loved it. And then we got out, and then he asked to go back in with you. And so then you got a tour with him again, right? Yup, and went through basically the entire museum again. And if anybody is ever in the Chicago area, the reason that we were able to do that is because the museum is donation based, so we did not have to get our hands stamped or pay another fee to enter, but basically saw the person that was the administrator at the front and they recognized us and having known that we already donated, did not question. Any of our re-entry. Right, yeah, that's true. But yeah, it was really cool. It had a lot of like artifacts. What did you like the most? Cause you enjoyed it just as much as he did probably, right? Yes, I enjoyed it. They did have a whole bunch of artifacts, some actual statues and pieces of architecture that were recovered from various Middle Eastern sites. The thing that interested me the most was just some of the ancient writings and Some of the Sumerian text and other ancient languages that were in some place referring to very commonplace activities. So they had some examples that have been translated from various languages where it was talking about how this guy took two pigs and owed so much grain. And it was just sort of everyday life that was described in these extremely ancient texts that we only really care about because they are ancient. If this was something that we found on the ground that something was written for a transaction, we just throw it in the trash and not think twice about it, but simply because of the great age and a little bit of mystery in terms of translating these accurately, that is a great Thing to have in a museum today. Yeah. And the thing that I remember that he really enjoyed our child a lot was what they called an ancient book. And it was not necessarily, I guess it is stone or some material like that. But they're kind of thin and multiple of them. They made it look, at least, and I guess they're just doing the best guess themselves, the anthropologists or archaeologists, but they kind of put all these stones together to make what looks very much like a book. And he was very impressed that like instead of paper they used these stones to read. Indeed. So, like I said, at least a few of us enjoyed it, and I think some of the kids enjoyed it almost as a playground, but it was an ancient history museum, so sort of had to evacuate them from that. Yeah, not everything was under glass, so they were getting a little hyper and we're like, oh, we cannot break these items. Also, it shows a little glimmer of the life we're entering as our oldest kids are starting to get into middle school age. Because they had dolls, what appeared to be dolls, at least, or figurines from that time period and fully accurate anatomy, and they thought that was funny. And I was like, oh no, you're, we're getting into this phase of life now. That's true. So after we were satisfied with the museum, we took the direct route back to the vehicle and then departed for the Navy Pier. I had to convince the children too. They were not looking forward to walking back to the car. I was like, I promise, our car is right there. We will get there so quickly. And they did not believe me, but I was true to my word. Our car, we had such a good parking spot. Yeah, we got there quickly. Indeed, So once we arrived at the Navy Pier, we parked again at a parking garage, I guess, at the pier and got some refreshments and walked around a little bit and then the main attraction that we did there was the Centennial wheel. Which was the Ferris wheel that you can ride for a fee and overlooks the Great Lake. Like 200 ft high, right, -- is that what it was -- something like that, yes, with some pretty impressive views of Lake Michigan and the surrounding area and can even see some of the skyline and things of that nature of Chicago. It was beautiful. I never have been afraid of heights until having children, and then I was fine until we got on there and my alarms were going off like crazy as you thought it was funny to kind of dance in there and I was terrified that we were going to fall out and somebody was gonna hit the door cause it's glass. You're fully enclosed in a pod. But it's all glass. And so I was afraid that someone's gonna touch the glass and it would open and we'd fall through, or they'd fall through. So, I was trying really hard not to kill the excitement everyone was having, I was trying to like regulate myself, but I was so stressed the entire time. Indeed, there were some kids that were stressed and others that were not stressed. So I think it was about 50/50 for the group of 6 that we had. So after that, we remained parked at that same parking garage and then walked to the Ohio Street beach, which is a beach. Did I forget something? Do we get pizza next? OK Gardelli? No, that's the chocolate. What is it called? It's whatever that pizza places that's famous there. We had never had I'd at least never had real Chicago pizza before. And no offense to any Chicago listeners, we love y'all. We loved your city. I'm a New York pizza person. As am I, -- so this is not the -- first time. That's true. We all uh appreciated it, but we, I think it's a one and done for us. What's it called? Jono's. Yeah, there you go. So we did stop for pizza before the beach at Jordanno's Pizza, which is right there on the Navy Pier and like you said, Your first time having Chicago style pizza, and I guess probably the kids all first time. I had had Chicago pizza before, maybe only once or twice. And uh like you said, not really a fan, definitely a New York style person myself, but it is an experience. So we did get one of the house specialties, deep dish Chicago style pizza and had that for our lunch and had the famous cheese pool where You slice the pizza and pull the slice from the pie and have that long string of mozzarella cheese, because I think when it was first delivered, one of the kids thought it didn't have any cheese at all. And I was like, just you wait, you can experience this, so. And I think they did eat it. They didn't not like it, but it definitely was not their preferred style of pizza. No, yeah, everyone ate it and was thankful. It definitely was one of those, given the choice, everyone admitted that they'd prefer, because again, we were kind of reflecting on how it's similar to our New York trip. That was a whirlwind trip too. And we ate pizza constantly there, just the street vendor pizza. And we all loved it so much. So I think we all agreed that oh we like this better. Indeed. So after our pizza for lunch, we headed to the beach, which is what I mentioned earlier, but forgot the pizza in between. But we went to the Ohio Street Beach, which is a sand beach that is part of Lake Michigan, with the ability to go swimming and everything. So we did that and the water was very cold actually, compared to like our neighborhood pool or anything like that. Interesting. OK. I didn't get in. I brought everyone swimsuits, or like we brought them with us. And at the restaurant, I did change everybody, because also, another thing for the pizza is it takes like 45 minutes once you order it. So, we did order like an appetizer, but during that time, we took turns going to the bathroom to change into our swimsuits to uh make the best use of our time. And I chose not to put my swimsuit on. I should have, but I kind of stood around our items while you and the boys swam. I think you all had a great time. Yes, I think it was actually one of the highlights for me personally. It might not be the top highlight, so listeners, you have to keep listening to find out the top highlight because that will happen towards the end of our trip. But it was, if not the best thing, it was definitely the second best thing as far as attractions go that we did in Chicago. It was just so cool because it looked like the ocean. Uh, it had lifeguards that were on boats, like row boats, just a little bit ways out. And then past him was his actual boat, so he was kind of walking it, so the swimmers couldn't go that far. Uh, it's just so interesting cause it looks like the ocean with waves and all, but then you just look to your left and there was a Chicago skyline. I'm not used to seeing city skyline right beside a beach. That's true. I think we all enjoyed that. And then continued with the water activities at the Polk Brothers Park, which was just a block or so over that had a relatively massive splash pad. Yeah, it was really cool. Huge splash pad. The kids played there, and you and I kind of just hung out and watched them and got a chat and relax for a while. So that was a really fun time. I mean, they would have stayed even longer, but we had to keep going. That's true. So, I think at that point, we went back to the parking garage and retrieved the vehicle and moved to our next destination, which I guess was The bean the bean. So, yeah, I will fully admit that when I was mapping all this out initially, there was a parking lot that said it was only $12 all day. And oh, I love saving money. So, I was like, oh, that's only a 20 minute walk to the pier. We should park there, and then walk to the pier. And then we'll walk back and then pass it to the bean and then come back, you know, kind of thing. I was trying to save money. And because everyone was exhausted from our extra mile walk at the museum, We opted to park at here, which was a good thing, because once we got to that parking garage that Google said was $12 a day, it was $12 every 15 minutes. Yes, that was quite a bill when we left because we were only there for like 42 minutes or something like that and it was like $38 or something like that. Oh man, I would have been so sad had we parked there and walked 30 minutes to the pier to have to walk back and all. Oh, that bill would have been huge. Yes, maybe there was some hourly rates or something, but I don't know. Maybe we did something wrong, I guess. I don't know. But anyways, we went to the beam next. And you didn't want to go to that. I was not completely opposed, but there were other things that I wanted to do perhaps instead of that, but it was, if not the best, the second best after the beach because it was actually very impressive. So this particular bean is an art installation. In Millennium Park, and that's actually not the official name, but it does look sort of like a coffee bean or a kidney bean, and it is fully reflective, basically with a mirrored surface in its entirety and it's quite large, but the official name is Cloudgate. Oh, I didn't even know that. I don't think most people do, and I don't think most people call it that, -- they just call it the -- bean. OK. Yeah, and this was something I kind of pushed for, because I just, when I see Chicago photos, that's what I picture. And last time I was in Chicago, I was a young child, so I was like, we have to do this. This was like the iconic Chicago photo. Uh, I think it was basically everyone's favorite activity. They really enjoyed it. You'd stand and take your picture or look at it, and it would look like you're upside down, cause it's reflective. You could walk through it. And there's like an open area. Yeah, you can walk underneath it and you can sort of see that reflective sort of almost double triple mirror effect that is present. So, yes. Now I did look this up because I was sort of curious if the artist liked the nickname The Bean and Google says Anish Kapoor disliked the nickname The Bean for his sculpture called the Cloud Gate. And he said about the name the Bean, it was completely stupid. Oh, well, sorry, -- but now he has embraced the colloquial name and even calls it the bean -- himself. Oh, OK. Well, good for him for embracing that. We don't want to offend him because it is really cool. And something that's really awesome about it, I could understand how he calls it the cloud. What? Cloud gate, cloud gate. I guess a gate, cause yeah, you walk underneath it, like an archway, but also the way it's made, you do see the clouds in the sky reflective. It is really cool. So, I see it, and I'm glad that he embraces the term being. Indeed. So from there we stopped for some ice cream treats from a vendor adjacent there and then went to another splash pad. Yeah, another splash pad that's there at Millennial Park. This one is very different. We didn't stay long, but it's really crowded. And it was really unique. It had, how tall were those buildings, do you think 3 stories? Uh, more than that, probably 4 stories, -- I -- think. Yeah, it's just these big walls, I guess 4-story wall that was basically like a waterfall. And occasionally they would change colors or change pictures and rotation of water, how it falls, and it's pretty intense. Indeed, but I think they like the Polk brothers splash pad better than whatever this one was. Yeah, this one artistically was really cool, but not really a fun place to play. Crown Fountain is the official name. I don't even think we knew that when we were there, but that is what it's called. OK. So from the Crown Fountain then we went back to the car at the parking garage, paid the outrageous parking fees, and from there, where did we go? We were supposed to go up north to the Leaning Tower of Nile. Yes, that's right. And that was like one of the things that looked interesting that I wanted to do on this particular trip, but it is pretty far away and the reason that it came up on our itinerary during the initial planning was that we were trying to go from midway to do some of these. Things that were in South Chicago, like the Garden of Phoenix and University of Chicago and the Ancient History Museum. And then fly out of O'Hare, where the leaning tower of the Niles is more closely located, but the ticket prices and routing and itinerary did not work for that. So we had Midway as our destination and departure. Yeah, and I guess before that we were going to stop by the Bulls stadium. Um, one of our kids is a Chicago Bulls fan, but that was the one day, like out of only 5 all year that their -- museum or their um -- the gift shop and yeah, -- all that so -- it's all closed, yes. So we still were gonna go buy it, but then he fell asleep. So we just got like, OK, let's head to the Nile. And we're gonna see, and it was gonna be good. The kids were gonna get a good nap in, and you and I kind of got some good quality time to talk and hang out while they slept and we were gonna drive. We were gonna drive, but then it took like 50 minutes to go like 2 blocks, in part just due to Chicago traffic in general, but I also think there was an accident. And that was like the wild west driving because there were people that would not only go into like the center lane. On the oncoming traffic lane, but the second lane of the oncoming traffic lane to go around some of this traffic to go wherever they were going, and it was. Seemed quite surprising, but it almost seemed like an everyday occurrence for these people that were traversing this like it was not unexpected. Yeah, some people just didn't seem bothered at all. I was so glad you're driving cause I probably would have cried. It was so intense. And like I said, it took almost an hour to go two blocks and we realized we do not have time to go, and especially, we're trying to get on the highway. And if we got stuck on that highway going that slow, we would not have been able to turn around and get to the airport. Indeed. So, we made an executive decision that I think was the right one, looking back at it, to start heading in the direction of the airport instead of any other destinations. And we did make a couple of pit stops and got some Starbucks and things like that, but it would have been extremely close if not missed our flight because of trying to fit in one more destination. Because of the traffic. I think if there was like quote unquote normal traffic or not traffic, then we would have been able to do this. But because of that particular instance of accidents and extra traffic, we decided to start our route to the airport directly. So after those few pit stops, I think we arrived at the rental car place, dropped off the car and hopped on the shuttle and went back through security that same day. Yeah. And we chose to eat dinner there. No one was hungry on the way, and we didn't get a huge dinner at the airport, but we did eat there. The kids got sushi and some got fruit and stuff. That's true. And then we got on the aircraft. I think that was delayed, right? It had to be because otherwise we would have arrived before midnight back to our house. I think about it, yes, it was, it was complicated because the gate next to us was delayed and then ours got delayed and they were going back and forth on delays and it was hard to know which one they were talking about. That's true. So it was not delayed very much, but it was delayed a little bit, but nonetheless, we got on the aircraft and headed back to our home airport. And I think that flight was relatively uneventful as well. It was not. What happened? I must have been sleeping during something eventful that happened. -- You -- remember, you didn't know about it. Remember I asked you? I was trying to be like chill because I didn't want to cause panic, but the people behind me noticed too. And I did a quick Google search afterwards. Nothing came up, so maybe it's all in my head, but at one point we're flying. And we did a quick turn, like you could feel the plane move to one side, like the side I was on went up and The window was open and I looked out and there was a helicopter right below us. And the person behind me, you could hear and be like, why is there a helicopter? Did we almost hit them? I was like, I think, oh my gosh, I think we almost collided with the helicopter, but we didn't, and maybe it didn't happen, but I don't think a helicopter should be that close to us. Like, it was right underneath our wing. So, I really do think that our pilot averted and swooped up. to the side to avoid a crash. And maybe I'm not, maybe I'm making that up in my head, but again, never in my life, we fly a lot. Never in my life have I seen a helicopter that close, like to the wing. So I think that we were very lucky. Yes. so I do recall that you did tell me about this afterwards, but yes, I was completely unaware. I was sitting on the opposite side with the other kids, -- and I -- asked you to look out the window though, remember, because we turned and I was like, can you look out your window because I wanted you to see if you could see the helicopter then at that point because we were turning. And you're like, I don't know, it's fine, it's whatever. And I didn't want to cause a panic from anyone, so I just kind of was like, well, it is what it is, and I think we're safe. Yes, I did look out the window, did not see anything strange and even reflecting on it now, I do not recall anything strange about the maneuvers of the plane either, so it was within like the normal tolerances. Yeah, no one was flying like out of their seats or anything. It wasn't any dramatic thing. I would have thought maybe I'm crazy except for the people behind me were like commenting too like, we're really close to the helicopter. I only looked out the window because of that quick jerk movement. That's true. So, but I'm so thankful if it was that close, I'm so thankful for our pilot. Indeed. So yes, I guess eventful, but to me uneventful because I was not aware of that. But then we landed in our home airport and retrieved our personal vehicle and headed home. And then I think pretty much went straight to bed. Yeah. So that is our whirlwind of a trip to Chicago completed in less than 24 hours. So perhaps that leaves you flabbergasted, perhaps not, but either way, do like, share, subscribe, and perhaps there is somebody that you want to share this particular podcast episode with on Chicago, maybe some native Chicagoans or people that you think will just not believe our story. And maybe if you're like, oh, give the pizza a try again, let us know where we should go, because maybe Maybe we need to give a pizza a second try. I'm pretty sure like Jordanna's is like quintessential Chicago pizza though, -- so -- maybe that's what Google says that's true. So, from your friends at I hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.